Page 69 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2025

for decades. “Now we want to raise awareness so people can be aware and use this resource when they need it.”
The media campaign and website upgrades did not require special or additional funding beyond MDEQ’s usual grant, she added. “The agency has some flflexibility in how those grant funds are used, and a portion was allocated to enhance public outreach through the website and advertising as part of the existing program.”
The program currently operates 21 sampling stations along the Mississippi Coast. Wyatt Dunaway, beach monitoring coordinator, said, “Our goal is to empower the public with the most up-to-date water quality information so families can make informed decisions before heading into the water.”
Wells points out that Mississippi’s coastal water is a combination of a productive estuary and public beaches. “It’s not like that everywhere, making our situation difffferent and a particularly important service. We monitor for bacteria as dictated by Federal regulations.”
He adds that if a beach is closed, which can happen after rainfall that brings the intrusion of nutrients into the water, people can go to another beach, or just have fun on the sand.
There are advisories and warnings issued to the public and there is a difffference. MDEQ defifines an advisory as an alert issued when bacteria levels exceed safe thresholds—often due to natural causes such as post-rain runoffff. Swimming
is discouraged until levels are safe again. A warning occurs when there’s a known pollution source such as a sewage spill. This indicates a greater risk, and swimming is strongly discouraged .
An HAB advisory refers to a harmful algal bloom. This advisory warns against water contact in affffected areas due to toxins that can cause rashes, stomach illness, and respiratory
issues. These advisories are rare, Cotton says.
“Beach situations with high levels of pathogenic bacteria—
especially Enterococcus—pose the greatest risk to human health,” Dunaway said. “These scenarios, which trigger advisories, can lead to skin infections, gastrointestinal upset, respiratory ailments, and more serious illnesses in vulnerable populations such as someone with an immune defificiency.”
Cotton says although MDEQ has no direct way to gauge whether or not the public takes alerts seriously, it’s believed they do. “MDEQ’s standing recommendation is to stay out of the water during an advisory or within 24 hours after heavy rain—widely communicated via the website, social media, signs, and text and media alerts.”
She adds that developing the new campaign “was the natural path of our mission which is both to protect human health and the environment and also to foster wise economic growth. “Mississippi has beautiful beaches. The people testing water quality along our beaches are Mississippians who truly care about the work they are doing. We want people to come enjoy our beaches and know they have a resource to help them do that.”
Visit beaches.mdeq.ms.gov for the most up-to-date information. “Add it to your beach checklist with sunscreen and towels. We also want to encourage beachgoers to sign up for text alerts via the website and follow us on social media,” Cotton said.
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality 601.961.5171 www.mdeq.ms.gov
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