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Michigan counties receive money for inland beach monitoring

(MI) Bay City Times – Fourteen agencies have been awarded more than $187,000 in state Water Quality Monitoring grants to assist with inland beach water quality monitoring for the 2009 and 2010 swimming seasons. The recipients include: The Central Michigan District Health Department, which received $22,424 to monitor 20 local beaches and three state park beaches in Arenac, Clare, Gladwin, Isabella, Osceola and Roscommon counties; and the District Health Department No. 2, which received $24,697 to monitor 10 local beaches, two state park beaches and one Department of Natural Resources access site in Alcona, Iosco, Ogemaw and Oscoda counties. More

Paddle boarders cross Platte Lake, Michigan, where a decades-long campaign reduced algal blooms caused by runoff from a fish hatchery. Image: J. Carl Ganter/ Circle of Blue

Great Lakes beach closings are no protection from harmful pollutants

By Amalia Medina

A green flag flying on a Great Lakes beach does not necessarily mean it’s safe to swim. Checking beach monitoring websites like BeachGuard is not a surefire solution either. These two findings are central to a public health research project, the Great Lakes Microbial Water Quality Assessment, that set out to measure microbial and chemical threats in Great Lakes waters, and how to reduce the number of illnesses they cause each year. A report from the project, sponsored by the International Joint Commission said decades-old testing methods are inadequate and “advances in newer methods are critically needed.” The commission is bi-national agency that advises the U.S. and Canada on managing water along the border. The need for such research is considered urgent.

Beach funding dwindles

Michigan received $152,000 in federal grants in 2014 to monitor the cleanliness of its lakes and beaches.

That’s more than $200,000 less than the state was allotted in 2013.