Jump in, the water's fine

Daytona Beach got four out of five stars in a national water quality report on 200 popular vacation beaches. It scored high marks for:

- Less than 5 percent of water samples had bacteria levels higher than national standards in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

- Local officials post advisories without re-sampling.

- Closings/advisories are posted online and at the beach.

The city's beach only got four stars because water quality is monitored less frequently than once a week, a result of budget cuts in the Health Department.

The report also showed that sites in Flagler County, Ormond Beach and New Smyrna Beach never had bacteria levels higher than state standards in 2011.

SOURCE: National Resources Defense Council

DAYTONA BEACH -- Beaches in Volusia and Flagler counties received high marks again this week from a national environmental group that rates water quality at vacation beaches around the country.

Daytona Beach -- one of 200 popular U.S. beaches highlighted in the survey -- was given four out of five stars in the report released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

See the rest here:

Volusia, Flagler beaches get high marks for water quality