Delaware tops the list of 30 states rated in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 2014 Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches – and Dewey Beach earned Superstar beach status for its consistently high water quality over the last several years.
The organization collects sample data from over 3 thousand locations in 30 states to monitor how clean beach water is around the country.
Dewey Beach earned Superstar status for its water quality, meaning it reached National Resources Defense Council benchmarks 98 percent of the time over the past five years.
Rehoboth-Dewey Chamber of Commerce president Carol Everhart says water quality at First State beaches is part of their popularity.
“It tends to be accepted because it just looks inviting and its clean and you want to get in there," Everhart said. "But if it did not look that way or it wasn’t clean, that’s when you would get the recognition that something’s wrong here.”
The state’s monitoring program – administered by DNREC – tests for harmful bacteria largely caused by stormwater pollution. Untreated sewage spills and overflows can also lead to the presence of bacteria, viruses and parasites causing a variety of symptoms and diseases that could make swimmers ill.
Everhart believes people are more mindful of water quality as they choose which beaches to visit.
“They’re much more aware of everything from what they’re eating, how they’re eating, what kind of water they’re getting into, what kind of water they’re drinking in their tap water," she said. "So its just more of a public awareness."
15 of 24 First State beach areas monitored did not have any samples exceed the safety limit of the EPA’s Beach Action Value - the contamination threshold that determine water quality advisories.
Nine sites did report samples exceeding those limits, none had more than 20 percent of its samples top the BAV.
