Swimmers would be wise to ask about water conditions before they dive in this summer, says a private environmental group that found beach closings and pollution-related advisories jumped last year.
"We don't want people to go and cancel their vacation," said Sarah Chasis, coastal director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We want people to be concerned and make inquiries."The council's annual report released Thursday attributed part of last year's 54 percent rise in closings and advisories to above-average rainfall in California and Florida. More rain increases runoff and taxes sewage systems.
The two states, with their long coastlines, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the 3,522 closings and advisories last year.
The lack of uniformity among states' reporting criteria and annual swings in rainfall complicate efforts to determine whether water quality has improved or worsened, council officials said.
"We don't feel comfortable saying there was more pollution in 1995 compared to 1994 because closings are up," Chasis said. "We do feel comfortable saying there is a lot of pollution."
Chasis suggested several precautions for swimmers who go to beaches that are not monitored for pollution. Her recommendations included swimming in ocean waters instead of enclosed bays, avoiding a swim right after a heavy rainfall, and keeping your head above water.
Sewage overflows accounted for 842 closings or advisories nationwide, while storm water runoff was blamed for 823; sewage treatment plant malfunctions, 236; and polluted runoff, 143, the group said in its sixth annual report, "Testing The Waters."