As the summer swim season begins, here are some sources of information that may be of interest:
1.) "Safely Enjoying Virginia’s Natural Waters" -- This brochure, published by the Virginia Department of Health, covers topics such as:
• Why Avoid Natural Water After a Heavy Rain?
• How is Health Risk from Natural Waters Determined?
• What You Can Do To Protect Yourself
See the attached PDF file
Beaches & Bacteria 8.2004.pdf, Rec Waters.pdf
or go to http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/epi/dzee/beachmonitoring/
(also available in Spanish).
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2.) "Beaches and Bacteria" -- August 2004 Science Behind the News Article in Virginia Water Central, published by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. See attached PDF document or go to http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/central/virginia.htm. This article covers:
• The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act
• Virginia’s bacteria standards
• The types of indicator organisms monitored at Virginia’s beaches
• How people responsible for beach closures/advisories decide what is safe
• The difference between a beach advisory and a beach closure
• What it means to close a beach preemptively
• Bacteria Source Tracking
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3.) 2006 Swimming Season Update from EPA -- (Posted May 2007) -- America's beach scorecard topped 95 percent during 2006, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's just-released Annual Beach Report. Of more than 676,000 beach days, fewer than five percent were restricted due to contamination-related closings. More than half of the actions lasted for two days or less. More than 3,700 beaches were monitored by 35 states and territories under EPA's Beach Program. Fewer beaches were in the program than in 2005 due to consolidations and corrected state survey data. Beach contamination often results from stormwater running off streets, fields, forests, and other sources. See http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/
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4.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-- Healthy Swimming web page: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/ -- This site is for swimmers, pool operators, and public health professionals to provide background information about recreational water illnesses and ways to prevent these illnesses.
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Information provided to the members of the Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC). To learn more about the Council, see our website at www.VirginiaWMC.org or contact Jane Walker at the address below.
Jane Walker
Research Associate
Virginia Water Resources Research Center
210 Cheatham Hall (0444)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: 540-231-4159
Fax: 540-231-6673
Email: janewalk@vt.edu
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