Fund Healthy Beaches, Florida

Beach water quality  is paramount to the health of Florida beachgoers and a coastal recreation-driven tourism economy valued at more than $100 billion annually. With so much valuable coastline to cover, Florida would be expected to have a rigorous, robustly funded state water quality monitoring program. That’s why Surfrider is advocating to restore state funding for the Florida Healthy Beaches Program in the FY2024-25 state budget. 

Unfortunately, this vital program has only been funded by the state one time in the last ten years, leaving beachgoers vulnerable to getting sick, or worse, from recreating in beach waters due to gaps in testing frequency, duration, and location. Worse still, this program is frequently at risk due to unreliable federal funding. Surfrider’s Florida network successfully advocated for funding in 2019, and seeks to once again fund this critical public health and clean water program in the Sunshine State. 

Surfrider is targeting members of the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services and urging them to restore state funding to this program of $500,000 in the next fiscal year. Follow our Florida state legislative blog Impact Zone for campaign updates.