The Guam Environmental Protection Agency monitors the water at our beaches to make sure it’s safe to swim in, but you may have noticed there has not been a weekly report for a full month.

The last report was released on Jan. 10 and showed 20 beaches with high bacteria levels, likely due to heavy rain.

Guam EPA Senior Science Advisor Capt. Elizabeth Degrange told KUAM Guam EPA has been conducting limited sampling due to supply shortages but expects new supplies to arrive soon.

“We are short on supplies. We have a purchase order that has been issued so we’re just waiting on the shipment from the supplier on the mainland. But in the meantime what we have been able to do is finish an impaired waters project. So we’ve been sampling, over the last month, 31 rivers across the island. Over the last month, only 2 of those rivers, and just on one particular day, increased levels of enterococci. We think maybe that’s due to the increased rainfall. That’s a good indicator that maybe our beaches aren’t too bad,” said Degrange.

She said there are no major concerns for the public about swimming in coastal waters, but of course it is always recommended to shower after and to avoid drinking sea water.

Guam EPA will conduct full beach report sampling and testing this week, with fresh results expected on Feb. 14.