Sink or Swim: Implementing and Evaluating Beach Quality Content in Wisconsin's Environmental Public Health Tracking Portals

BACKGROUND:   As national and state-based environmental public health tracking (EPHT) portals develop and mature as public health surveillance tools and platforms, significant interest has been generated in the incorporation of new types of environmental health data into EPHT portals to attract new audiences and broaden their utility.  To this end, the Wisconsin Division of Public Health has developed new EPHT content on Great Lakes beach quality to increase the relevance of data collected for beach quality surveillance purposes and improve the degree to which these data may inform public health decisions regarding beaches in Great Lakes communities. 

METHODS:   Based on an inventory of existing beach quality data and platforms and stakeholder feedback, interest was gauged in portal features such as mapped delineation of beach boundaries and sampling sites, data from sanitary surveys, and information about cyanobacterial blooms and nontoxic algal species such as Cladophora.  A prototype beach-specific county environmental health profile was developed and modified based on feedback from three local health departments that serve communities on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.  Features such as incorporation of content directly as source data for predictive beach quality models and development of RSS feeds to allow for displays to change on a daily basis have been considered and incorporated to the extent feasible in subsequent models of Wisconsin’s EPHT beach quality portal. 

RESULTS:   Plans to obtain feedback from beachgoers, policymakers, public health partners and others have been incorporated into the evaluation plan for Wisconsin’s EPHT platforms and products.  In partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey, the ability to provide real-time data to beachgoers and obtain evaluation data from them has been enhanced by the development and launch of a smartphone application that provides daily reports of Great Lakes beach quality data to interested users.

CONCLUSIONS:   Based on this work, a pathway has been constructed to the establishment of beach quality data as exciting new content for EPHT networks at the national, state and local levels.   The significant challenge posed by the need to include data on beach conditions that can vary widely from day to day has been fully engaged, and significant success has been achieved.  It is hoped and anticipated that the range of potential users for EPHT products and platforms that may be gained by attracting users of beach quality data can aid in formulating an effective strategy for sustaining EPHT efforts into the future.