During a hot summer day, a trip to the beach sounds great, but is it safe? A study found nearly 85 percent of Texas beaches tested had water pollution levels that could make swimmers sick.
The study, “Safe for Swimming?” looked at fecal bacterial levels at 167 beaches across the state; it found 142 exceeded a federal safety threshold for bacterial contamination for at least one day in 2018. The culprits are often stormwater runoff and sewage overflows, researchers said.
“Millions of Texans go to the beach each summer, but our coastal areas also experience some of the heaviest rains in the country. The frequent flooding causes runoff and sewage overflow, which can result in this contamination,” said Jen Schmerling, deputy director of Environment Texas Research and Policy Center, which authored the report.
“We must invest in water infrastructure that prevents pollution to ensure that America’s waterways are safe for swimming,” she said in a news release.
Some areas of the Texas Gulf Coast are worse than others. A beach in Nueces County was potentially unsafe for 52 days of 64 days tested, more than any other site in the state. And in Chambers County, the average beach was potentially unsafe for swimming on 56 percent of the days that sampling took place, a higher percentage than any other county in the state.
Texas is not alone. Nationwide, an analysis of bacteria sampling data from beaches in 29 coastal and Great Lakes states and Puerto Rico showed that 2,585 sites — more than half of those tested — were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day last year.
For more information: Download the Swim Guide app to know the water quality at your beach.
10 sites were potentially unsafe on at least a quarter of the days tested:
- Cole Park - Site 2
- Cole Park - Site 3
- Cole Park - Site 4
- Cole Park - Site 6
- Ropes Park-Site 2
- Phoenish Park
- Corpus Christi Marina South
- Sylvan Beach- South
- Sylvan Beach-North
- Texas City Dike
Source: Environment Texas Research and Policy Center
Coming in contact with contaminated water can lead to a gastrointestinal illness or respiratory disease, as well as ear and eye infections and skin rash. Each year, about 57 million people nationwide get sick from contact with polluted waters, the authors said, citing a 2018 Environmental Health study.
On rare occasions, swimmers have developed potentially fatal infections from “flesh-eating” bacteria that lurks in all saltwater and brackish water, not necessarily contaminated water; those with weakened immune systems or open cuts and wounds are particularly susceptible.
Sites were considered potentially unsafe if bacteria levels exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s most protective “Beach Action Value” threshold, which aims to help officials make beach advisories and closures.
The report includes recommendations, including investing to fix aging sewage systems, using greener infrastructure to prevent bacteria-laden stormwater pollution and implementing same-day bacteria testing and warning systems.
The city of Houston is considering a legal settlement with the EPA that would add $2 billion to improve the city’s sewer system to prevent frequent sewage overflows into area waterways.
“Unfortunately, the problems that begin in Houston don't stay in Houston. As the city commits to the consent decree, it will finally address years of Clean Water Act violations that have polluted our waterways down to Galveston Bay,” Jordan Macha, executive director of Bayou City Waterkeeper, said in the news release.
Houston city officials are also considering creating incentives to promote the use of green infrastructure such as rain barrels, rooftop gardens and permeable pavement, the group said, which capture rain before it picks up waste and enters the waterways.
Environment Texas Research and Policy Center also called on the Texas Water Development Board to set aside at least 20 percent of its funds, including the new Flood Infrastructure Fund, to help cities invest in green infrastructure.
Editor's Note: A correction to the report changed some of the numbers cited in the story.