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Each year Americans make 910 million trips to coastal areas and spend $44 billion. In Texas, beaches consistently rank among the state's top tourist destinations. As a way of protecting swimmers and environmental health, Texas implemented the Texas Beach Watch Program. The Texas Beach Watch Program is a non-regulatory program that monitors water for Enterococcus bacteria along the Texas Coast. Enterococcus bacteria thrive in waters where sewage or storm runoff is present, and scientists often use the bacteria to indicate the presence of harder to detect, disease-causing microorganisms. When Enterococcus levels exceed those recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), water quality advisories are recommended.
The General Land Office (GLO) implemented the Texas Beach Watch Program in the late 1990s using funds received from the Coastal Management Program. Then, in 2000, Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act to protect public health in coastal recreational waters.
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