Check local beach advisories before you swim

Floridians know how to maximize our outdoor summer fun. With more coastline than any other state but Alaska (very different swimming conditions), beach days are a favorite way to beat the heat.

So after you load up the boogie boards, the cooler, all the towels and finally find a parking spot, there is nothing more frustrating than to find your beach closed due to bacteria. It happens all too often in the sunshine state. Every two weeks the county health department tests beaches for Enterococci, the bacteria found in fecal waste. Across Florida, 70% of beaches tested had potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination on at least one day in 2022, according to an Environment Florida Research & Policy Center Safe for Swimming report.

Fecal contamination from sources such as urban runoff, sewage overflows and factory farms can contain pathogens that threaten the health of swimmers. Scientists estimate 57 million instances of people getting sick each year in the United States from swimming in polluted waters. Those illnesses can include nausea, diarrhea, ear infections and rashes.

Where are beach advisories issued

The problem touches coasts in all parts of the state. During the July 4th holiday week, 2 beaches in Escambia county in the panhandle were under advisory due to high bacteria levels. 3 beaches in southwest Collier county had similar advisories and so did 3 in Monroe county, which includes the Keys. In fact, Higgs and South Beach in Key West have had unsafe levels of bacteria for the past 3 months. In total, 7 Florida counties had beach advisories which may have ruined a few holiday beach plans.

Swimming with fecal bacteria is gross. A day at the beach shouldn’t make you sick. You can help keep yourself and your family healthy by checking for swim advisories on the Florida Department of Health’s Healthy Beaches website before you go. But the testing is not comprehensive. In some counties 10 beaches are tested, and in others, just 2.

Support clean water protections

Testing to make sure that bacteria levels at beaches are safe for swimming is not guaranteed and Floridians should be ready to take action to protect it.

A bipartisan bill that called for more comprehensive testing from the Florida Department of Health, health advisories to be issued within 24 hours and closures of polluted beaches sailed through the Florida legislature earlier this year with unanimous support. Governor DeSantis vetoed the bill last month, saying the state Health Department should not have the power to close beaches.

The BEACH Act, which funds much of the testing and monitoring done by local governments, is up for renewal in Congress. Representative Bill Posey (FL08) co-lead a bipartisan Dear Colleague letter asking the Appropriations Subcommittee to allocate an additional $5M to the funds. An updated BEACH Act Reauthorization Bill (HR 2703) has been introduced and Florida Representative John Rutherford (FL05) has co-sponsored it. Rep. Rutherford also co-hosted a briefing on how coastal states use these funds to keep people safe.

Water testing is what informs the public when bacteria levels are unsafe for swimming. We should know if our coastal waters are polluted and that’s why we need to call on all members of Congress to support the BEACH Act.

Ultimately, we need to stop beach pollution at its source. Repairing our sewage systems and preventing runoff pollution is a place to start. We can help prevent runoff pollution by increasing public investment in natural and green infrastructure features such as rain barrels, permeable pavement, urban green space and green roofs. By protecting natural infrastructure such as wetlands that filter pathogens and other pollutants we can help harness nature’s own tools to protect our clean water.