You may want to think twice before going for a dip in Texas beaches.
A new report says 90% of the state’s beaches, or 55 out of 61, tested positive for unsafe levels of fecal bacteria on one or more occasions last year.
Environment Texas found the Texas City Dike and 25th Street beaches in Galveston were among eight in Texas that exceeded the EPA’s safety threshold with unsafe levels of fecal bacteria reported more than 25% of all the days they were tested.
Cole Park Beach in Corpus Christi, the most frequently-contaminated beach in the state, registered high bacteria levels on 27 of the 50 days it was tested.
Nationally, 1,761 out of 3,192, or nearly half of all tested beaches, experienced at least a single day of potentially-unsafe fecal contamination in 2022, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Texas isn’t the only state with a fecal bacteria issue. All 19 of the beaches measured in Louisiana exceeded the EPA’s precautionary threshold on one or more occasions.
Fecal contamination happens due to runoff and sewage overflows.
Swimming in water contaminated with fecal bacteria can result in respiratory issues, gastrointestinal sickness, ear and eye infections, and skin rashes.
Swimmers can check the Texas General Land Office’s Texas Beach Watch map to stay updated on fecal bacteria counts at Texas beaches.
