Ecosystem Targets and Supporting Indicators

Public Beach Closures

Reduce by 50% the number of beaches reporting at least one closure day or the total number of beach-day closures per monitored beach due to water quality impairments by 2035 compared to a five-year rolling average from 2014.

View Implementation Actions for Public Beach Closures

Show/Hide Table Data

Progress
Beach Closures/Advisories
YearCT Closures/
Advisories
NY Closures/
Advisories
Both StatesFive-Year Running Average
2004183688871
2005200464664
20062249751,199
2007108886994
20081359731,108967
20091081,1391,2471,042
20101435446871,047
20116361,2041,8401,175
20122981,3671,6651,309
20131519981,1491,318
20141174465631,181
20151501,2161,3661,317
20161657589231,133
20171541,6461,8001,160
20181311,576 1,7071,272
20192542,1182,3721,634
2020809351,0151,563
20213772,1562,5331,885
2022841,4451,5291,831
20232201,5321,7521,840
Percent to Target
YearFive Year Running AveragePercent to Target (reducing 5 year running average by 590.5 days)
2014 (baseline)1,181-100
20151,317-123
20161,133-92
20171,160-96
20181,272-115
20191,634-177
20201,563-165
20211,885-219
20221,831-210
20231,840-212

Status and Trends

In order to meet the 2035 target, the five-year rolling average of beach closure/advisory days must be reduced by an average of 96 days each year. As of 2018, there is an increase in beach closure/advisory days since the 2014 baseline. Therefore, we are behind schedule toward meeting this target.

Dry summer seasons in 2014, 2015, and 2022 resulted in a decrease in the number of beach closures in Long Island Sound (see Heavy Precipitation for more details). High incidents of closures in Connecticut in 2010 and 2011 were attributed to heavy rainfall and the impact of Tropical Storm Irene (in 2011).  Those years also were exceptionally high years when one or more sampling stations at a beach reported a single sample Enterococcus result >104 CFU/100mL and at the same time, the beach was not under a closure or advisory (source: Connecticut’s 2011 Annual Report for the US EPA Beach Grant). The high incidents of closures in New York in 2009 were attributed to heavy rainfall. Some health departments also indicate that beach closures have increased since the mid-2000s adoption of a new test for bacterial pathogens for marine waters (the Enterococcus standard). New York City started using this indicator to assess beaches in 2006.

Challenges

A closed beach may not be a direct result of water quality impairments. Many beach managers in Connecticut and New York close beaches preemptively when high rainfall generates stormwater runoff that may contain animal waste, untreated sewage discharge or other contaminants.

This target relies on information collected by EPA through the EPA Beacon 2 website.

How is This Target Measured?

Health departments sample coastal bathing waters to determine whether the water exceeds an acceptable level of 104 CFU (Colony Forming Units)/100mL for the indicator bacteria, Enterococcus.

Enterococcus may indicate the presence of pathogens that can lead to gastrointestinal illnesses (GI) among swimmers. Pathogens are disease-causing organisms, including bacteria and viruses.  More often, beach managers in Connecticut and New York close beaches preemptively when high rainfall generates stormwater runoff that may contain animal waste, untreated sewage discharge or other contaminants. As of 2012, there were 132 monitored beaches along Long Island Sound’s shoreline in New York and 72 monitored beaches in Connecticut. Yearly variations in closures are a product of rainfall patterns and incidents such as sewer-line ruptures.

Importance

Beaches are closed to protect swimmers from potential harm or illness caused by pathogens or other contamination. Closed beaches can also have an economic impact because they prevent people from being able to fully enjoy the Long Island Sound shoreline. In a recent study conducted by Yale (Ramsden et al. 2023), preemptive beach closures are important for towns and municipalities to consider implementing to better protect public health.

Contact

Cayla Sullivan, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2
[email protected]

Robert Burg, New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, [email protected]

Source of Data

EPA

DATA NOTES

  • The technical explanation on how the target was selected is found in Appendix B of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.
  • New York data (NY)  includes Long Island Sound beaches in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester. New York City (NYC) beaches in Long Island Sound were added to this target in 2004. The target uses the EPA Beacon dataset from 2004. Prior to 2004, the information was compiled by LISS staff from county and state health departments.
  • Regarding the EPA approved marine recreational water quality indicator bacteria Enterococcus, it is important to note that this indicator was shown by EPA through epidemiological study to often associate in a predictable way with swimmer illness most likely caused by pathogens in human fecal contamination. Enterococcus is not considered by EPA to be a pathogen that causes swimmer illness, but may be present when illnesses occur. An indicator bacteria was chosen because directly assaying the concentration(s) of pathogens that may cause swimmer illness has been shown to be very difficult in a timely way. As it is, the analytic methods used to assay the concentration of Enterococcus in marine recreational water require a minimum 24 hours for culturing the bacteria. A water sample collected today will have analytic results reported on the following day (source: e-mail communication with Jon Dinneen, Connecticut Department of Public Health).
  • Since 2009, Crescent Beach in Nassau County, NY has experienced annual summer closures (~100 days) due to pollution issues at the beach.

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