Update: State lifts water-contact advisories at 2 Mississippi Coast beaches
Update: The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which tests Coast beaches weekly for pollution, has lifted the water contact advisories that were in place for Biloxi West Central Beach and Biloxi East Central Beach.
MDEA also said the Beach Task Force has a standing recommendation that swimming should not occur during or within 24 hours of significant rainfall.
ORIGINAL STORY
The latest round in a relentless stretch of summer beach advisories arrived this week in Biloxi.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which tests Coast beaches weekly for pollution, issued new water contact advisories on Friday at Biloxi West Central Beach and Biloxi East Central Beach.
Both beaches are still open. But the advisories mean tests have found bacteria that suggest there may be stormwater runoff in the waves. The state urges beachgoers to avoid swimming during advisories because it may increase risks of digestive problems or infections.
Friday’s advisories are the most recent of more than a dozen issued already this year. But water contact advisories issued last week for Bay St. Louis Beach and Gulfport Harbor Beach have since been lifted. On Friday, tests showed all other beaches across the Mississippi Coast were safe for swimming.
The bacteria the state tests for is called Enterococcus, and it turns up often in summer and after rain.
It also appears on shorelines across the country. In Mississippi, researchers say it comes from faulty septic tanks or sewers that leak through the stormwater system and drain into the Sound. Wind can also stirs up waves that unearth bacteria buried in sand.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality also has a standing advisory against swimming after heavy rain because runoff from drains south of the railroad tracks inevitably washes pollutants into the water.
Here is the full list of advisories in 2025:
June 14: The state issued advisories for Bay St. Louis Beach and Gulfport Harbor Beach. The advisory in Gulfport lifted June 19. The advisory in Bay St. Louis lifted June 20.
June 6: The MDEQ issued an advisory for Biloxi West Central Beach. The advisory lifted June 14.
May 15: The state issued advisories for Pass Christian Central Beach and Long Beach Beach. The advisories lifted May 21.
May 6: The state issued advisories for Pass Christian West Beach and Edgewater Beach. The advisories lifted May 14.
April 18: The state issued an advisory for Gulfport East Beach. That advisory lifted April 23.
April 17: The state issued an advisory for Pass Christian West Beach, Gulfport Harbor Beach and Gulfport Central Beach. The advisory for Gulfport Central Beach lifted April 23. The Pass Christian West Beach advisory lifted April 24. The advisory for Gulfport Harbor Beach lifted May 21.
March 20: The state issued advisories for Pass Christian East Beach and Gulfport West Beach. The state lifted the advisory for Pass Christian East Beach on May 7. The advisory at Gulfport West Beach lifted May 14.
March 13: The state issued an advisory for Bay St. Louis Beach and Pass Christian Central Beach. A day later, it issued an advisory for Biloxi East Central Beach. Mississippi lifted the advisories at Bay St. Louis Beach and Biloxi East Central Beach on March 19. The advisory for Pass Christian Central Beach lifted April 23.
Feb. 13: Mississippi issued an advisory in Long Beach, Pass Christian Central Beach and Bay St. Louis Beach. The advisories in Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis lifted Feb. 26. The advisory in Long Beach lifted May 7.
Feb. 6: The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued a water contact advisory at Gulfport West Beach. The advisory lifted Feb. 12. The agency also issued an advisory at Waveland Beach, which lifted Feb. 26.
Jan. 17: The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued an advisory at Front Beach in Ocean Springs. The advisory ended Jan. 29.
This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM.