Report: Md. Beaches Are On A 4-Year Clean Streak

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland beaches were open for swimming with no health-based advisories more than 98 percent of the time last summer, the fourth year in a row that that mark was hit, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment's Healthy Beaches 2016 Progress Report.

The state monitored a total of 186 beaches, from Ocean City to Western Maryland lake shores.

It was also the 11th straight year that there were no advisories more than 96 percent of the time.

In October 2000, Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act and provided funding to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve beach monitoring in coastal states.

Maryland's Beaches Program provides local health departments this funding to protect public health using water quality monitoring information and public notification of beach conditions.

Samples are sent to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene laboratory for analysis. When water quality thresholds are exceeded, local health departments issue an advisory because there is a potentially elevated health risk to swimmers. If there is a known health risk to swimmers, such as from a sewage spill, local health departments close the beach.

The Maryland Department of the Environment has these pointers for people looking to stay safe and healthy, and help others do the same, at the state's beaches:

• Avoid swimming near storm drains along the beach and within 48 hours of a heavy rain event, or until the water clears
• Try not to swallow beach water
• Shower or bathe after swimming
• Dogs may not be allowed at some beaches, but where they are allowed, dispose of their waste properly
• Avoid swimming if you feel ill, or if you have open cuts or sores. If water contact can't be avoided, cover your cuts or sores with waterproof bandages
• If they are available, use diaper-changing stations in restroom facilities, or change diapers away from the water's edge
• Remember to properly dispose of used diapers
• Wash your hands with soap and warm water after using the bathroom or changing diapsers
• Take all trash with you when you leave
• Volunteer for local beach cleanup efforts
• Do not feed seagulls or other wildlife
• When boating, use an approve marine pump-out station for boat waste disposal
• Report any unsafe or unhealthy conditions to a lifeguard or beach manager
• Visit the Current Conditions page on MarylandHealthyBeaches.com, or your county website, for quality info

Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook