The condition of swimming beaches indicator reflects marine water quality conditions in areas heavily used for recreation. This indicator tracks the percent of swimming beaches that pass swimming standards with no more than one exceedance event of the swimming standard during the summer. Swimming beaches not meeting water quality criteria indicate increased risk of people getting sick through gastrointestinal illnesses, respiratory illnesses, and skin infections.
The percent of Puget Sound core beaches that have no more than one exceedance of the swimming standard during the summer. Core beaches are a subset of all monitored beaches that are sampled every year. Many core beaches have been used to assess the trend in the condition of swimming beaches since 2004. The method for calculating an exceedance of the swimming standard changed in 2022 and therefore these results are differentiated on the chart from earlier years. Beginning in 2022, an exceedance is now recorded over a 7-day period and is called an exceedance event.
Beginning in 2022, 95% of core beaches meet safe swimming standards annually.
Washington State Department of Ecology BEACH Program and BEACH Annual Report