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BEACH Act Funding Cut

When scientists found high numbers of bacteria at The Ridges Beach in Baileys Harbor in July, they posted signs warning visitors not to swim or they could get sick. The next day when germ counts were lower and it was safe to swim, the signs went away.

That was thanks to the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act, passed by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 to give money to coastal and Great Lakes states to monitor beaches.

Like many federal programs, funding for the BEACH Act has not been included in budget proposals. Without it, local health departments will have to pick up the tab.

“The timing is really difficult,” said Donalea Dinsmore, water resources management specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “When you add to the fact that funding at all levels is decreasing, to say at this juncture it can be picked up locally in the current situation is, I think, very difficult.”

Almost $10 million of BEACH Act grants were given in 2012. Wisconsin got $224,000 to help municipalities check Great Lakes beaches, and almost $60,000 went to Door County.

Door County Health Officer Rhonda Kolberg doesn’t know how or if the county will pay for future monitoring, although she wants to see the program continue.

“If it’s the worst case scenario and we have no federal funds, then we’re going to have to come up with another plan somehow,” Kolberg said.

The Door County Health Department partners with professor Greg Kleinheinz and students at University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh to study local beaches. Popular beaches, like Egg Harbor Beach, are surveyed three times a week and less popular beaches are surveyed once a week.

Without BEACH Act funding, Kleinheinz said Door County municipalities will have to get creative to pay for monitoring.

“The question really is priorities,” Kleinheinz said. “History in the county tells us there’s things we can scale back on because the water’s been so good in those places, but history also says that issues can crop up very quickly. With the water resources being as valuable as they are there’s clearly a need for something to continue. People have to be creative to accomplish things.”

Not monitoring, Kleinheinz said, would mean a place like Door County would take on some extra risks. Although beach renovation has helped keep local beaches clean, it’s still important to make sure new sources of contamination don’t appear.

Changes on land, leaky septic tanks or bad weather could all lead to new problems on the beach, and stories of sick swimmers aren’t good for tourism.

BEACH Act funding also goes to educate the public on beach health, so they know when visiting the beach is most risky. Signs are posted at beaches with high bacteria levels, and beach closures are posted online at wibeaches.us. People can sign up for email alerts or download a smartphone application to keep up with closures on specific beaches.

“It’s a matter of risks,” Dinsmore said. “As a society there are some risks we’re willing to take and others that we’re not, but at least we’re aware that [there’s sometimes] a much higher risk than normally people are willing to accept.”

Between new grant sources and some local funds, Kolberg hopes to see Door County beach monitoring continue.

“I think it’s really important and I think the community has grown to expect it, and I think it’s something that really should continue,” Kolberg said. “We have a great program and it would be a shame to see that discontinued.”