This web application is intended for general informational purposes only and is provided as a public service for a user's personal use. While the GLO will regularly review, update, and expand this application, information may not be complete or may have been modified or changed since the latest update of the application. The enterococcus bacteria levels (fecal bacteria) at sites listed on this website depend upon the season, site conditions, and weather conditions, which change over time and are outside of the control of the GLO. GLO does not test for any other bacteria, including the vulnificus bacteria (flesh eating). The timeliness of the information on this website depends on the accessibility of the sites tested for bacteria, weather conditions, and other factors and should not be the sole basis for determining the water quality and safety of the water at Texas recreational beaches.
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A: The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act was passed by Congress in 2000 to protect public health in coastal recreational waters. It established uniform criteria for testing, monitoring and notifying the public users of possible coastal recreation water problems. It also requires that states, in cooperation with EPA, develop and implement a program to monitor, for pathogens and pathogen indicators, coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches that are used by the public and to notify the public if water quality standards for pathogens and pathogen indicators are exceeded.
In July 2001, the Office of the Governor appointed the Texas General Land Office (GLO) as the lead state agency responsible for implementing the provisions of the BEACH Act, as they applied to the state, because of its existing Beach Watch Program. This program started in the late 1990s as a fledgling water-quality monitoring program funded by the Coastal Management Program. To date, the Texas Beach Watch Program has received more than $2.5 million in federal funding to implement the program and meet the requirements of the BEACH Act.
A: Texas Beach Watch is a program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and administered by the Texas General Land Office to monitor water quality at Texas' recreational beaches. When bacteria levels in the water exceed the acceptable standards established by the EPA, the GLO works with local governments to issue advisories warning the public not to swim in affected waters.
A: Water samples are collected from 172 stations at approximately 61 recreational beaches along the Texas coast in Aransas, Brazoria, Cameron, Galveston, Jefferson, Matagorda, Nueces and San Patricio counties. Water samples are collected weekly during the peak beach season, which runs from March through October, and every two weeks during the rest of the year. The one exception occurs in April when sampling is conducted three times that month to incorporate a week for training.
A: Water quality conditions at beaches being sampled under the Texas Beach Watch Program can be obtained through the interactive map.
Water quality information on the Beach Watch site is updated each time sample results are entered into the database. Using the interactive map tool, visitors to the site can check results from specific sampling locations; determine when samples were collected and whether an advisory has been recommended. Many local governments also choose to post advisory signs at beach access points where the water exceeds acceptable bacterial levels.
A: A water quality advisory is issued when bacteria levels in the water could cause someone to become sick. Under the Texas Beach Watch Program, water is tested weekly for the presence of Enterococcus bacteria. Enterococcus bacteria thrive in water contaminated with sewage or storm water runoff, and scientists often use the bacteria to indicate the presence of harder to detect, disease-causing microorganisms. When Enterococcus levels exceed the EPA's minimum standard, a water quality advisory is recommended. In general, when a water quality advisory is recommended, contact with the water at that beach should be avoided. This includes swimming, wading, fishing, surfing, kayaking, etc.
When samples indicate that bacteria levels are high enough to warrant an advisory, the water at that beach must be sampled every 24 hours until bacteria levels fall within a safe range. An advisory lasts at least 24 hours but can be extended if bacteria levels continue to exceed recommended levels.
A: Bacteria and pathogens in coastal recreational waters come from a variety of natural and anthropogenic sources--both near the shore and inland. These sources include improperly functioning sewage treatment plants and septic systems, storm water runoff, boating waste that is not disposed of properly, humans and domestic animals, livestock, and wildlife. Elevated bacteria levels in natural waterbodies are commonly associated with rainfall and the related stormwater runoff. There are not explicit coastwide or site-specific recommendations. Generally, water contact should be curtailed for 48 to 72 hours following periods of moderate to heavy, rainfall. An extensive water quality study would be necessary to develop site-specific recommendations.
A: The public may use a beach under a water quality advisory, as long as local authorities have not closed that beach. Although contact with the water is discouraged until the advisory is cancelled, beaches offer plenty of other recreational opportunities including volleyball, sunbathing, beachcombing, playing, picnicking and much, much more.
The goal of the Texas Beach Watch program is to provide the public with information about water quality at selected recreational beaches along the Texas coast in Aransas, Brazoria, Cameron, Galveston, Harris, and Jefferson, Matagorda, Nueces and San Patricio counties. The program monitors these Texas’ recreational beaches and when Enterococcus bacteria levels in the water exceed the acceptable standards established by the EPA, the GLO works with local governments to issue advisories warning the public not to swim in affected waters.
Water samples are collected from 172 stations at approximately 61 recreational beaches along the Texas coast in Aransas, Brazoria, Cameron, Galveston, Jefferson, Matagorda, Nueces and San Patricio counties. Water samples are collected weekly during the peak beach season, which runs from March through October and every two weeks during the rest of the year. The one exception occurs in April when sampling is conducted three times that month to incorporate a week for staff training.
