Source of tainted beach water unknown
Crowds gather at the Jetty Park Beach in Matagorda County on July 4, 2008.
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DIG DEEPER
To monitor bacterial levels in water off Texas beaches, visit www.TexasBeachWatch.com.
TIDBITS
Researchers tested 65 of Texas' 169 public coastal beaches for bacteria.
Nationwide, Texas ranked 18th in beach water quality.
The state's five worst ...
- SHOW ALL »
DIG DEEPER
To monitor bacterial levels in water off Texas beaches, visit www.TexasBeachWatch.com.
TIDBITS
Researchers tested 65 of Texas' 169 public coastal beaches for bacteria.
Nationwide, Texas ranked 18th in beach water quality.
The state's five worst beaches, in terms of pollution, are in Nueces and San Patricio counties.
The Texas mainland boasts more than 1,400 miles of coastline, most of which is privately owned or wetlands.
Have a question for 'Watchdog'?
To submit questions, e-mail watchdog@vicad.com, post them to the "Watchdog" blog or call Advocate Public Service Editor Gabe Semenza at 361-580-6519. No topic is off-limits.
A curious percentage of water samples taken from two area beaches last year violated federal limits for human or animal waste.
What makes the tainted samples curious? Researchers can't explain where the pollution came from.
The Natural Resource Defense Council found on average 7 percent of U.S. beach water samples violated health standards in 2008. The nonprofit environmental action group reviewed weekly and daily samples from 6,000 beaches.
In its annual report, the council notes:
6 percent of 367 samples taken from Matagorda County's Jetty Park violated health standards.
7 percent of 323 samples taken from Aransas County's Rockport Beach Park also violated standards.
The two parks ranked about average for beach water pollution.
"Why do we have these numbers? You drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out because we don't know," said Tom Staley, Rockport's director of parks and recreation. "It's an aggravating, frustrating issue. I don't know if anybody has a true handle on where it's coming from and where it is."
The state's percentage of water samples that exceeded limits dropped from 9 percent in 2007 to 6 percent last year. The improvement, though, is unexplained.
A third of the state's beach water pollution comes from storm water, the report notes. Sixty-four percent stems from unknown sources. Pollution of the two area beaches remains untraced.
Because many cities and counties don't have the proper tools or funding, researchers can't track the source of dips and spikes in bacteria levels.
"It's not systematic. It's baffling, to be honest," said George Deshotels, a longtime Matagorda County commissioner.
Swimming advisories were posted seven times last year at both Jetty Park and Rockport Beach Park. Signs warned beachgoers of unacceptable levels of enterococcus, a fecal bacteria.
The bacteria is harmful to humans at 104 units per every 100 milliliters of water. Ingesting tainted water or swimming with an open wound can cause infections of the gastrointestinal system, ears, eyes, nose and throat.
To protect yourself from from bacteria, avoid ingesting tainted water and swimming with open wounds. Children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk of infection.
Nancy Stoner is co-director of the defense council's water program. She said that while much of the state's and country's beach water pollution remains untraced, stormwater runoff is the likely culprit.
This runoff can send to sea sewage overflow from leaky septic lines and overworked treatment plants, Stone said. Local governments typically direct flows straight to the coast, rather than capturing the water and allowing it to soak into soil, she said.
"The most dangerous times to swim at a beach is after a severe rain," she said. "If you leave headwaters unprotected, anything can make is way to the coast."
Researchers did not test samples at beaches in Calhoun, Jackson or Refugio counties.
The defense council lobbies Congress to provide more money to better monitor water, clean beaches and replace failed septic systems. The group also pushes for rapid testing.
The culture-based water tests used now require at least 24 hours to produce results, which leaves local authorities in the dark about real-time water quality.
"In May, we had an average count of 276. The next morning, the count was one," said Staley, the Rockport parks director. "We don't know if that elevated count was for an hour, a minute or 30 minutes. That's what will drive you crazy. You can't tell people who come what the level is or isn't. By the time we get the test results, the bacteria level may have changed."
Watchdog is a column by Advocate Public Service Editor Gabe Semenza. It appears every two weeks. Contact him at 361-580-6519 or gsemenza@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
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