You’ll Want to Check Fecal Matter Levels Before Going to Texas Beaches

Planning on heading south to Galveston Bay for some rest and relaxation at some point this summer, not so fast. You're definitely going to want to look into the fecal matter levels before you dip a single toe into the water -- and the good news is now you can with this map.

I'm still trying to decide if this is information I wish I didn't now know. The burden is too much. So the map is provided by the Texas General Land Office, which oversees some public lands and beaches, monitors the fecal bacteria levels along the Texas coast, collecting samples and testing them for contamination.

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Yeah, my life was definitely better before I know it was necessary for us to monitor fecal bacteria levels on our Texas beaches.

According to KSAT this is an ongoing problem. In 2020, according to the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center, 55 of the 61 Texas beaches they researched had potentially unsafe levels of bacteria at least one day out of the year. It's Russian Roulette with turds and waves.

What's more is, of those 61 Texas beaches, the analysis stated that 31 had at least 25% “potentially unsafe days.” Not exactly reassuring. If you really never want to feel the urge to dive into Texas' beaches again, just click here and ruin it for yourself forever.

Or don't click on it. That is probably the better option, especially if you don't want to spend your life worrying about poops in your waves.