Eric:

Hmm, I see none of MY local beaches made the list. Do they rate the lake beaches? I always enjoyed White Bear Lake when we lived nearby.

Jeff

Jeff, I think the lake beaches are rated largely on bacteria count.  They're looking for e-coli and giardia contamination mostly.  So I imagine if a lake has a lot of private sanitary systems around it, rather than a community sewer system, that could be a factor. 

The Wisconsin part of Lake Superior made the list this year, but not the Minnesota side.  I'm guessing it's because there's more stuff that washes up onshore from coal and iron ore barges in Duluth harbor and along the North Shore.

Eric:  I just read the list.  How come no listings for Cleveland ?  Lake Erie is so much nicer than it used to be.  White silver sands, cool blue water.  How could they miss Lake Eric ?

Karen Anne,

I think the Clean Beaches Council also reports on bodies of water that are improving in water quality and they make changes in their ratings as time goes along.  For example, the Fox River in Racine, Wisconsin used to be considered a very polluted river.  The pollution was supposedly caused by water contamination from discharged waste emitted by paper mills.  Over time, the area has been cleaned up considerably and Racine has moved up in the ratings.

Maybe there's hope for Lake Erie after all!