2022 Metropolitan Beaches Water Quality Report Card

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay released its annual Metropolitan Beaches Water Quality Report Card on the 2021 beach season on Saturday, May 27 - just in time for Memorial Day weekend.

They have summarized the results in the following table. *

In 2021, the overall water quality safety rating for the Boston Harbor’s region’s beaches managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation was 86%, down from the previous year’s score of 93%. 

Rainfall has a significant impact on water quality on many beaches and varies substantially from year to year. In 2021 there were far more rain events in the region than in 2020, with 19 storms exceeding a half-inch of rain, 12 of which exceeded one inch of rainfall.

These seasonal variations are why Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is reluctant to draw conclusions from results for individual years, preferring to rely on multi-year averages in evaluating overall water quality on the region’s public beaches.

Despite the wet weather, Pleasure Bay and City Point Beach in South Boston, Nantasket Beach in Hull and Winthrop Beach had perfect scores of 100 % in 2021, while five area beaches scored between 82% - 94%.

“Considering the wet weather, most of the region’s beaches scored quite well, earning A’s and B’s” said Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Executive Director Chris Mancini, who noted that King’s Beach in Lynn and Swampscott and Tenean Beach in Dorchester continue to lag behind.

“Sadly the Department of Public Health’s beach posting and flagging protocols failed to make the grade again this year,” said Mancini, noting that 75% of the red flags that flew on Constitution Beach in East Boston in 2021 were wrong while an astonishing 100% of the red flags on that beach were incorrect in 2020. “We believe that there are better ways to provide timely and accurate information about beach water quality to those who need it most and would like to work with DPH and other stakeholders to get it right.”

According to Mancini, this problem is exacerbated by the fact that, though most of DPH’s website is available with Google Translate, their Bureau of Environmental Health beach water quality locator is still available in English only, though many beach goers primarily speak other languages in their home.

Rather than wait for DPH to update their website, Save the Harbor has posted the FAQ’s from the DPH site on their blog “Sea, Sand And Sky” where they can be easily translated into more 100 languages using Google Translate, which is an important first step.

According to Save the Harbor’s Director of Strategy & Communications Bruce Berman, “Working together with DPH, DCR, MWRA, and BWSC we can provide more accessible, timely and accurate water quality data to beachgoers, improving public access to the beach and better protecting the public’s health.”

According to Berman, this year Save the Harbor conducted a detailed study of Constitution Beach in East Boston to determine the accuracy of posted swimming advisories and beach flags and plans to evaluate other Metropolitan beaches using the same data review process.

“On many beaches, simply installing an accurate and accessible rain gauge and making the information available online in real time with a QR code would provide better information. We can – and should – do better than the current system, which relies on yesterday’s results which are a terrible predictor of today’s water quality.”

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay would like to thank Dr. Judy Pederson, former Chair of our Beaches Science Advisory Committee for her guidance in developing the methodology we use in this report.

We would also like to thank the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Richard M. Saltonstall Charitable Foundation, Kelly Coughlin of Stony Brook Partners, Ben Wetherill of Coastal Sensors, and Save the Harbor’s Environmental Policy Assistant Caroline Adamson.

Thanks as well to Metropolitan Beaches Commission Co-Chairs Senator Brendan Crighton of Lynn and Rep. Adrian Madaro of East Boston and each of the legislative and community members of the Commission for their commitment to clean water and the region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket.

For more information on Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Beaches Report Card, contact Bruce Berman on his cell at 617-293-6243 or email bruce@bostonharbor.com

To learn more about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the great work they do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor, the waterfront, islands and the region’s public beaches with all Bostonians and the region’s residents, visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org and follow @savetheharbor on social media.

*Beach safety scores are calculated as the percent of samples that comply with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health single sample limit for bacteria, a straightforward way to evaluate seasonal beach water quality and potential impacts on public health.

