HOUSTON - Days before Labor Day weekend, a Texas nonprofit released a water quality report.
Brian Zabcik is a clean water advocate with Environment Texas, an Austin based nonprofit. His group’s study, "Swim at your Own Risk," crunched water bacteria tests done by the state to see how Texas waterways are faring over time.
Environment Texas says 63 percent of Texas beaches and 49 percent of Texas freshwater locations tested had unsafe levels of fecal matter on at least one day last year.
“It can cause gastrointestinal illness, respiratory problems, eye and ear problems and skin rashes,” Zabcik said.
Six Galveston Bay locations are listed as having five or more unsafe water days in 2017, although there are no active warnings this weekend. Inland, Zabcik says, “96 out of 100 test sites in Houston had unsafe levels at least once in 2017.”
After reading Environment Texas’ report, Galveston County Health District sent KHOU 11 the following statement:
“Advisories are issued for individual beach testing sites, meaning an individual advisory does not affect all area beaches. If you want to avoid an advisory, it’s often as simple as moving a few blocks to a beach that’s not under advisory.
"During beach season, each of Galveston County’s 52 testing sites are individually tested weekly. During non-beach season, the sites are tested bi-weekly.
"Visit www.gchd.org/beachwatch for more information about Texas Beach Watch. Additionally, www.texasbeachwatch.org has an interactive map that shows test site statuses for the entire state. Users may also sign up for e-mail alerts at that website.”
Water Quality Report by KHOU on Scribd