Florida Healthy Beaches Program

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Florida Healthy Beaches Program
Bart Bibler, P.E., Chief Bureau of Water
Programs Bob Vincent, R.S., Environmental
Administrator Michelle Fredette, Environmental
Health Program Consultant Dave Polk,
Environmental Specialist I
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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Introduction

• Until 2000, Florida did not have funding
  allocated to regularly monitor coastal beaches,
  resulting in a Bum classification from the
  press and environmental groups.
• In 2000, the state legislature established the
  Florida Healthy Beaches Program and provided a
  recurring appropriation of 525,000 per year for
  the water quality monitoring of saltwater and
  brackish beaches.
• Chapter 514.023, F.S. gives the department the
  authority to monitor coastal beach waters and
  issue advisories when conditions exceed the
  standards.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Introduction (continued)

• From August 2000 to August 2002, Floridas 34
  coastal counties conducted beach water sampling
  every two weeks.
• The coastal counties implemented statewide
  guidance to ensure that testing frequency,
  laboratory methods, result interpretations, and
  actions were consistent.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
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Federal BEACH Act
Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal
Health (BEACH) Act
Allows EPA to award grants to eligible States and
Territories to develop and implement work
products consistent with BEACH Act requirements.

• Florida was allocated approximately 530,000 in
  2002 and 544,552 in 2003, and 540,220 in 2004.
• This allocation has allowed Florida to conduct
  weekly sampling since August 2002.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Water Quality Data

• The initial focus of the Florida Healthy Beaches
  Program was to gather and evaluate the coastal
  beach water quality data, and determine whether
  there were any beach sites with chronic water
  quality problems.
• Relationships between poor water quality and
  environmental factors such as rainfall or water
  temperature?
• Predictive models for issuing advisories?
• 2003 - data too variable, no significant trends
  found

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Water Quality Data

• Beach monitoring data is loaded into EPAs
  national STORET database on a regular basis.
• Advisory days by sample site are supplied to DEP
  for the Impaired Waters Rule upon request.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program

• The program has helped counties identify problems
  and take steps to correct.
• There are over 300 beach sampling sites.
• Over 53,000 samples have been collected since
  July 2000.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program

• The coastal beach water samples collected by the
  county health departments are analyzed for
  enterococci and fecal coliform bacteria, which
  indicate the probable presence of animal
  (including human) waste and pathogens.

• These indicators are found in the intestines of
  warm-blooded animals and are excreted in their
  waste.
• Indicators are useful because it would be
  difficult and costly to attempt to directly
  detect the many different pathogens or parasites
  that can be found in surface waters.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program

• If waste pathogens are present in high
  concentrations in recreational waters and are
  ingested while swimming or enter the skin through
  a cut or sore, they may cause gastrointestinal
  illnesses, infections or rashes.

CDC. Surveillance for Waterborne-Disease
Outbreaks United States, 1999-2000. MMWR
200251(SS-8). http//www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss51
08.pdf
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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program

• EPAs Ambient Water Quality Criteria for
  Bacteria 1986 is based on epidemiological
  studies to evaluate the relationship between
  swimming in contaminated waters and illness
  rates.
• Enterococci had the strongest correlation to
  swimmer illness rates.

EPA. Health Effects Criteria for Marine
Recreational Waters. August 1983
EPA-600/1-80-031.
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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Bacterial Indicator Standards

• Floridas adopted indicator organism for
  bacterial contamination is fecal coliform, as
  promulgated by the Florida Department of
  Environmental Protection.
• In 1986, the federal Environmental Protection
  Agency revised their criteria to recommend the
  bacterial indicator enterococci, which provides
  equivalent protection but is considered a better
  indicator of the presence of human waste.
• The Department of Health is utilizing the 1986
  guidance to implement enterococci monitoring
  while also monitoring for fecal coliform to
  fulfill both Federal and State requirements.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
What this means

• County Health Departments collect samples every
  week and compare results to the standard for the
  Single Sample Maximum (SSM).
• - Measures instantaneous water quality
  conditions.
• If an enterococci result exceeds a SSM of 104
  colony forming units (CFU) per 100 milliliters of
  beach water sampled and a resampling result also
  exceeds this value, then an "Advisory" will be
  issued.
• If a fecal coliform result exceeds a SSM of 399,
  and this is confirmed, a Warning will be issued.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Geometric Mean

• With the collection of weekly samples, DOH is
  calculating a Geometric Mean (GM) for
  enterococci.
• A reflection of average conditions.
• Calculated with the five most current sample
  periods, including any resampling data.
• The GM action limit for enterococci is 36 CFU/100
  ml. (0-35 cfu/100ml is acceptable)

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Public Notification
Advisories and Warnings

• County health departments issue health advisories
  or warnings when these conditions are confirmed. 
  If a resample cannot be collected and posted on
  the web page before the end of the sample period,
  the advisory or warning will be issued with the
  first poor result.
• Any advisories or warnings are promptly sent to
  the appropriate local officials and the State
  Health Office.
• Additional resampling of monitoring sites after
  advisories or warnings have been issued is
  conducted at the discretion of the county health
  departments.

