Summer is officially here, and most of the beaches on Long Island Sound are ready for swimmers.
Save The Sound released water quality report cards for public beaches around the Sound on Wednesday.
78% of public Long Island Sound beaches in Connecticut and New York received an A or B rating.
Statistics from the last three years were used to evaluate each site.
Save The Sound’s vice president of water protection David Ansel said the Sound has come a long way, but there’s still work to be done to keep the water clean.
“There was a time not long ago when many people were reluctant to swim in the Long Island Sound,” Ansel said. “They were reading news reports of poor water quality, and around the Sound overall heard reports of fish die-offs and large volumes of untreated sewage entering our waters.”
The Long Island beaches with the best water quality are on the North Fork at McCabes, Town Beach and Orient State Park in Southold.
The Connecticut beaches with the best water quality are Hole In The Wall Beach in East Lyme, Esker Point Beach in Groton and Surf Club Beach in Madison.
The lowest scoring beaches were Green Harbor Beach in New London and Harbor Island Beach in Mamaroneck.
Save The Sound water quality director Peter Lindwroth said he hopes to help the beaches that received a C or lower.
“We don't let the poor grades shame or cast blame,” Lindworth said. “We do so because identifying problems at specific beaches can jumpstart conversations between residents, beach operators, managers and others to get to the heart of the issue and hopefully improve those grades.”
Read the full report here.
