Top 10 beaches in Connecticut with the best water quality
2021-06-10
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
By Sanchali Singh
(FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn.) A new report released Thursday ranked the top 10 Connecticut beaches with the best overall water quality.
Nonprofit organization Save the Sound released the results in its 2021 Long Island Sound Beach Report, which is published biennially and analyzes over 200 beaches along the body of water.
The report found that 79% of Long Island Sound beaches earned “A” or “B” grades for water quality in the 2020 swimming season and listed the top cleanest beaches, 10 in Connecticut and 10 in New York.
Save the Sound said 16% of the Sound’s beaches received moderate to poor grades that ranged from “C” to “D,” showing that more work is needed to improve water quality and avoid beach closures.
The report revealed a decline in water quality at beaches following rain, which the nonprofit organization noted is worrisome “given predictions of increasing seasonal wet weather due to climate change.”
According to Save the Sound, a number of regions have shown a substantial increase in wet weather quality failure which wasn’t present in previous years.
“The great news illustrated in this year’s report is that there are superb swimming beaches across the length and breadth of the Long Island Sound in both NY and CT,” said Regional Director Tracy Brown. “But the report also demonstrates that there are challenges still to be overcome involving wet weather-related pollution at specific beaches, the quality of sewer or septic infrastructure in some beach communities, as well as issues of restricted beach access for the general public.”
The report highlighted that rainwater degrades water quality for several reasons, sometimes due to stormwater runoff, sewer lines that overflow when communities depend on combined stormwater/sewer lines or cities that have old sewer lines with undetected leaks.
“Climate change will mean more rain for the region,” Save the Sound said. “Therefore, it is crucial to invest in stormwater and sewage infrastructure to avoid dramatically accelerated beach closures.”
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