The water quality information on the Texas Beach Watch site is updated each time sample results are entered into the database. Local governments post advisory signs provided by the GLO at beach access points where the water quality exceeds acceptable bacterial levels.
Texas Beach Watch is a program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas General Land Office (GLO), which administers the program.
This year, the Texas Beach Watch program is providing basic data analytics for each monitoring location. To view this data, click on your site of interest on the Texas Beach Watch dataviewer map. Then click on “View 2025 Summary” and an infographic will appear on the left side of the screen.
The reader will see several different metrics that provide insights to water quality performance at each site of interests. Read the below definitions to learn more.
In 2025, the Texas Beach Watch network collected 7,871 water quality samples to monitor Enterococcus bacteria levels at beaches across the state. These results are measured in Most Probable Number (MPN) per 100 milliliters of water (MPN/100ml) to assess whether conditions are safe for swimming.
Each of the 172 monitored beach sites follows a regular sampling schedule throughout the year. However, the number of samples collected at each site may vary based on beach advisories. Whenever bacteria levels exceed safe limits and an advisory is issued, additional testing is conducted approximately every 24 hours until water quality improves and it is deemed safe for recreation.
The total Number Of Samples: column shows how many samples were collected.
The Minimum: or lowest Enterococcus result recorded for a site. The Enterococcus minimal analytical limit that can be recorded is 5 MPN/100ml.
The Maximum: or highest Enterococcus (MPN/100ml) value recorded at a site. The maximum analytical limit that can be measured is 24,196 MPN/100ml.
The Average: or mean (MPN/100ml) value is calculated by the sum the samples divided by the total number of samples collected.
A Geometric Mean: applied to calculate a central or typical value when sample results may vary greatly. In the context of assessing water quality the geometric mean is particularly useful because water quality results can range from very low to very high levels of Enterococcus bacteria contamination. Water quality analysts use the geometric mean to provide a more representative summary of the overall contamination level, which is essential for ensuring the safety of individuals engaging in aquatic activities at the beach.
The Percentage (%): calculated as the number of beach advisories posted at a given site divided by the number of samples taken and multiplied by 100. This metric is used to determine suitability for contact recreation.
The Average Advisory Length (in days) is calculated by the sum number of days a given location was under beach advisory and divided by the total number of advisories at the site.
For more information:
Water Sampling
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended single sample maximum criterion for Enterococcus bacteria is 104 Most Probable Number (MPN) per 100 ml. When the counts are above this level, swimming is not recommended.
We measure the bacteria counts and rate the beach advisory levels as follows:
Low
Bacteria counts less than 35 MPN/100 ml.
Medium
Bacteria counts are between 35 and 104 MPN/100 ml.
High
Bacteria counts are greater than 104 MPN/100 ml. An advisory for this beach is recommended.
For more information please review the health risks associated with swimming in waters with high Entercoccus counts in Pathogens & Pathogen Indicators
Pathogens & Pathogen Indicator
Pathogens & Pathogen Indicators
The following information is provided so the general public can understand some of the risks associated with swimming in waters contaminated with fecal matter. This information is taken from Chapter 1 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for Grants (EPA-823-B-02-004) document released in June 2002.
Indicator Organisms
Indicator organisms are a fundamental monitoring tool used to measure both changes in environmental (water) quality or conditions and the potential presence of hard-to-detect target pathogenic organisms. An indicator organism provides evidence of the presence or absence of a pathogenic organism that survives under similar physical, chemical, and nutrient conditions. Indicator organisms have the following characteristics:
Because it is difficult to directly detect the many different pathogens or parasites that may be present in surface waters, the presence of fecal bacteria has long been used as an indicator of the possible presence of disease-causing organisms. The bacterium used for the Texas Beach Watch Program and other coastal states is Enterococcus.
Pathogen Groups
Pathogens are defined as disease-causing microorganisms. Microorganisms are ever present in all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Many types are beneficial, functioning as agents for chemical decomposition, food sources for larger animals, and essential components of the nitrogen cycle and other biogeochemical cycles. Some microorganisms reside in the bodies of animals and aid in the digestion of food; others are used for medical purposes such as providing antibiotics. The small subset of microorganisms that cause human diseases are known as human pathogens. If taken into the body, such pathogens can cause gastrointestinal illness or even death. The source of these microorganisms is usually the feces of humans and other warm-blooded animals. The pathogens most commonly identified and associated with waterborne diseases can be grouped into three general categories: bacteria, protozoans, and viruses.
Bacteria are unicellular organisms that lack an organized nucleus and contain no chlorophyll. They contain a single chromosome and typically reproduce by binary fission, during which a single cell divides to form two new cells. A primary source of concern to EPA is feces from warm-blooded animals, including fecal waste associated with farming and the discharge of domestic sewage. Feces can contain many types of bacteria found in waterbodies, including the coliform group, streptococcus, lactobacillus, staphylococcus, and clostridia. It is important to note, however, that most bacteria are not pathogenic.