Weekly water quality testing at Boston’s regional beaches began in late May of 2021. Additional daily testing of Constitution Beach, King’s Beach, Malibu Beach, Tenean Beach, and Wollaston Beach began in early June and concluded on Labor Day, September 6, 2021

Beach Glass in Provincetown

 

We drove to Cape Cod last weekend to look at a vintage 19' Aquasport Osprey Dual to use as a tender to the 41' DeFever Trunk Cabin Trawler Verandah which is home to bostonharbor.com . It was well worth the trip: TT Verandah will be delivered to Boston in late April - just in time for flounder season and early striped bass fishing.

We stopped along the way to pick up some great fried clams at Mac's Fish House and Market (whole clams, not strips!), buy pickling spice and Herbs de Provence at Atlantic Spice Company and a few things for the galley at Utilities.

 We also stopped to take a few photographs of Cape Cod in the late winter before the crowds arrived, including this photo of the harbor at low tide from the East End.

As I headed back to the car, I notice what appeared to be small "nests" of sea glass trapped in the rip-rap by the side of the road.

 

Some of it was recent but some of it was quite old, including some vintage bottle rounds and turquoise art glass. I even found a piece of green "fire glass'" and a few lovely pieces of extremely rare lavender glass from the 1940's, which was originally green (like a Coke bottle) before the dye faded away.

(The original colorfast green dye was made by the German chemical company IG Farben who manufactured Zyklon B gas for the Nazi death camps and was unavailable during the war years. But that's a story for another day.)

So how did it get there? I have seen similar troves of glass and pottery in small depressions in the rocks at the wrack line at Spectacle Island, where it develops a patina as it spins and spins in the surf. I have also seen similar caches of glass near storm drains and abandoned industrial sites in the city.

It is possible that this glass was tossed by a wicked bad storm on a wicked high tide, and trapped at the side of the road. It is also possible (and perhaps more likely) that it was placed there by someone who gathered it on the beach and put it in small piles for people to discover and enjoy.

I took a few small pieces for further research to document the find, which will eventually end up on display in my rescue turtle tank which you can watch here. But I left most of it on the beach for others to discover and enjoy.

Real beach glass is increasingly rare, a shared treasure that is getting harder to find in these plastic times.  

(At the suggestion of former Boston Globe reporter Beth Daley, who is now editor The Conversation US, I personally have been doing my part to alleviate the shortage of blue beach glass by carefully "releasing" Sky Vodka bottles to the sea for nearly 20 years. After all, glass is made from silica - which is made from sand. But that's a story for another day.)

Take it from one who knows. Beach glass looks much better on the beach - or on public display - than it does buried in a shoe box in a dresser drawer or as part of a craft project. If you are going to gather it, follow the rules. It is against the law to "harvest" beach glass from state and national parks - like Spectacle Island. 

As you walk the beach this year look for treasures in the sand, use this great chart for reference - and please share your photos with Boston Harbor on Facebook.

See you on Boston Harbor, the beach or the islands soon.

B-

 

 

 

 

Get Cold for a Cause at the Shamrock Splash!

Roses are red, Boston Harbor is blue.
I'm splashing in Boston Harbor on March 6,
and need two quick favors from you.

Happy Valentines Day!

In just over two weeks I'll be leaping into the clear, cold (35 degree!) water of Boston Harbor at the Shamrock Splash to raise money for Save the Harbor's free youth and beach programs. 

Over the past 10 years I have personally raised more than $25,000 for free beach events and kids programs on the region's public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket. 

Though I hope that you will join our bostonharbor team and splash with us on the beach in East Boston on March 6th,  I know that you may be unable - or unwilling - to take the plunge with us this year.

There are two other ways that you can help.

First, it would be terrific if you could make a contribution today to support my Splash to support Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's free Youth & Beach programs in 2022.

And second, I'd also appreciate it if you would take just a moment to subscribe to our new Boston Harbor YouTube Channel, for great videos from previous splashes and regular updates of this year's Splash.

(Yes, you can also watch the video of me wrestling a 12 foot long Burmese python in the Everglades on the channel, as well as some great live feeds of Boston's spectacular harbor.)

Thanks for your friendship, and your support.

I hope to see you on Constitution Beach in East Boston on Sunday March 6th!

All the best,

Bruce