Dr. Norene Moskalski
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Welcome to Norene's Environmental Thriller Blog

1/14/2012

2 Comments

 

Water Quality Reports for Your Favorite Beaches


In Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam, an eco-activist's concern about polluted waterways leads to media discussions and political arguments about the solution to an impending crisis of epic proportions. What if the water from our rivers and streams, and our lakes and aquifers, was no longer safe to drink? 

In some areas of the United States, public and private water recreation areas close their beaches after heavy rainfalls to limit our exposure to toxic runoff. State and Federal agencies monitor the bacterial counts at public beaches, issuing advisories and closing beaches when the counts exceed a healthy limit. How do we know which beaches are safe to visit? A quick check of the beach water quality reports on the internet can prevent a frustrating drive to a closed beach or warn about being careful not to swallow any water while swimming. 

The Natural Resources Defense Council surveys the water quality at United States' beaches annually, producing and publishing the report Testing the Waters. Individual State Summaries of beach water quality from the report can be found at www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/titinx.asp in the second column on this NRDC webpage. 

The NRDC also recognizes the Superstar Beaches that have achieved a five star rating for water quality for the previous year. The criteria for the ratings are listed below:

                                   1. Water Quality for 2010

                                   2. Water Quality for the Past Three Years
                                   3. Water Quality Testing Frequency
                                   4. Always Issues Advisories Promptly
                                   5. Posts Closings and Advisories

The NRDC Selected the 2010 Superstar Beaches: 

Delaware: Rehoboth Beach, Rehoboth Avenue Beach, Sussex County
Delaware: Dewey Beach, Sussex County
Minnesota: Park Point Lafayette Community Club Beach, St. Louis County
New Hampshire: Hampton Beach State Park, Rockingham County 



Another popular list of best beaches in the United States is produced every year by Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, aka Dr. Beach. He selects the top beaches in the United States based upon 50 criteria which he lists on his webpage. He releases his annual report before the Memorial Day weekend. His website is www.drbeach.org/top10beaches.htm.  

Dr. Beach's 2011 Top 10 Beaches:  

 1.  Florida: Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida 
 2.  California: Coronado Beach in San Diego, California  
 3.  Hawaii: Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii  
 4.  New York: Main Beach in East Hampton, New York  
 5.  North Carolina: Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks of North Carolina  
 6.  Florida: St. George Island State Park, Florida panhandle 
 7.  South Carolina: Beachwalker Park Kiawah Island, South Carolina  
 8.  Massachusetts: Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts 
 9.  Hawaii: Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on Oahu, Hawaii 
10. Florida: Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Florida 


Watch for this year's updates to these lists, which I will post in this blog section as soon as they are released. 
2 Comments
Anne Smith
1/15/2012 01:00:21 pm

Thanks for the lists of best beaches and the links! That was just what I needed before I start planning my vacation.

Reply
Jody
1/21/2012 01:51:46 am

I agree! A blog that is interesting and useful! Thanks for the info.

Reply



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    Dr. Norene Moskalski can often be found walking the beaches of the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, collecting sea glass, weathered minerals, unusual shells, and artifacts from colonial shipwrecks. A naturalist and environmentalist by nature, and a medical diagnostician by avocation, she has a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and has held administrative and teaching positions at Penn State University and Temple University. She has spent most of her life preparing administrators and teachers to lead and teach ethically with love and respect for everyone. The settings for her novels are authentic vignettes from university campuses and places around the world she has visited. Each novel presents a variation on a theme, using literary techniques and musical innuendos to move the action forward. Her plots revolve around the unexpected: What if the most beautiful things in the world are the most dangerous?

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