President Trump's proposed budget would kill Florida's beach bacteria testing program

This summer, tests showed popular beaches on the Sanibel Causeway, Boca Grande and Fort Myers Beach rated “poor” when tested for fecal bacteria.

The regular water sampling program that discovered those problems would be eliminated by President Donald Trump's proposed 2018 budget.

His plan would ax funding for Environmental Protection Agency grants that pay for the state’s Healthy Beaches program, which measures bacterial contamination at 13 Lee County and 12 Collier County Gulf islands and beaches, plus along the Caloosahatchee and its estuary. Nonprofits like the Sanibel Sea School rely on the results to keep the 2,500 to 3,000 students it teaches annually safe.

Scientists monitoring 'big blob' in Gulf waters off Sanibel

“That’s a lot of bodies,” says J. Bruce Neill, the school's director, “and we worry very assiduously about health concerns, because we submerge them. We put them underwater and we all cut our feet, so it’s something we take very seriously.”

High counts of enteric bacteria, which live in human and animal intestinal tracts, show fecal pollution. The program tests for two of the most common types: enterococci and E. coli. Swallowing, swimming or wading in contaminated water can cause problems including diarrhea, nausea, rashes and eye irritation.

Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani says eliminating the monitoring program would pose “a significant threat to public health in terms of unaddressed risk,” but points out that at this stage, it’s only a proposed cut that still must be approved by Congress. The program also was on the chopping block in former President Barack Obama's proposed budgets, but Congress restored it.

U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, whose district covers much of the region’s coast, and has called the state’s water issues its top priority, didn’t respond to several requests for comment.

The EPA has told the Florida Department of Health, which administers the program, it will pay for the testing until August 2018. What happens after that remains an open question, though health department spokeswoman Mara Gambineri wrote in an email, “Should the grant opportunity not continue in the future, the department will consider alternative funding options.”

Actual costs can vary, Gambineri wrote, “but a middle of the road estimate is about $2,000 per sample per year for a site sampled bi-weekly.”

State looks to reduce Caloosahatchee pollution

The program is especially important to Southwest Florida beachgoers, because there are more poor water quality tests on the Gulf side of the state, as well as at beach sites inside of barrier islands, where tidal flushing and circulation are not as pronounced as along the coast, Gambineri says.

The health department's county offices take samples to measure the presence of potentially dangerous enterococci and E. coli bacteria, rate the site's water quality as good, moderate or poor for bacteria, then post the results online and issues an advisory if the result is confirmed, which means there's an increased risk of illness in swimmers at that location, Gambineri said. Since January of 2016, Lee County has had 15 poor results and Collier has had 10.

Poor results and warnings are the exception to the rule, she said, with about 95 percent of the state's ratings being good or moderate. "It remains statistically constant with about 5 percent of the tests showing poor water quality, varying between 4.5 and 6 percent during the last five years."

In 2016, the Florida Healthy Beaches Program posted 153 avoid-water advisories, which were publicized via beach signs, emailed advisories and online, though none have occurred in Lee or Collier. 

Other nonprofits and agencies monitor water for other reasons, such as to determine the health of fisheries or whether potentially toxic blue-green algae or red tide is at dangerous levels. But how and if they share data is another open question, and Cassani worries about communication breakdowns, in the absence of coordination.

If front-liners aren't even aware of each other's efforts and findings, "How is the public to know?" he asks. To use the ratings, you have to know where to look, and the state doesn't have the budget to aggressively publicize them. Case in point, the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce's Director Jacki Liszak wasn't aware of the Healthy Beaches Program until a reporter asked her about it.

"Well, shut the front door," she said. "And I've been living on this island for a long time. ... I would think the town would want to post this, but I get alerts from the town all the time and nothing. ... Somebody needs to do it, though."

Neill agrees. 

"I do think that a government ought to provide for the health and welfare of its citizens, he said. "We need to be made aware of the various health challenges that may be present"

In big-picture terms, Neill said, "We're fortunate we don't commonly have real health concerns in our water (but) we can't pretend our economy isn't driven by the quality of our water ... Overall, it's of very good quality," he said, "but if we don't have the real data that shows that, there's no way to communicate that to people."

Where the poor water is

Collier

2017 Poor Results

Naples Pier 1

Tiger Tail Beach 2

Total to-date: 3

2016 Poor Results

Lowdermilk Park 2

Naples Pier 1

Parkshore Beach 1

Residence Beach 1

Tigertail Beach 1

Vanderbilt Beach 1

Total: 7

Lee County

2017 Poor Results

Boca Grande Seagrape Beach 1

Sanibel Causeway 2

Total to-date: 3

2016 Poor Results

Blind Pass 2

Bonita Beach Park 1

Bowditch 2

Bowmans Beach 1

Cape Coral Yacht 1

Lighthouse Beach 2

Lynn Hall Park 1

South Sea Plantation 1

Tarpon Beach 1

Total: 12

Water hazards

Enteric bacteria live in human and animal intestinal tracts and its elevated presence shows fecal pollution. It may come from stormwater runoff, pets, wildlife and human sewage. Symptoms include upset stomach, diarrhea, eye irritation and skin rashes.

Algae blooms occur periodically. There are different kinds and some more serious than others. Blue-green algae blooms can be toxic. Symptoms: skin rashes, runny nose, sore throat, allergic reactions, severe gastroenteritis, liver or kidney toxicity and neurological problems.

Vibrio vulnificus is another type of waterborne bacteria but it is far more dangerous — in Florida, 78 people have died and 251 have been infected. The risk of infection is low for healthy people, but higher for those with cuts and weak immune systems. Eating raw seafood from contaminated water is also a common cause of infection. Symptoms up to three days after contact include: chills, fever, swelling, blistering, skin lesions, severe pain, low blood pressure and discharge from wound.

— USA Today Network-Florida contributed to this report