GREENWICH, Conn. — Beach season is here, and as summer is unofficially underway, water quality grades are out for Long Island Sound.
Save the Sound, a member-supported environmental action organization, releases the letter grades annually.
It's based on bacteria data collected by local health departments at nearly 200 beaches around Long Island Sound. The data is submitted to a federal database. Save the Sound pulls the data, uses a consistent criteria, and assigns a letter grade.
The beach grades you see reflect the water quality last year.
"The rain definitely does have an impact on beaches. Storm water runoff can carry pollutants in it," said Peter Linderoth, Save the Sound's director of water quality.
"Overall, when you collectively look at it, a wetter year might result in a bit of a dip in grades across the board," he added.
Summer 2023 was one of the wettest in years.
Drainage and storm water management in the immediate area surrounding a beach play a big role.
Hammonasset in Madison received an A+, despite the wet weather and debris carried by flooded rivers into the sound.
The situation was different at Rocky Neck in East Lyme, which received a D+.
The report card for each beach can be used to identify areas for improvement.
"We’re talking with Greenwich officials right now. Byram Beach is one of the beaches that didn’t get a very good grade in 2023 and it also has a string of poor grades. We’re having very open discussions on why that is and what we can do moving forward to improve the water quality," Linderoth said.
Despite some poor grades, overall the prognosis is positive.
"Long Island Sound has almost 200 beaches around it, and many of them are receiving As and Bs. So get out there and go swimming this summer," he said.
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Ryan Breton is a meteorologist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at rbreton@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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