If you swim at 10 different U.S. beaches, you could end up getting a stomach bug, conjunctivitis or even something more serious from one of them. New research from the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, has concluded that 10% of the country’s coastal and lakefront beaches fail to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s water-safety standards—in other words, they’re ripe with bacteria. 
 
 Things are particularly bad in New England, on the Gulf Coast and along the Great Lakes, according to the data. 
 
 The major culprit is stormwater runoff, which inevitably ends up in the ocean after picking up garbage, oil and waste products from both humans and animals along the way. Making matters worse are the hundreds of billions of gallons of sewage that go untreated annually, ending up in water and causing 3.5 million Americans to fall ill each year. 
 
 Federal law requires all states to test their beach water for bacteria, and respond accordingly when levels are too high. In 2012, nearly 2,000 beaches were closed in New York and New Jersey alone as a result of pollution. ||||| Posted June 25, 2014 
 
 “Rain, rain go away…” might be popular as a nursery rhyme, but it’s a hugely unpopular sentiment right now in California, as this epic drought puts increasing strain on communities throughout the state. And even though stormwater remains a leading cause of pollution at California’s beaches, hoping for less rain is not a long-term solution. 
 
 Finding a way to reduce pollution is absolutely critical for California’s thriving beach and coastal economy. According to NRDC’s annual beach water report, Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches, released today, 9 percent of water quality samples collected last year at California beaches contained bacteria levels that failed to meet the most protective threshold for swimmer safety set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – putting California, sadly, on par with a 10 percent failure rate for the country’s beaches overall. Far too many of the state’s beaches are failing to meet this benchmark for safe water 20, 30, or 40 percent (and upwards) of the time, putting beachgoers at increased risk of swimming in polluted water that can cause serious waterborne illnesses like stomach flu, pinkeye, and even respiratory ailments and neurological disorders. 
 
 Malibu Beach by the Malibu Pier in Los Angeles County was listed as a "Repeat Offender" for pollution in today's report (Photo: -Scipio-) 
 
 Today’s report, the 24th annual release, collects and analyzes the latest water testing results from the EPA and state beach coordinators at nearly 3,500 beach testing locations nationwide. It examines the various causes of water pollution that plague America’s beaches and identifies opportunities for all of us – government leaders, homeowners and beachgoers – to keep pollution out of our beaches, lakes, and rivers. 
 
 Beaches across the state are polluted by a variety of contamination sources and major environmental stresses, including the largest known source of beach water pollution -- stormwater runoff from our urban and suburban environments. And even though 2013 was recorded as one of the driest years for much of California since the state started keeping records 150 years ago – meaning less rainfall flushing pollution out to our coastal waters – an unacceptable number of California’s beaches saw high levels of pollution last year. 
 
 Hoping it rains even less is obviously not a solution to this problem. Instead, we need to be capturing rain where it falls by using green infrastructure solutions to turn this potential source of pollution into a valuable resource for our communities. Green infrastructure techniques like rain gardens, curb cuts, rain barrels, and porous pavement can help recharge groundwater or harvest rainwater for non-potable uses like landscape irrigation and toilet flushing, saving on both water use and bills. 
 
 However, in addition to dirty runoff, our local waters are threatened by sewage spills, climate change, and a lack of federal policies that could fully protect the streams and wetlands that help sustain clean beaches. Wetlands and small streams help ensure that beaches downstream remain safe for swimming and fishing by removing pollutants from the water that passes through them and by retaining stormwater that often causes pollution problems. Thankfully, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are working to ensure that tributary streams and wetlands are protected from pollution under the Clean Water Act. The agencies recently proposed a Clean Water Protection Rule, which will help better protect our beaches and the local economies that depend on them. The proposed rule, officially known as the “Waters of the U.S. Rule,” is open for public comment until October 20. By clicking on this link, YOU can take action to make sure the rule fully protects California’s (and the rest of the country’s) beaches. 
 
 In all this, though, there IS good news: despite the pollution challenges we face, California also has a number of world class beaches that are generally safe for swimming, including one, Newport Beach at 38th Street, identified as a “Superstar” Beach in NRDC’s report. 
 
 Newport Beach in Orange County (Photo: flickr/Ken Lund) 
 
 But this means two things: first, people need to make sure they know what’s in the water at the beaches they visit, and to choose their beach carefully. Because California has such clean, healthy beaches right next to others that may be polluted or unsafe for swimming, it’s critical that people check out the beaches they’re visiting to make sure it’s safe to swim. And second, we need to keep working on preventing pollution from reaching our shores in the first place, so that the pollution problem we face doesn’t continue to overshadow what’s good about California’s beaches. 
 
 We need it to rain in California. We need water to flow in our rivers and streams. And we need for our beaches to be safe for everyone when it does. 
 
 Some Details on California’s Beach Water Quality for the 2013 Year: 
 
 In 2013, California reported 729 coastal beaches and beach segments, 501 of which were monitored. Of all reported beach monitoring samples, 9% exceeded the Beach Action Value (BAV) of 60 enterococcus bacteria colony forming units (cfu) per 100 ml marine or estuarine water in a single sample. NRDC considers all reported samples individually (without averaging) when calculating the percent exceedance rates in this analysis. This includes duplicate samples and reported samples taken outside the official beach season, if any. 
 
 The beaches with the highest percent exceedance rates of the BAV in 2013 were Aquatic Park in San Mateo County (64%); Lakeshore Park in San Mateo County (48%); Candlestick Point, Windsurfer Circle in San Francisco County (47%); Inner Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro in Los Angeles County (44%); and Newport Bay, Newport Boulevard Bridge in Orange County (44%). ||||| (Photo: The Associated Press) 
 
 RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Olympic waters in this city are more widely contaminated by sewage than previously known and pose a greater threat to athletes' health ahead of next year's games, according to new results from tests commissioned by The Associated Press. 
 
