Water Quality

Rivers, Lakes, and Estuaries               Water of Long Island Sound               Warming and Rising Waters                Clamming and Oystering              Drinking Water

Swimming

 

 

Coastal swimmers saw less beach actions in 2022.

 

There were 84 beach action days in 2022, 68 (81 percent) of which were closures and 16 (19 percent) were advisories, which was approximately 56 percent less than the previous ten-year average. Of the 84 beach action days, 57 percent were “preemptory actions” while 43 percent were due to elevated levels of bacteria.³⁷ There were four days during or just before the reporting period where daily rain totals exceeded one inch. The chart above displays both closings and advisories at Connecticut’s public coastal beaches since 2012, which from a water quality perspective are functional equivalents. This is different than prior years when only closings were displayed. The beach-specific advisories or closings* are issued by the reporting state or local government entity.

Because the number of beaches varies by county, the Council utilizes a ratio of beach action days (closures and advisories) to the number of reporting beaches in each county to illustrate the relative impact that pollution has on coastal recreation waters. Typically, the western half of the coastline, which has more impervious surfaces, sees the most beach actions. 

 

<sub>Goal: The goal for keeping beaches open is to reduce the number of beach closings in half by 2035 (from 2014, with the number for 2014 calculated using a five-year rolling average). This goal was identified in the 2015 edition of the Long Island Sound Study's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. 

Technical Note: *During a beach closure, water conditions are deemed unsafe for swimmers and other users. A beach advisory is a warning and users decide whether they wish to risk going into the water. An action can be based on a model or policy. The data, derived from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Beach Advisory and Closing Online Notification (BEACON2) system, includes information on pollution occurrences in coastal recreation waters for 73 reporting beaches along the Connecticut shoreline in 2022. “Preemptory actions” might be issued to inform the public of possible fecal contamination, based on past experience, prior to receiving confirmation of the water quality sample from a laboratory.</sub> 

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³⁷ _{EPA, Beach Advisory and Closing On-line Notification, accessed February 27, 2023; watersgeo.epa.gov/beacon2/reports.html.}