Hawaii has more than 400 public beaches stretching along nearly
300 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline. Its beachwater monitoring
program is administered by the Clean Water Branch of the Hawaii
Department of Health. The Oahu Chapter used to do its own
testing but now works with the state to post its findings. For
more info or to report a spill, go to: http://hawaii.gov/health/
environmental/water/cleanwater/index.html or call the Clean
Water Branch at 586-4309. We also work with the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and their annual “Testing the
Waters Report,” which rates our beaches and water quality
monitoring: www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/sumhaw.pdf. Although
Hawaii was rated #6th in beach water quality in 2008 (with only
2% of water samples exceeding national standards), this was
partly due to the fact that it was a dry year without much
rainfall. After heavy rains, it is recommended that people not
go into the ocean for at least 24-48 hours because of all the
polluted stormwater runoff that flows f