California Inland Beach Monitoring Workgroup
The safety of California’s beaches for swimming is a concern for water quality managers and the public. Swimming safety is assessed by using standardized field and laboratory procedures to measure levels of indicator bacteria in areas where body contact occurs. California’s coastal beaches are routinely monitored by a coordinated network of public health agencies and results are captured by the Beach Watch database and made publicly available via the Safe to Swim Portal. There has been no coordinated, statewide program to monitor inland beaches for swimming safety. The Inland Beach Monitoring Workgroup was formed to oversee actions of the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program to monitor, assess, and report on swimming safety of inland waters and to facilitate coordination and data sharing with monitoring groups throughout the state.
Workgroup Goals
- Add inland waters bacterial indicator data to the Safe to Swim Portal
- Standardize methods to monitor and assess inland waters swimming safety information in manner that is meaningful to decision makers and the public
- Encourage all bacterial indicator data to be captured by the California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN)
Membership - come join us!
Facilitators
- Carly Nilson
Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board - Alisha Wenzel
Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board - Rich Fadness
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
Participating Organizations
- Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program of the California Water Boards
- Clean Water Team of the California Water Boards
Meetings
2016
- September 28
- July 27
- May 25
- March 23
- February 9
- Inland Beaches Workgroup Proposal to the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP)
Tools (State / Fed / Local)
More Information
- For additional information on the Inland Beaches Workgroup, please email Carly Nilson or phone her at (530) 542-5445.
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