DEC surveyed Alaska's coastal communities and found that some beaches may be more likely to have a higher levels of bacteria contamination than others. To learn more about the extent of possible sources of the presence of fecal coliform or enterococci bacteria, DEC has entered into an agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with several coastal communities that will be able to apply for BEACH Grant funding. These cooperating communities will work with DEC for water quality monitoring, community notification and training.

The BEACH Act of 2000:
The BEACH Act was signed into law in October 2000 in response to concerns that people were becoming ill after visiting local shores/beaches, especially when they came into direct contact with the water during recreational activities.  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awards grants to state and tribal authorities to assist with the implementation of beach water monitoring and advisory notification programs.  More information on EPA’s Beach program can be found at http://www.epa.gov/beaches/

Alaska’s BEACH Grant
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), with the assistance of interested organizations and the general public, has developed a beach monitoring program to evaluate the possible risk to recreational beach users in Alaska.  Alaska’s BEACH Grant Program provides support for communities to begin monitoring marine water quality adjacent to high-use beaches. These grants will be used to sample beach water for organisms (fecal coliforms and enterococci bacteria) that indicate the presence of fecal contamination. By notifying the public in the event that a sample exceeds the allowable levels, this program will help prevent illnesses that could result from exposure to contaminated beach water. 

Identifying Alaskan Beaches:
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s Beach Grant Program defines a beach as “any shoreline where recreational activities may bring a person into complete or partial body contact with marine water.”   NOTE: This definition may include sections of a shoreline that do not appear to look like a sandy beach. 

A Recreational Beach Survey was performed in 2003 to gather information from coastal communities about the recreational use of beaches in their area.  The 60 responses that were received identified 203 recreational-use beaches as areas that were used for recreational purposes.  These beaches were located in 53 coastal Alaskan communities. 

What is the current status of the Alaska BEACH Program?
DEC has provided funding to number of local communities and tribal governments since 2007. The monies have been used for development of a BEACH program and monitoring. Communities involved in the program include: Haines, Juneau and Naknek starting in the summer of 2007; Homer, Dillingham and Juneau starting in the summer of 2008.

How do I get involved? 
If you are interested in being a part of Alaska’s Beach Monitoring Program, the first step is to fill out the beach survey, which can be found at Recreational Beach Survey. Your responses will help us rank your beaches based on the probability of fecal contamination and human exposure to that pollution during recreation on the beach. 

For more information contact:
Erin Strang
610 University Avenue
Fairbanks, AK 99709
(907) 451-2881
erin.strang@alaska.gov