Additional reductions of microbiological con- 

 tent wUl serve to further protect public health and 

 enhance and encourage recreation enjoyment. 



The Subcommittee recommends further that op- 

 timum conditions for recreation based upon fish, 

 other aquatic forms, and water-related wildlife be 

 assumed to be an objective of management of 

 waters designated for recreation use. 



Recommendation: In waters designated for recreation 

 use, optimum conditions for recreation based upon 

 utilization of fish, other aquatic life, and wildlife should 

 apply, with specific and limited exceptions. The Sub- 

 committee endorses by reference criteria for these pur- 

 poses recommended by the National Technical Ad- 

 visory Subcommittee on Fish, Other Aquatic Life, and 

 Wildlife. 



The Subcommittee has noted earlier its judg- 

 ment that fishing, certain forms of hunting, and 

 other recreation activities based upon fish and 

 wildlife should be considered as a general recrea- 

 tion use of surface waters, with specific and limited 

 exceptions. 



It follows that, where recreation is a designated 

 water use calling for special quality management 

 efforts, optimum conditions for the species which 

 provide these forms of recreation — as recom- 

 mended by the National Technical Advisory Sub- 

 committee on Fish, Other Aquatic Life, and Wild- 

 life — should be assumed to be a management ob- 

 jective. 



The Subcommittee notes that, even in major 

 water areas designated for recreation use, water 

 used for mixing adjacent to outfalls may fall below 

 optimum conditions in specific and limited areas. 

 The Subcommittee also notes that certain water- 

 related recreation activities at a given site may 

 conflict during certain seasons and times. The limi- 

 tations on recreation use should not, however, be 

 imposed by water quality. 



Criteria for primary contact recreation 



On the basis of microbiological criteria, water 

 quality managers customarily divide water recrea- 

 tion users into two groups: those engaged in pri- 

 mary contact recreation and those engaged in 

 secondary contact recreation. 



The Subcommittee has provided for secondary 

 contact recreation in earlier recommendations and 

 will not deal with criteria for the purpose in this 

 section. 



The Subcommittee defines primary contact rec- 

 reation as activities in which there is prolonged and 

 intimate contact with the water involving consider- 

 able risk of ingesting water in quantities sufficient 

 to pose a significant health hazard. Examples are 



wading and dabbling by children, swimming, div- 

 ing, water skiing, and surfing. (Secondary contact 

 sports include those in which contact with the 

 water is either incidental or accidental and the 

 probability of ingesting appreciable quantities of 

 water is minimal. ) 



While similarities in water contact involved in 

 trout or surf fishing and wading and dabbling by 

 children seem to call for their inclusion in the 

 same category, there are significant differences. 

 Children are more likely to ingest water and may 

 be more susceptible to pathogens in water. In 

 this light, it would seem wise to set a goal of cri- 

 teria for the protection of primary contact recrea- 

 tion for most waters adjacent to organized recrea- 

 tional areas such as picnicking areas and camping 

 grounds customarily used by children. 



The establishment of special criteria (e.g., public 

 health requirements) necessary for the protection 

 of the primary contact recreation user has been a 

 major problem for the Subcommittee. Moreover, 

 in recommending specific water quality criteria for 

 this purpose the Subcommittee is faced with a 

 sharp dilemma — that of balancing reasonable safe- 

 guards for the public health and physical well- 

 being against possible undue restrictions on the 

 availability of waters for contact recreation. The 

 problem is further complicated by the inadequacy 

 of studies correlating epidemiological data on 

 water-borne diseases with degrees of pollution in 

 recreational waters. 



Two factors, microbiological contamination and 

 pH, are so intimately associated with the health 

 and physical well-being of the primary contact 

 recreation user that they should be considered 

 in management of waters for use for these pur- 

 poses. While the inclusion of pH might be ques- 

 tioned, the Subcommittee believes its relation to 

 eye irritations and subsequent infections justifies 

 its consideration (see appendix at end of this sec- 

 tion). None would question the necessity of in- 

 cluding microbiological criteria in a "must" cate- 

 gory, thus leaving only the question of what 

 indicators and what limits should apply. 



In attempting to resolve the safety versus un- 

 necessary restriction dilemma, the Subcommittee 

 considered at length the selection of most useful 

 indicators of contamination. The ideal solution 

 might be in the continuous and instantaneous de- 

 termination of pathogens. However, time factors, 

 multiplicity, and complexity of tests, economics of 

 equipment, and other materials, and manpower 

 requirements rule out use of pathogens as criteria 

 for general application. The optimum solution 

 then becomes one of monitoring an indicator 

 organism. 



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