Title
Effect of beach management policies on recreational water quality
Author
Kelly, Elizabeth A. (University of Miami)
Feng, Zhixuan (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; University of Miami)
Gidley, Maribeth L. (University of Miami; NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory)
Sinigalliano, Christopher D. (NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory; University of Miami)
Kumar, Naresh (University of Miami)
Donahue, Allison G. (University of Miami)
Reniers, A.J.H.M. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics; NSF NIEHS Oceans and Human Health Center; University of Miami)
Solo-Gabriele, Helena M. (University of Miami)
Date
2018-04-15
Abstract
When beach water monitoring programs identify poor water quality, the causes are frequently unknown. We hypothesize that management policies play an important role in the frequency of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) exceedances (enterococci and fecal coliform) at recreational beaches. To test this hypothesis we implemented an innovative approach utilizing large amounts of monitoring data (n > 150,000 measurements per FIB) to determine associations between the frequency of contaminant exceedances and beach management practices. The large FIB database was augmented with results from a survey designed to assess management policies for 316 beaches throughout the state of Florida. The FIB and survey data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, factor analysis, and linear regression. Results show that beach geomorphology (beach type) was highly associated with exceedance of regulatory standards. Low enterococci exceedances were associated with open coast beaches (n = 211) that have sparse human densities, no homeless populations, low densities of dogs and birds, bird management policies, low densities of seaweed, beach renourishment, charge access fees, employ lifeguards, without nearby marinas, and those that manage storm water. Factor analysis and a linear regression confirmed beach type as the predominant factor with secondary influences from grooming activities (including seaweed densities and beach renourishment) and beach access (including charging fees, employing lifeguards, and without nearby marinas). Our results were observable primarily because of the very large public FIB database available for analyses; similar approaches can be adopted at other beaches. The findings of this research have important policy implications because the selected beach management practices that were associated with low levels of FIB can be implemented in other parts of the US and around the world to improve recreational beach water quality.
Subject
Beach management
Beach use
Enterococci
Fecal coliform
Fecal indicator bacteria
Water quality
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4cae77ec-45fd-4029-b8e5-5c3e68015b34
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.012
Embargo date
2018-08-22
ISSN
0301-4797
Source
Journal of Environmental Management, 212, 266-277
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Part of collection
Institutional Repository
Document type
journal article
Rights
© 2018 Elizabeth A. Kelly, Zhixuan Feng, Maribeth L. Gidley, Christopher D. Sinigalliano, Naresh Kumar, Allison G. Donahue, A.J.H.M. Reniers, Helena M. Solo-Gabriele