AWWA SOURCES55721

Newport Bay in Orange County, California has been identified as a water quality limited receiving water body because of sporadic exceedances of the fecal coliform water quality objectives for body contact recreation. Consistent with the requirements of the Clean Water Act, the California 303(d) List, and the California Water Code, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for fecal coliform bacteria is being carried out in the watershed. As one component of that TMDL, a health risk assessment was carried out to characterize the risk of illness associated with contact recreation in Newport Bay. This paper summarizes the scope of the health risk assessment and describes how the methodology employed is also applicable to other watersheds where the impairment of the body contact recreation beneficial use is evaluated strictly by compliance with water quality criteria and/or objectives. The results of the health risk assessment indicate that the existing risk from recreational contact is, in most locations in Newport Bay, below the benchmark levels considered tolerable by the US Environmental Protection Agency for recreational contact, and that the potential impairment in the Bay is limited both temporally and geographically. The results also indicate that the reduction of those sources of coliform in the Bay that are controllable, would not correspond with substantially reduced risk of illness from body contact recreation. Includes 25 references, tables, figures.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. - No.

Published:

01/01/2002

Number of Pages:

13

File Size:

1 file , 350 KB