Is it safe to swim?
Biscay Beach: No advisory posted
Bristol Mills: No advisory posted
Pemaquid Beach Park:
Check status here
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Swim Beach Monitoring
To help ensure our area beaches are safe for swimming, Coastal Rivers volunteers monitor swim beaches at Biscay Pond, Bristol Mills and Pemaquid Beach Park in collaboration with the Maine Healthy Beaches program.
Trained volunteers collect water samples on a weekly basis, June through August. The samples are analyzed for bacterial contamination at a state-certified water quality lab in Rockland.
This program provides real-time data for the towns of Damariscotta and Bristol, which manage the swim beaches, and Coastal Rivers provides support with posting advisories as needed.
Ten things you can do to help keep beaches clean
- Do not swim if you are experiencing diarrhea.
- Wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers.
- Properly dispose of pet waste in a location far from the water.
- Maintain and routinely pump out your septic system.
- Report any illicit or questionable discharges to your Local Plumbing Inspector.
- Property owners should maintain wide and multi-layered vegetative buffers along waterways.
- Take children for frequent bathroom breaks.
- Use “swim diapers” with absorbent padding.
- Change diapers frequently, away from the water’s edge and, if possible, in a bathroom.
- Dispose of diapers properly. Place them in trash receptacles or seal them in a plastic bag to carry out with you.
Cyanobacteria Monitoring
Cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae) can sometimes produce dangerous toxins. And certain conditions can cause them to reproduce quickly in fresh water, creating a potential health risk. Called Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal* Blooms, or CyanoHABs, these events are of particular concern in water that is used for drinking or where people or dogs are swimming.
Coastal Rivers tests for microcystins, which are toxic compounds produced by cyanobacteria. We monitor weekly from July through early September, collaborating with Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Bigelow Laboratory to provide reliable information.
What you can do to help prevent algae blooms
- Reduce soil erosion by seeding and mulching bare areas along the shore
- Maintain a wide ribbon of multi-layered vegetation along the shorefront
- Direct water from roofs, driveways and roads to stable vegetated areas
- Regularly maintain and routinely pump out your septic system
- Avoid creating boat wakes which contribute to shoreline erosion
- In a nutshell: keep nutrients and soil from washing off the land and into waterways!
