2007 Swimming Season Update

Features

Wisconsin

July 2008

Introduction
2007 Summary Results
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Introduction

Figure 1. Wisconsin coastal counties with 2007 monitored beach data.

The BEACH Act of 2000 requires that coastal and Great Lakes states and territories report to EPA on beach monitoring and notification data for their coast recreation waters. The BEACH Act defines coastal recreation waters as the Great Lakes and coastal waters (including coastal estuaries) that states, territories, and authorized tribes officially recognize or designate for swimming, bathing, surfing, or similar activities in the water.

This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring and notification data submitted to EPA by the state of Wisconsin for the 2007 swimming season.

Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and unmonitored coastal beaches by county.
County	Total Beaches	Monitored	Not Monitored
Ashland	7	7	0
Bayfield	19	16	3
Brown	9	3	6
Door	53	31	22
Douglas	16	12	4
Iron	5	5	0
Kenosha	7	5	2
Kewaunee	5	2	3
Manitowoc	17	10	7
Marinette	6	0	6
Milwaukee	13	11	2
Oconto	1	0	1
Ozaukee	11	6	5
Racine	7	2	5
Sheboygan	16	8	8
Totals	192	118	74

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2007 Summary Results

How many notification actions were reported and how long were they?

Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.

Wisconsin's approach is to issue a beach advisory when water quality standards are exceeded at a particular beach that warns people to avoid contact with the water. A total of 85 monitored beaches had at least one advisory issued during the 2007 swimming season. About 88 percent of Wisconsin's 594 notification actions lasted two days or less. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification action durations.

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What percentage of days were beaches under a notification action?

Figure 3: Beach days with and without notification actions in 2007.

For Wisconsin's 2007 swimming season, actions were reported about 7 percent of the time (Figure 3).

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How do 2007 results compare to previous years?

Table 2 compares 2007 notification action data with monitored beach data from previous years.

Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2005–2007.
Year	2005	2006	2007
Number of monitored beaches	115	117	118
Number of beaches affected by notification actions	82	83	85
Percentage of beaches affected by notification actions	71%	71%	72%
Percentage of beach days affected by notification actions	11%	11%	7%

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What pollution sources affect monitored beaches?

Figure 4 displays the percentage of Wisconsin's monitored beaches potentially impacted by various pollution sources. In 2007, 72 percent of the beaches reported that their potential sources were unidentified. Storm-related runoff was listed as a potential source of pollution at 22 percent of the beaches.