Water Testing and Advisories
The Louisiana Department of Health Beach Monitoring Program tests water at 24 beach sites along the Louisiana coast to determine whether the water quality meets Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria. This program is part of the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000. The BEACH Act is an amendment to the Clean Water Act requiring all coastal states to develop programs for effective water quality monitoring and public notification at coastal recreational beaches.
LDH analyzes the beach water for enterococci bacteria. These bacteria represent those commonly found in sewage pollution, and which could cause disease, infections or rashes. These analyses are performed on a weekly basis from April 1st through October 31st.