 Expanded analysis of Rio's waterways shows that high viral and in some cases bacterial counts are found not just along shorelines where raw sewage runs into waterbodies, but far offshore where athletes will compete in sailing, rowing and canoeing. 
 
 That means there is no dilution factor in the bay or lagoon where events will take place. 
 
 "It's going to increase the exposure of the people who come into contact with those waters," said Kristina Mena, a U.S. expert in waterborne viruses. "If we saw those levels here in the United States on beaches, officials would likely close those beaches." 
 
 In July, the AP reported that its first round of tests showed viruses causing stomach and respiratory illnesses and more rarely heart and brain inflammation at levels up to 1.7 million times what would be considered highly alarming in the U.S. or Europe. 
 
 The report prompted sports officials to promise they would do their own viral testing. Those pledges took on further urgency in August, after pre-Olympic rowing and sailing events in Rio led to illnesses among athletes nearly double the acceptable limit in the U.S. 
 
 Nevertheless, Olympic and World Health Organization officials have flip-flopped on promises to carry out their own viral testing in the wake of the AP's July report. 
 
 At issue are two kinds of testing. 
 
 Brazilian, Olympic and WHO officials now say Brazil needs only to conduct testing for bacterial "markers" of pollution to determine water quality. That's the standard for nations around the globe to monitor waterbodies, mostly because it's been historically easier and cheaper. 
 
 "The health and safety of athletes is always a top priority and there is no doubt that water within the field of play meets the relevant standards," the Rio 2016 Olympic organizing committee said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "Rio 2016 follows the expert advice of the World Health Organization, whose guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environments recommend classifying water through a regular program of microbial water quality testing." 
 
 However, in recent years technological advances have made it simpler and less expensive to monitor viral levels, too. 
 
 Studies dating back decades have shown little to no correlation between the levels of bacteria pathogens in water, which quickly break down in salty and sunny conditions like those in tropical Brazil, and the presence of viruses, which have been shown to last for months, and in some cases years. 
 
 Rio's waterways, like those of many developing nations, are extremely contaminated because most of the city's sewage is untreated, flowing into Guanabara Bay, the Rodrigo Freitas Lagoon and the famous Copacabana Beach. 
 
 Rio won the right to host the Olympics based on a lengthy bid document that promised to clean up the city's scenic waterways by improving sewage sanitation, a pledge that was intended to be one of the event's biggest legacies. 
 
 Brazilian officials now acknowledge that won't happen. 
 
 The AP's first published results were based on samples taken along the shores of the lagoon where rowing and canoeing events will be held. Other samples were drawn from the marina where sailors enter the water and in the Copacabana Beach surf, where marathon and triathlon swimming will take place. Ipanema Beach, popular with tourists and where many of the expected 350,000 foreign visitors will take a dip during the games, was also tested. 
 
 Since then, the AP expanded its testing to include offshore sampling sites inside Olympic sailing courses in Guanabara Bay and in the middle of the lagoon where rowing and canoeing lanes were located during recent test events. 
 
 Not only has the AP testing since August found the waterbodies to be consistently virus-laden throughout, but it also captured a spike in the bacterial fecal coliforms in the lagoon — to over 16 times the amount permitted under Brazilian law. 
 
 Athletes have made efforts to avoid falling ill, from bleaching rowing oars to preemptively taking antibiotics, which have no effect on viruses, to simply hosing off their bodies the second they finish competing. 
 
 Despite that, athletes at test events in August still fell ill. The World Rowing Federation reported that 6.7 percent of 567 rowers got sick at a junior championship event in Rio. The International Sailing Federation said just over 7 percent of sailors competing at a mid-August Olympic warm-up event in Guanabara Bay fell ill. 
 
 By comparison, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum illness rate for swimming is 3.6 percent — which many experts say is too high. 
 
 Offshore water samples taken by the AP for the past three months were 30,000 times higher than what is considered alarming in the U.S. and Europe — at a point 600 meters (yards) offshore and within the Sugarloaf sailing race course; at a spot 1,300 meters (yards) off the shore within the Naval School course; and at a point 200 meters from the shoreline in the Olympic lagoon where rowing lanes are located. 
 
 The high levels of sewage-linked pathogens found in the offshore sailing courses "show that ... there are many, many points where sewage enters the bay," said Brazilian virologist Fernando Spilki, coordinator of the environmental quality program at Feevale University in southern Brazil, who is conducting monthly tests for the AP. 
 
 "These pathogens we're looking for, especially the viruses, are able to migrate in the currents in a big way," he said. 
 
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 Online: 
 
 Interactive, summary findings and methodology of AP's study: http://interactives.ap.org/2015/brazil-water/ 
 
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 Associated Press sports writer Stephen Wade contributed to this report. 
 
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 Brad Brooks on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bradleybrooks 
 
 Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
– They may look pristine, but one in 10 US beaches is ripe with enough bacteria to make you sick. New research shows 10% of coastal and lakefront beaches fail to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's water-safety standards and swimmers could develop a stomach bug, conjunctivitis, pink eye, or even respiratory illnesses and neurological disorders, Time and the Natural Resources Defense Council report. The worst places for pollution? The Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, and New England. The research from state beach coordinators at nearly 3,500 beach testing locations around the country found most of the pollution comes from stormwater runoff, which picks up garbage, oil, and human and animal waste before it ends up in oceans. But climate change, a lack of federal policies, and hundreds of billions of gallons of untreated sewage pouring into the water isn't helping matters. Time points out that in 2012, nearly 2,000 beaches were closed as a result of pollution—in New York and New Jersey alone.