Beaches

Seacoast beaches have been crowded this weekend with people trying to beat the heat, though some coronavirus restrictions remain in effect. Parts of the shoulders of Route 1A have reopened for parking, but the state beach lots are only accepting 50 percent of their normal capacity to encourage physical distancing.

The state will not conduct some routine sampling of inland beaches this summer due the pandemic.

The Department of Environmental Services says they’ll focus on monitoring and responding to blooms of toxic algae at freshwater shores this season.

They will not regularly sample those beaches for fecal bacteria as they have in other years.

They say their lab capacity and other logistics have been hampered by the coronavirus.

After his initial restrictions were in place for less than a week, Gov. Chris Sununu is altering the rules for beach access in New Hampshire.

Effective immediately, beaches in the state are open for all activities, including sunbathing. The initial guidelines, which went into effect on Monday, only allowed exercise activities on the sand, such as running or walking, along with swimming and surfing.

The state is temporarily banning shellfish harvesting in coastal Atlantic waters because of a severe bloom of potentially toxic algae.

The ban applies to mussels, clams and oysters in near-shore and offshore waters. It does not apply to lobsters, or to inland areas, such as Great Bay and Little Bay.

The advisory also does not indicate a threat to swimmer or surfers, who were allowed back onto the Seacoast beaches as of Monday.

The state Department of Environmental Services wants to make its beach safety advisories more timely and accurate this summer.

As of midday Friday, DES had advisories posted for at least eight New Hampshire lakes.

Volunteers with the New Hampshire Beach Monitoring program are taking measurements of the state's beaches ahead of Hurricane Jose.

As volunteer Sherri Townsend explains, scientists want to know how the storm will impact the topography of the beach.

"We're just measuring if there's any changes in where the berm is, and how high the berm is, and the slope of the berm -- which is the high point, when the storm surge comes up."

Three beaches in New Hampshire are getting high marks for clean water quality.

The beaches are Hampton Beach State Park, Wallis Sands Beach at Wallis Road, and Wallis Sands State Park beach.

The Natural Resources Defense Council put them at "superstar" status along with 32 other beaches nationally in its annual "Testing the Waters" report.

Officials say New Hampshire ranks second out of 30 states that are part of the EPA's beach monitoring program.