Health of Vilas Beach
Can We Swim?

What is the EMPACT Project?
Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) grant program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Joint effort of the Madison Department of Public Health (MDPH), Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, and the U.S. Geological Survey that will extensively study one beach at each of the three Madison lakes.

Partners from governments and the community (including Friends of Lake Wingra and Edgewood College) are detecting and communicating health risks associated with swimming at Madison beaches.

Beach Monitoring
Madison EMPACT study focuses on the application of environmental monitoring tools to determine changes in the quality of recreational waters, which may result in health effects to swimmers, fishing enthusiasts and others who rely on the Madison lakes.

Monitoring stations will be installed at each lake (Vilas, Olbrich, and Spring Harbor beaches).

State of the art equipment will be used for meteorological monitoring, water quality monitoring and sampling equipment at each monitoring site.

The monitoring will help to develop a tool for real time assessment of the risk of disease occurrence.

MDPH will collect samples 5 times per week during the 14-week swimming season for the next 2 years. These samples will be tested for fecal indicators.

Results from the indicator tests are to determine beach closures in an effort to minimize exposure of pathogens (diseases) to recreational water users.

Public Outreach and Education
A primary goal is to provide timely and understandable information to the public about beach safety.

All the data collected from the study will be available for the public on the MDPH website.

A long term benefit of the project will be the construction of an ongoing system for collection and communication of swimming water quality information to the users of the Madison lakes.

Click here to see Harmful Bacteria Chart

Importance of Beach Criteria
Madison is faced with the question of how to establish solid beach criteria for closing beaches. (Since April of 1999, the city of Madison has used the criteria listed on the left.).

In the summer months (May-September) of 2000, Vilas Beach was closed for a total of 11 days of the swimming season. But, if Madison had used different criteria, established by the state of Wisconsin, Vilas Beach would have been closed from July to September. This large difference in the implications of the two sets of criteria show how important it is for us to base our decisions on accurate information.

Presumably future criteria for beach closure will be determined by the results provided by the EMPACT Project, including both technical research and public input.

Beach Closing Criteria
Beaches will be closed when...

1. A waterborne disease outbreak is linked to the beach (as determined by Comm Disease Epi, Sanitarian, or Health Officer).
2. A sanitary sewer break or leak is reported by Engineering which is likely to affect the beach.
3. A sewerage or other hazardous substance spill occurs which affects the beach. (including finding any amount of fecal material at the beach).
4. A count of 1350 CFU/100ml Fecal Coliform is determined. This may be modified if there has been more than 0.25 inch of rain in the previous 24 hours or more than 0.5 inch of rain in the last 48 hours.
5. The geometric mean of Fecal Coliform for the past 5 sampling events exceeds 375 CFU/100ml. This may be modified if there has been more than 0.25 inch of rain in the previous 24 hours or more than 0.5 inch of rain in the last 48 hours.
6. An elevated count following a runoff event does not revert to normal levels for that beach.
7. Visual inspection determines that the swimming waters are unsuitable for use. For example: Heavy algae blooms, excessive lake weeds drifting into the swimming area, visual evidence of a spill, bog infestation. (Including finding any amount of fecal material at the beach).

Beach Reopening Criteria
Beaches will reopen when...

1. Following closure because of bacterial levels, the bacteria count must drop to acceptable levels, (<375 CFU/100ml fecal coliform) confirmed by a second sample taken 24 hours after the first acceptable sample (if the closure is due to a single event, the confirmatory sample may be waived).
2. Lack of effect from a sewer break or repair of a sewer break is confirmed as in (1).
3. A spill is confirmed to not be affecting the beach by testing the bacteria count and determining that the levels are below maximum bacteria level (see (1) above) confirmed by a second sample taken 48 hours after the first acceptable sample, or chemical testing as needed. A very small spill, such as a sighting of fecal material, does not require a followup sample before reopening the beach.
4. Following closure for runoff effects, that bacteria count must drop to acceptable levels, (see (1) above) confirmed by a second sample taken 48 hours after the first acceptable sample.
5. Following closure for visual problems; when the problem is resolved (algae, bog, etc) the beach may be reopened. If the visual closure was because of a spill, use criteria (3).

Beach Usage Graphs

Quick Facts About Public Use of Lake Wingra*
Do you swim or wade in Lake Wingra?
20% do this several times a year
76% never do this

How do you rate the current water quality of Lake Wingra?
1% outstanding
10% good
32% average
38% poor

Do you feel that there are any major environmental or pollution problems in Lake Wingra?
82% Yes

Do you fish at Lake Wingra?
14% do this several times a year
83% never do this

*Source: Lake Wingra Watershed: A New Management Approach (1999)
Institute for Environment Studies
Water Resources and Management Workshop
University of Wisconsin-Madison