Improve Beach Water Quality Monitoring in Florida

Florida is home to countless miles of beaches and waves enjoyed by Floridians as well as hundreds of millions of visitors every year. The Florida Healthy Beaches Program, administered by the Florida Department of Health (DOH) and local county health departments, is tasked with testing beach waters for enterococci bacteria and promptly notifying the public when elevated bacteria levels are present. Unfortunately, in practice and implementation, Florida's beach water monitoring and public notification varies on a county by county basis, leaving beachgoers vulnerable to getting sick at the beach - or worse - from time spent in Florida's ocean waters. 

SB1042/HB669 Public Waters, introduced in the Florida Senate by Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (R-Doral) and the Florida House of Representatives by Representative Peggy Gossett-Seidman (R-Boca Raton), aims to enhance protections for public health and ensure consistency in beach water quality monitoring and notification. The legislation:

• Requires the DOH to adopt and enforce rules to protect the health, safety, and welfare of persons using beach waters and public bathing places.
• Requires the prompt issuance of health advisories when a water body fails to meet water quality standards and notification to state agencies and local media.
• Requires the closure of waterbodies that fail to meet health standards if deemed necessary to protect the public.
• Prescribes conspicuous signage requirements for health advisories.

Surfrider's Florida network is working alongside water quality advocates throughout the state to advance this legislation to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of beachgoers in Florida.