July 29--Few tourist boards will brag about the low levels of fecal coliform bacteria at local beaches.

But there was good news for Broward and Palm Beach counties in a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental group that analyzed thousands of water-quality records to assess the safety of the nation's beaches.

Weekly testing at 29 points in Broward and Palm Beach counties gave both counties high marks, with just a few instances in which bacteria concentrations exceeded state standards.

Adrianna Quintero, senior attorney for the council, said the record in South Florida was a good one for urban beaches, which are at a higher risk of pollution from rainwater runoff and sewage.

"These are not remote beaches in Hawaii," she said. "Florida has a much bigger challenge. They are heavily frequented, urban beaches."

Water samples at Broward County's beaches exceeded standards for enteroccocus and fecal coliform bacteria 2 percent of the time in 2009. No swimming advisories were issued, although state bacteria standards were exceeded twice each at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, Northeast 16th Street in Pompano Beach and Oakland Park Boulevard.

Palm Beach County exceeded standards in 1 percent of samples and reported one advisory at Phil Foster Park. State standards also were exceeded once at Ocean Inlet Park, although no advisory was issued.

Typically, advisories are not issued in cases of a single high bacteria count when follow-up samples find bacteria levels have returned to safe levels.

By comparison, Miami-Dade County's beaches reported an 8 percent rate, Hillsborough a 9 percent rate and Monroe a 10 percent rate. The dirtiest beach in the state was Bayou Chico in Escambia County, which topped state limits in 73 percent of samples.

Breck Ballou, chief of Fort Lauderdale's ocean rescue, whose lifeguards are in the water daily, welcomed Wednesday's report.

"This is great news. It's a very favorable thing and we're very, very happy with the report," he said. "It's reassuring to know that our waters are safe for the public as well as our staff here."

Lifeguards get weekly water quality reports, and if readings indicate high amounts of bacteria, health officials would close the appropriate section of beach. That rarely happens, Ballou said, and the closures typically last but a day.

While highly publicized cases of pollution can repel tourists -- witness the worried phone calls and cancellations at beach hotels hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Mexico oil slick -- few tourists make a point of checking water quality before booking a hotel room.

"The people that come here know the water is going to be clean and beautiful and safe to use for recreation," said John Gergin, a managing partner of Cafe Luna Rosa on Delray Beach. "They just trust that it is. This means Palm Beach County isn't breaking that trust."

The two types of bacteria, which inhabit the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals, indicate the presence of human or animal waste in the water, possibly from rains washing animal waste into the water or from sewage, according to the Florida Department of Health. Animal waste contains pathogens that can cause diseases such as salmonella, cholera, shigellosis and hepatitis A.

Rain washes animal waste into the ocean, which suggests that you may want to avoid swimming after a storm. But while pigeon droppings may not be under our control, the council says that we can protect coastal waters from contamination by using construction methods that leave room for rain water to seep into the soil rather than forcing it to run off concrete into canals or sewers.

"Relying on dry weather to keep our beach water clean is not a long-term public health protection strategy -- when the rains return, so will the pollution," said council Water Program Director David Beckman, in a news release. "Green infrastructure techniques on land can make a real difference in the water -- and they're often the cheapest and most effective way to improve beach water quality. From green roofs to permeable pavement and roadside plantings, there's a whole host of ways to not only prevent runoff pollution and sewage overflows from the start -- but to beautify neighborhoods, boost economies and support American jobs at the same time."

The report was based on water samples taken in 2009. State water-quality records for 2010, accessible online at the Florida Healthy Beaches Program, indicate slightly worse performances in Broward and Palm Beach counties, with swimming advisories earlier this month at Hallandale Beach Boulevard in southern Broward County and in March and April at Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach.

And of course the Gulf oil spill has caused a large number of closures this year. In the Florida Panhandle, 16 beaches that saw no advisories last year chalked up 442 days worth this year because of the spill, according to the report.

A good score does not necessarily indicate clean water, Quintero said. While Brevard County, for example, exceeded standards in 1 percent of samples, she said there were only nine sampling sites, which may be insufficient to provide a good assessment of water quality. And she said testing once a week is not sufficient, since a clean test Saturday is no guarantee of safe waters on Wednesday.

David Polk, coordinator of the Florida Healthy Beaches Program, which supervises the tests on which the report was based, said nine testing locations in Brevard County were about average for a county its size.

And an occasional bad score does not necessarily indicate a county to avoid. On the contrary, Quintero said, it could indicate the presence of a conscientious testing program.

In Volusia County, which exceeded standards in 1 percent of samples, swimming advisories were issued for 10 days at Silver Beach in Daytona Beach, seven days at International Speedway and 30 days for the beach at Florida Shores Boulevard.

"Volusia County is being protective of their visitors, issuing a closing or advisory when they know there's a problem," Quintero said.

Staff writers Ariel Barkhurst and Robert Nolin contributed to this report.

David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.

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