MARQUETTE - The provisions of a Great Lakes beach safety bill making its way through the Michigan Senate bear a striking resemblance to the system recently established in Marquette.
The legislation - Senate Bill 818 - was introduced by State Sen. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, and aims to increase safety and decrease drownings throughout the lakes by establishing a uniform flag system to alert swimmers to dangerous lake conditions.
Marquette Mayor John Kivela has read through the proposed bill and said it reminds him of Marquette's warning system.
"Our goal when we set out was to be the model on the Great Lakes, and to see some of the things we're doing being copied across the state feels good," he said.
The topic also hits close to home for Proos, whose hometown bumps up against Lake Michigan.
"Southwest Michigan, because of its prevailing winds and its Lake Michigan frontage, has seen an inordinate amount of drownings off the shores of Lake Michigan," he said. "It seems there isn't a summer that goes by where tragic stories of death and drownings aren't a part of our experience."
Excluding islands, Michigan boasts in excess of 2,100 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, which contain more than 100 public beaches.
In 2011, 87 people drowned in the Great Lakes, up from 74 the year before, according to data from the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.
In Marquette, two dozen people have drowned in the last 50 years, with 10 of those incidents occurring in the last seven years.
After four people drowned off Marquette shores in the summer of 2010, the city enacted a waterfront safety plan that included warning signs and flags, lifesaving stations, personal flotation device loaner stations and ongoing swimming education programs and initiatives.
Similarly, SB818 would amend Public Act 451 of 1994 and establish a statewide flag-based warning system for public Great Lakes beaches. The flags would be used to alert beach visitors to dangerous water conditions that may include rip currents and undertows.
Proos said part of the reason he introduced the bill in mid-November was because he was concerned each community's separate flag or warning system could prove confusing for traveling beachgoers.
State Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, cosponsored the legislation, which he said "just made sense." He also sits on the Senates Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Committee, where the bill is awaiting discussion.
"I'm not a big fan of more government telling us how to live, but ... I think you need to have some consistency (among beaches)," he said.
The bill calls for warning flags to be placed "near the entrance" to all public swimming beaches on the Great Lakes and to be placed intermittently along the beaches. According to the legislation, from any given location, a visitor to the beach should be able to see a flag.
Under the proposed law, a green flag would represent generally safe conditions, with minimal wind and waves, no longshore current and no expectation of an undertow or rip current. A yellow flag will signal moderately dangerous conditions, with two- to four-foot waves, a longshore current of less than 50 feet per minute and no expectation of an undertow or rip current. A red flag would mean extremely dangerous conditions, with either waves in excess of four feet, a strong undertow or rip current, strong longshore currents or a contaminated water advisory.
Each swimming beach would also need to be equipped with a sign describing a rip current and the best way to swim out of one. Municipalities would be expected to post water condition updates online.
Casperson said he expected the bill to be looked at before the 2012 swimming season begins.
Proos said municipalities could incur some costs, related to the implementation and operation of the flag system.
The bill mentions the speeds of longshore currents - the flow of water parallel to the shore - but isn't clear on whether underwater meters will be mandated on all Great Lakes beach. According to the National Weather Service, longshore currents are particularly dangerous downstate, as they often hit piers and other structures and sweep out into the lake, turning into a form of rip current.
In the summer, the city uses a longshore current meter at Picnic Rocks, and Kivela said the other city beaches have no history of strong currents and little need for such meters.
"That's going to be hard," he said. "Do we need one on another beach that doesn't have a history? Even if we're required to install another one, I don't really see a need for it."
Some people have worried such a flag system could increase a city's liability in the case of a drowning, but Proos said the downstate community of South Haven is already facing a court challenge from the family of a drowning victim.
He said the family is claiming the city is liable for the drowning, as there was no warning system in place.
With a statewide warning system in place, Proos said he believes communities would have even less liability for drownings.
In addition, Florida and Wisconsin have enacted similar beach regulations, and Proos said he is surprised Michigan hasn't established a system.
"It does surprise me, knowing that Lake Michigan and all the Great Lakes are such a part of tourism and vital activities within the state," he said. "Wisconsin obviously felt it necessary to address this."
Kyle Whitney can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250.