Protozoans are unicellular organisms that reproduce by fission and occur primarily in the aquatic environment. Pathogenic protozoans, which constitute almost 30 percent of the 35,000 known species of protozoans, originate in the feces of warm-blooded animals. They can exist in the environment as cysts that hatch, grow, and multiply after ingestion, causing associated illness. Encystation of protozoans facilitates their survival by protecting them from harsh conditions like high temperature and salinity. Two protozoan species of major concern as waterborne pathogens are Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum.
Viruses are a group of infectious agents that require a host in which to live. They are composed of a sequence of nucleic acids-either DNA or RNA, depending on the virus-that is covered by a protein shell for protection. The most significant virus group affecting water quality and human health grows and reproduces in cells of the gastrointestinal tract of infected animals. These enteric viruses are excreted in feces and include hepatitis A, rotaviruses, caliciviruses (Norwalklike viruses), adenoviruses, enteroviruses, and reoviruses.
Health Concerns
The main route of exposure to disease-causing organisms in recreation waters is contact with polluted water while swimming, including accidental ingestion of contaminated water. In waters that contain fecal contamination, potentially all the waterborne diseases spread by the fecal-oral route could be contracted by bathers. These illnesses include diseases resulting from the following:
Swimming in contaminated water most frequently causes gastroenteritis. Gastroenteritis is the inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, usually caused by a microorganism. Symptoms include chills, nausea, diarrhea, and fever.
Although bathing in contaminated water most often results in contracting diseases that affect the gastrointestinal tract, diseases affecting the eye, ear, skin, and upper respiratory tract can be contracted as well. Infection often results when pathogenic microorganisms come into contact with small breaks and tears in the skin or ruptures in delicate membranes in the ear or nose resulting from the trauma associated with diving into the water. The attached table provides a list of diseases that can result from contact with water contaminated with anthropogenically introduced or naturally occurring bacterial, viral, and protozoan pathogens.
Waterborne Pathogens
| Pathogen | Disease | Effects | |
Bacteria |
Escherichia coli (enteropathogenic) |
Vomiting, diarrhea, death in susceptible populations |
|
Helicobacter pylori |
Gastritis |
Diarrhea. Peptic ulcers are a long-term sequela. |
|
Legionella pneumophila |
Legionellosis |
Acute respiratory illness |
|
Leptospira |
Leptospirosis |
Jaundice, fever (Weil's disease) |
|
Pseudomonas |
Infections in immunocompromised individuals |
Urinary tract infections, respiratory system infections, dermatitis, soft tissue infections, bacteremia, and a variety of systemic infections |
|
Salmonella typhi |
Typhoid fever |
High fever, diarrhea, ulceration of the small intestine |
|
Salmonella |
Salmonellosis |
Diarrhea, dehydration |
|
Shigella |
Shigellosis |
Bacillary dysentery |
|
Vibrio cholerae |
Cholera |
Extremely heavy diarrhea, dehydration |
|
Yersinia enterolitica |
Yersinosis |
Diarrhea |
|
|
Protozoans |
Balantidium coli |
Balantidiasis |
Diarrhea, dysentery |
Cryptosporidium |
Cryptosporidiosis |
Diarrhea |
|
Entamoeba histolytica |
Ameobiasis (amoebic dysentery) |
Prolonged diarrhea with bleeding, abscesses of the liver and small intestine |
|
Giardia lamblia |
Giardiasis |
Mild to severe diarrhea, nausea, indigestion |
|
Naegleria fowleri |
Amoebic meningoencephalitis |
Fatal disease; inflammation of the brain |
|
Viruses |
Adenovirus (31 types) |
Respiratory disease |
Eye infections, diarrhea |
Astroviruses |
Gastroenteritis |
Vomiting, diarrhea |
|
Enteroviruses (67 types, e.g., polio, echo, and Coxsackie viruses) |
Gastroenteritis |
Diarrhea. Heart anomalies and meningitis are long-term sequela and are very rare. |
|
Hepatitis A and E |
Infectioushepatitis |
Jaundice,fever |
|
Caliciviruses (Norwalk- and Sapporo-like viruses) |
Gastroenteritis |
Vomiting, diarrhea |
|
Reovirus |
Gastroenteritis |
Vomiting, diarrhea |
|
Rotavirus |
Gastroenteritis |
Vomiting, diarrhea |
Source: USEPA, 2001.
The Texas General Land Office annually reports water quality data for Texas beaches to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The most recent report submitted contained the 2023, 2024 and 2025 data. The 2026 data will be reported to EPA in January 2027.
To access historic water quality data, the EPA created the Beach Advisory and Closing Online Notification (BEACON), an online system to meet the Agency's requirement to provide to the public a database of pollution occurrences for coastal recreation waters.
EPA recently updated BEACON to include several enhancements and has named the new system BEACON 2.0. The BEACON 2.0 User's Guide describes how to use the online BEACON 2.0 system to obtain state-reported beach monitoring and notification data.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Lamar University - Coastal and Marine Studies
Galveston County Heath District
Eastex Environmental Laboratory Inc.
UT Rio Grande Valley - Coastal Studies Laboratory
Harte Research Institute
