How to read beach attributes

Every beach page on Ocean98 shows attributes: facts about the beach itself and about how it fits into a monitoring program. They are not water quality results.

Identity and location

• Beach ID: the EPA identifier.
• Waterbody and type: the water the beach fronts, and whether it is open coast, a sound, bay or inlet, still water (a lake) or flowing water (a river).
• Start and end coordinates: the two ends of the beach segment. Our maps place a marker at the start.
• Length: shoreline length in miles.

Program attributes

• Beach Act: whether the beach is in the federal BEACH Act program.
• Tier: the program's priority rank.
• Monitoring and reporting frequencies: how often sampling is planned and how often results and advisories are reported to EPA.
• Dormant and historical flags: the beach is no longer active in the program, or is kept only as a historical record.

Access and owner

Access reads Public or Private when reported. Owner gives the ownership category. Public access in the data does not guarantee parking, lifeguards or open hours.

What is not here

Beach water quality sample results, bacteria counts, advisories and closures are separate datasets. Ocean98 does not show them, and you should not read "safe to swim" or "unsafe" from attributes. Check your local beach program before you swim. See finding public beaches.