See What LI Sound Beaches Score Best, Worst, For Water Quality: Report

LONG ISLAND, NY — Long Island Sound beaches in both Suffolk and Nassau Counties received top scores in a new report — but some need improvement, according to a new report released by Save the Sound.

Save the Sound, an environmental action organization, devoted to protecting and improving the water and air quality in the Long Island Sound region on Long Island and Connecticut, released a biennial beach report Wednesday in Connecticut, a "science-and-date driven analysis of water quality when evaluated against state criteria for safe swimming — which measure fecal indicator bacteria levels on a weekly basis during the summer season," the group said.

The report is based on data from 2020 to 2022.

Data collected is uploaded to the Environmental Protection Agency's water quality portal database, the group said. Beach water quality data is combined with rainfall data to determine how wet or dry weather shapes conditions at local beaches.

In addition to the highest scoring beaches, this year, Save the Sound also listed the 10 Lowest Scoring Beaches. The goal, the group said, is to identify beaches in need of increased pollution reduction.

Save the Sound also explained that water quality can decline after rain, due to the fact that stormwater picks up fecal matter and other contaminants and runs into local waterways, the Sound, or the ocean.

As for the top-ranked beaches, according to Save the Sound, "Southold stands alone in New York, with its uninterrupted stretch of A+ grades that started in 2017."

Save the Sound gave McCabe's Beach, Southold Town Beach, Orient State Park Beach, and Kenny's Beach, all in Southold, an A+ ranking.

In Nassau County, three beaches in Oyster Bay — Ransom Beach, Centre Island-Sound Beach, and Soundside Beach — also received an A+ grade. And in Smithtown, Sunken Meadow State Park also took home the A+ designation.

On the flip side, two beaches on Long Island, both in Nassau County, made the Top 10 Lowest Scoring Beaches list — Manorhaven Beach in North Hempstead, and Beekman Beach in Oyster Bay, both received a C+.

According to Save the Sound, the main reasons those beaches made the lowest-scoring list was due to "data gathered by the local beach operators, who are required by state law and the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act to monitor for Enterococci, the fecal indicator bacteria primary used to determine whether beaches are safe for swimming. Of the many reasons beaches are forced to close, the most frequent occurs when Enterococci levels in water samples exceed the state criteria."

Those at the event stressed the importance of learning what beaches need water quality improvement.

"We would like to thank all the data providers that make the grades we are discussing today possible," Director of Water Quality Peter Linderoth said.

Linderoth led the production of the biennial Beach Report, which provides grades for more than 200 public and private Sound beaches in New York and Connecticut, a release said.

"Local health departments collect water samples for pathogen indicator bacteria from beaches, then submit their data for upload to the EPA’s Water Quality Portal. Save the Sound and advisors developed a system to retrieve those public data and to grade them using scientific methods. The result is thousands of annual data points distilled down to understandable and comparable grades."

The good news, Save the Sound said, is that 78 percent of the beaches graded in the 2023 Report received "A" or "B" grades for water quality, based on data collected in the 2022 swimming season.

"That means 22 percent are receiving a 'C' grade or lower," said Vice President of Water Protection David Ansel at the New York event. "This is not acceptable."

Others spoke out about the report.

"The Long Island Sound Beach Report helps raise awareness about the actions needed to continue to protect and restore North Shore beaches and helps provide a road map for local municipalities to guide future improvements that will help protect the health and safety of our waterways and the residents who frequent them," said Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena.

The foremost stressor for Long Island Sound waters is polluted stormwater, the report said.

"The overall failure rate of beach samples was nearly three times as high in wet weather than in dry weather, 13.5 percent to 5.2," said Clean Water Advocacy Specialist Sam Marquand.

Beach closures and failures after rainstorms are concerning for several reasons, he added.

"First, elevated levels of fecal contamination after rain can often indicate untreated sewage has made its way into a system of pipes only designed for stormwater. Second, beaches with abundant wet weather failures have large swaths of impervious surfaces — such as roads, roofs, and parking lots — that are leading to high volumes of polluted stormwater flowing to beaches. Third, rainfall intensity and frequency are increasing due to climate change, raising the stakes for continued green infrastructure projects to reduce stormwater, such as rain gardens and bioswales."