Coastal water quality remains stable

摘要

As the U.S. EPA updates 25-year-old recreational water safety standards, the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) recent water quality analysis reveals that 2011 beach closings and advisories fell 3% from 2010, even though 2% more sites were monitored.rnMorethan66%of2011's23,481 closings and advisories were due to bacteria levels too high for public health standards. Stormwater was the largest known cause of pollution, accounting for 47% of advisory and closing days; but 49% of reports cited "unknown"rnpollution sources. EPA estimates 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater contaminate surface waters annually.