Michigan public beach advisories were up during the 2024 season compared to 2023, with the difference likely due to the timing and intensity of storms that washed polluted runoff into rivers and lakes.
A total of 127 advisories and closures were reported for 106 beaches in thirty-eight counties, by twenty-eight local health departments in 2023. In 2024, 289 advisories and closures were reported for 167 beaches in forty-eight counties by thirty-three local health departments.
“Just my initial observation for 2024 was that beaches were significantly impacted by rain and storms,” said Dr. Shannon Briggs, coordinator of beach monitoring for the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). “The dates of the closures are clustered for the beaches. It seemed the storms arrived early in the week and that is when most monitoring occurs.
“Beaches are typically monitored Mondays and Tuesdays. Followup samples are collected on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Most labs don’t take samples on Friday because they have to wait until Saturday for the culture-based results. However, there are some labs that use qPCR methods and can test beaches on Fridays.”
Beach advisories and closures are issued based on an unhealthy level of Escherichia coli (E. coli). In contrast to former testing methods, which took at least 24 hours to yield results, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) can yield measurements or estimates of E. coli within several hours. Thanks to the quicker turnaround time, officials can post warnings or close beaches the same day.
When bacteria such as E. coli are present, other dangerous bacteria and viruses that are more expensive to measure may also be present. High levels of E. coli signal that microorganisms of concern to human health, such as Salmonella and norovirus, may also be in the water.
Statewide, 530 beaches in sixty-seven counties were monitored by thirty-seven local health departments in 2023. In 2024, 521 beaches in sixty-seven counties were monitored by thirty-seven local health departments.
The monitoring of beaches in Michigan is voluntary and is conducted by the local health departments. State law requires that a local health officer or an authorized representative of a local health department that conducts tests at bathing beaches is required to notify the department and other entities of the test results within 36 hours of conducting a test or evaluation. Owners of public bathing beaches must post a sign that states whether the bathing beach has been tested, and if so, the location of the test results.
Monitoring results for Michigan’s public beaches – roughly 600 Great Lakes and 600 inland beaches, are on EGLE’s Beachguard website.
