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New report shows Boston-area beaches among cleanest in the country

BOSTON — A new water quality report from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay says the beaches in the greater Boston area are among the cleanest urban beaches in the country.

The report shows Boston-area beaches were safe for swimming 94 percent of the time in 2017.

The study found M Street, Carson, Pleasure Bay and Nahant beaches had clean water 100 percent of the time.

Tenean Beach in Dorchester was the lowest-scoring beach in the region again in 2017.

Officials with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay say the main factor of cleanliness is the amount of rain received throughout the year.

Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy and Communications at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay says, comparatively, there was a slight decline in water quality in 2017 over the 2016 report. Berman said it's not a surprising change, as 2017 was a fairly rainy swimming season for Boston Harbor - the seasonal rainfall was 12.1", a pretty decent jump from the 5.3" recorded in 2016.

The report card is based on water quality data collected during last year's beach season on 15 public beaches in 10 different communities, including Lynn, Swapscott, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.

When it comes to water quality, King's Beach in Swapscott has consistently lagged behind other area beaches since 2012. However, in the most recent report, King's Beach scored 92 percent, compared to last year's 83 percent score.

Both Lynn and Swampscott have planned improvements to their sewer and storm water systems based on the work done alongside the EEA and the Save the Harbor's Beaches Science Advisory Committee.

“This variation is why we are reluctant to draw conclusions from a single year’s sampling results” said Berman. Though we understand why it’s interesting to see where water quality improved or declined versus the previous year, we urge the public to use the multi-year averages we have provided in comparing relative water quality among beaches.”

For a full list of the beaches included in this report and to learn more about the methodology on which the report card is based, you can visit the Save the Harbor/Save the Bay website here.