This grant funding supports virginia department of health's (VDH) beach advisory program and its primary goal of reducing the risk of waterborne illness for primary contact recreational swimmers in…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 awarded the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) a formula grant of $270,806 effective December 1, 2025, through November 30, 2026, to support the Beach Advisory Program. Under this award, VDH will conduct weekly water quality sampling and monitoring of Virginia's coastal recreational waters, analyze results for bacterial indicators and pathogens, and communicate findings to local health officials, the public, and the EPA. The program will issue beach advisories and closures when water quality thresholds are exceeded, and disseminate data through an official website to inform recreational swimmers of associated health risks.

VDH will distribute subaward funds to districts to pay laboratories for water quality sample analysis and will support enhancements to the Beach Monitoring and Notification (BMAN) database to ensure compliance with beach grant and EPA regulations. Key deliverables include weekly water quality data shared publicly to support safe recreational practices, community engagement through notifications and staff interaction, and an annual water quality summary report submitted to the EPA. The program directly benefits recreational swimmers in Virginia's coastal waters through evidence-based monitoring and public notification of unsafe conditions.

This grant funding supports virginia department of health's (VDH) beach advisory program and its primary goal of reducing the risk of waterborne illness for primary contact recreational swimmers in virginia's coastal waters. Under this program VDH will perform routine beach monitoring, and water quality sampling and analysis. VDH will also inform the public of sample results and associated risks of recreation.activities:the activities to be performed include weekly water quality sampling and monitoring, analysis of sampling results and communication of findings to local health officials, and the issuance of beach advisories and closures if critical water quality thresholds are exceeded. The data will be shared with the public via an official website and will also be communicated to the EPA. Knowledge sharing for field staff in the beach monitoring program will occur via conference calls. Subrecipient:subaward funds are disbursed to districts to pay laboratories for beach sample analysis work. This analysis work includes, but is not limited to, water quality sample analysis to understand the relative risk of primary contact recreation in the associated beaches. Funds are also used to support the office of information management's enhancements to the beach monitoring and notification (BMAN) database to ensure greater compliance with beach grant and EPA regulations and standards.outcomes:anticipated outcomes include but are not limited to the generation of weekly water quality data that will be shared with the public to support safe recreational practices, engagement with the local community about recreation risks via notifications and interaction with beach monitoring program staff, and the creation of a water quality summary report that will be shared with EPA. Expected beneficiaries are recreational swimmers in virginia's coastal waters.