But rising trend may be threatened by climate
change
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) today
(18th May, 2007) marks the
twentieth anniversary of its Good Beach Guide by recommending 494 (63%)
of
tested. The Society also reports the number of MCS Recommended beaches
has
almost quadrupled in the last ten years – up from 125 in 1997. The
bathing water quality in the
Today’s figures stand as
testament to the influence exerted
by the Good Beach Guide on the water industry, since 1987, to clean up
its act and properly treat sewage disposal to the sea. But MCS believes that the number
of beaches
reaching its stringent water quality standard may have peaked because
storm
related pollution, driven by climate change, is now a serious threat to
coastal
waters.
Thomas Bell, MCS Coastal
Pollution Officer,
said: “MCS is delighted to recommend over 60% of
water quality. This is great news for the thousands of holidaymakers
heading to
the British coast this summer. We’re also delighted to report that the
number
of beaches achieving our tough water quality standard is four times
higher than
ten years ago.
Guide drew a
line in the sand twenty years ago for what was acceptable. Today we’re
enjoying
the benefits of that
campaign.â€
But three of the last four British
summers have been exceptionally dry,
and low rainfall boosts bathing water quality because of a lack of
storm
related pollution. During this period, the number of MCS Recommended
beaches
has peaked at around 500. Climate change is forecast to bring warmer,
wetter
winters, and summers punctuated by violent storms and flash floods.
This change
will substantially increase the pollution pressures along our coast,
acting
against future improvements in bathing water quality.
Thomas Bell continued:
“Heavy rain
translates into poor water quality because waterborne pollutants such
as raw
sewage, petro-chemicals and farm waste by-pass the sewer system and
sweep
directly from the land into rivers and the sea. This effect was
particularly
apparent across the
winter. It’s a serious problem that we believe
will worsen in years to come.â€
MCS acknowledges the
Government’s efforts to address storm
related pollution, including a current review of water management
strategy and
implementation of the new European Bathing Waters Directive. However,
the
Society believes that specific counter pollution measures must be
initiated
now, including new investment in sustainable urban drainage systems, a
significant expansion of the sewer system to handle large volumes of
storm
water, and the rapid improvement of an estimated 2,000 failing combined
sewer
overflows.
The
20th edition of the Good Beach Guide is
published in support of the MCS Campaign for
Friday 18th May.
Production of the guide is supported by The Crown Estate and the Royal
National
Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
Dr Carolyn Heeps, Head of
Offshore & Environment for The
Crown Estate, said “The Crown Estate is delighted with the continued
success of the Good Beach Guide in raising awareness of bathing water
quality
in the
become an important resource for millions of visitors wanting to visit
one of
the
MCS is working with the
RNLI to promote the summer launch of
their Beachwise national beach safety initiative, on
Thursday 24th
May. Beachwise will encourage the public to always
swim at lifeguarded
beaches. The locations of lifeguarded beaches are available at
www.goodbeachguide.co.uk. Check www.rnli.org.uk/beachsafety for RNLI beach
safety information.
‘MCS Recommended’ is one of
five
awards, but is the only scheme that focuses entirely on water
quality standards and the risk of sewage pollution. MCS will only
recommend
beaches in the Good Beach Guide if they meet the Guideline European
water
quality standard and are not affected by inadequately treated
continuous sewage
discharge.
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