NRDC’s annual beach water quality report, released July 29, demonstrates that American beaches were often unsafe for swimming last year due to serious water contamination problems. The report, "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches," shows that the number of closing and advisory days at our ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches was more than 20,000 for the third year in a row and the second most since the annual evaluation began 18 years ago. For the first time, the report also gives a five-star rating guide for many of the nation’s most popular beaches, highlighting those that were found to have good water quality and more rigorous monitoring for the sake of public health. The largest known source of contamination continues to be stormwater runoff. Poorly-equipped sewage and stormwater systems are partly to blame for the increasing contamination, but sprawl development in coastal areas that replaces wetlands and other natural filters along the beach is also a factor. Nancy Stoner, Director of NRDC’s Water Program, points to pending Beach Protection Act bills in the Congress that would provide funding for more updated methods of monitoring the safety of our waters, which currently leave beachgoers unknowingly vulnerable to a host of waterborne illnesses.