title: Wave energy level and geographic setting correlate with Florida beach water quality.
abstract: Many recreational beaches suffer from elevated levels of microorganisms, resulting in beach advisories and closures due to lack of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. We conducted the first statewide beach water quality assessment by analyzing decadal records of fecal indicator bacteria (enterococci and fecal coliform) levels at 262 Florida beaches. The objectives were to depict synoptic patterns of beach water quality exceedance along the entire Florida shoreline and to evaluate their relationships with wave condition and geographic location. Percent exceedances based on enterococci and fecal coliform were negatively correlated with both long-term mean wave energy and beach slope. Also, Gulf of Mexico beaches exceeded the thresholds significantly more than Atlantic Ocean ones, perhaps partially due to the lower wave energy. A possible linkage between wave energy level and water quality is beach sand, a pervasive nonpoint source that tends to harbor more bacteria in the low-wave-energy environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocean Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA; NSF NIEHS Oceans and Human Health Center, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. Electronic address: zfeng@whoi.edu.
authors.forename: Zhixuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Environmental Fluid Mechanics Section, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628CN Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reniers
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocean Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA; NSF NIEHS Oceans and Human Health Center, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA.
authors.forename: Brian K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Haus
authors.affiliation: NSF NIEHS Oceans and Human Health Center, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA; Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, 1251 Memorial Drive, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
authors.forename: Helena M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Solo-Gabriele
authors.affiliation: NSF NIEHS Oceans and Human Health Center, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA; Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001419:Bacteria; D001493:Bathing Beaches; D016983:Enterococcus; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005431:Florida; D008800:Mexico; D011998:Recreation; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D014481:United States; D014871:Water Microbiology; D060753:Water Quality / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Enterococci; Exceedance; Fecal coliform; Recreational beaches; Water quality; Wave energy level