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Public Notification
Measures to inform the public about advisories or
warnings

• Results are posted on the website.
• A sign is posted parallel to the sample location
  for the beach and at points of access.
• Media is notified.

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Data Entry CHD staff enters data weekly Public
Website Data is instantly posted
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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program

• County of sites
• Bay 13
• Brevard 10
• Broward 15
• Charlotte 8
• Citrus 1
• Collier 14
• Dade 15
• Dixie 1
• Duval 10
• Escambia 14
• Flagler 6
• Franklin 5

County of sites Gulf 6 Hernando 1 Hillsboro
ugh 9 Indian River 6 Lee 13 Levy 1 Manatee 10 Ma
rtin 9 Monroe 17 Nassau 11 Okaloosa 12 Palm
Beach 14
County of sites Pasco 7 Pinellas 14 Santa
Rosa 7 Sarasota 16 St. Johns 8 St.
Lucie 4 Taylor 4 Volusia 15 Wakulla 2 Walton 9
TOTAL 307
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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Results (up to 8/04)

• Floridas coastal counties have reported a total
  of 834 poor fecal coliform results, 1897 poor
  enterococci single sample levels, 1352
  enterococci geometric mean exceedances, and 2010
  advisories/warnings.

poor Fecal Coliform 1.67 (of 49,752
samples) Enterococci 3.81 (of 49,752
samples) Enterococci Geometric Mean 4.26 (of
31,679 samples) Advisories 4.04 (of 49,752
samples)
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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Additional Results

• 2 counties (Brevard and Flagler) have had no poor
  results (as of 1/16/05)
• 4 counties (Escambia, Okaloosa, Wakulla, and
  Pasco) exceed the overall state average for all
  four variables (up to 8/04)
• Taylor County has the highest percentage of
  advisories (up to 8/04)

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program

• Advisory Days

• The number of days a beach has been under an
  advisory.
• YEAR Total Advisory Days
• 2000 97
• 2001 923
• 2002 1970 (began weekly sampling, began use of
  G.M., and fecal coliform standard
  reduced from 800 to 400)
• 2003 6401 (above changes implemented entire
  year, and increased rainfall
  observed)
• 2004 5063 (includes samples up to 10/16/04 only)

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
Advisory Days

• 21 or more advisory days DEP threshold for a
  site to be deemed an Impaired" body of water.
• YEAR of Sites Impaired
• 2000 0
• 2001 14
• 2002 31
• 2003 64
• 2004 58 (includes advisories resulting or
  extending from samples up to
  10/16/04 only)

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Florida Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program
ACTIONS TAKEN

• City of Key West - sewer system retrofitted.
• Upper Keys - Some federal funding acquired for
  sewering projects.
• Taylor County - new sewer project for Keaton
  Beach, Ezell Beach and Cedar Island.  In early
  stages of construction, funded for 300 to 350
  connections.
• Escambia County - has worked closely with the
  University of West Florida in finding the sources
  of bacteria in tributaries and bayous. Ordinance
  passed requiring existing septic systems to be
  inspected and pumped upon property transfer.
• Bacterial source tracking (BST) work has occurred
  in cooperation with both Universities and DEP in
  Sarasota, Dade, Charlotte, Pinellas and
  Volusia counties, and soon with a DEP-funded, USF
  project for shellfish beds in Wakulla, and a Dade
  county CDC-funded  University of Miami
  epidemiology and bacterial population study.

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Web Pages of Interest

• CDC. Surveillance for Waterborne-Disease
  Outbreaks United States, 1999-2000. MMWR
  200251(SS-8).
• http//www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss5108.pdf
• EPAs BEACH Program
• http//www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/
• Florida Healthy Beaches Program
• http//esetapps.doh.state.fl.us/irm00beachwater/
• default.aspx

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Dave Polk, Healthy Beaches Coordinator
dave_polk_at_doh.state.fl.us 850-245-4240
Michelle Fredette michelle_f
redette_at_doh.state.fl.us