Rainfall effects on beach water quality in southern California are large enough that county health departments typically issue warnings for the public to avoid recreational water contact for 3 days following a storm. To enhance the scientific foundation for these preemptive public health warnings, we examined the relationship between rainfall and beach indicator bacteria concentrations using 5 years of fecal coliform data taken daily at 20 sites in southern California. There was a countrywide increase in ocean bacterial concentrations associated with almost all storms larger than 6 mm and with every storm larger than 25 mm. Only for storms less than 2.5 mm was there no observable rainfall effect. Bacterial concentrations remained elevated for 5 days following a storm, although they generally returned to levels below state water quality standards within 3 days. The length of the antecedent dry period had a minimal effect on this relationship, probably reflecting a quickly developed equilibrium between the decay of older fecal material and the introduction of new fecal material to the landscape.
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Research Article|
June 01 2003
Relationship between rainfall and beach bacterial concentrations on Santa Monica Bay beaches
Drew Ackerman;
Drew Ackerman
1Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, 7171 Fenwick Lane, Westminster, CA 92683, USA
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Stephen B. Weisberg
1Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, 7171 Fenwick Lane, Westminster, CA 92683, USA
Tel.: +1 (714) 372-9203 Fax: +1 (714) 894-9699; E-mail: [email protected]
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J Water Health (2003) 1 (2): 85–89.
Citation
Drew Ackerman, Stephen B. Weisberg; Relationship between rainfall and beach bacterial concentrations on Santa Monica Bay beaches. J Water Health 1 June 2003; 1 (2): 85–89. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2003.0010
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