One last beach trip this Labor Day weekend to bid farewell to Summer 2026? Say less! But could there be something lurking in those warm Gulf of Mexico waters? The Texas General Land Office, or GLO, tracks levels of fecal bacteria at dozens of sites across Texas’ 367 miles of coastline as part of the Texas Beach Watch program.
GLO volunteers and contractors gather and test water samples for enterococcus bacteria, a potentially harmful bacterium that can indicate the level of fecal matter in the water. GLO officials call enterococcus “an umbrella bacteria” whose presence can serve as a sort of canary in a coal mine, indicating the presence of other harmful pathogens.
Texas Beach Watch regularly posts water quality test results online with a stoplight system of red, yellow or green-colored pins on a map that allow people to know at a glance how their local beaches are faring. Green pins mean fecal matter bacteria are low – at a “most probable number,” or “mpn” of 35 or fewer per 100 milliliters of water, which would be indicated as 35 mpn/100 ml. Yellow pins mean bacteria levels are slightly elevated – what Texas Beach Watch labels as “medium” – and fall somewhere between 35 and 104 mpn/100 ml. Red pins indicate high levels of bacteria – anything above 104 mpn/100 ml.
As of Thursday, September 3, several sites in Galveston were showing high levels of bacteria, while the rest of the coast largely showed low levels. Several factors can cause bacteria levels to spike, including stormwater and agricultural runoff. Fortunately, the state’s most popular beaches, like South Padre Island and Port Aransas, are in the green. Below are the levels at some of the most popular beaches in Texas.
Sunrise at the Bob Hall Pier near Corpus Christi, Texas. Ahead of the 2026 Labor Day weekend, water quality testing conducted by Texas Beach Watch shows that levels of fecal matter indicator bacteria are low in the Coastal Bend. (Brent_1/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Fecal matter levels at South Padre Island city beach accesses
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled:
September 1, 2026
Reading:
Eight testing sites within the South Padre Island city limits showed levels between 5 and 20 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Isla Blanca Park, South Padre Island
Bacteria level:
Low
Date Sampled:
September 1, 2026
Reading:
Four testing sites at the most popular beach in Texas showed levels at 5 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Cameron County Beach Access #6, South Padre Island
Bacteria level:
Low
Date Sampled: September 1, 2026
Reading: 5-8 mpn/100ml
All other Cameron County-owned South Padre Island beach accesses also showed low bacteria levels.
Fecal matter levels at Boca Chica Beach
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled: August 31, 2026
Reading: Six testing sites showed levels between 5 and 20 mpn/100ml
Fecal matter levels at Corpus Christi
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled:
August 26, 2026
Reading:
All other testing sites on North Padre Island, including Malaquite Beach, and all bayside access points like North Beach and the Corpus Christi Marina, showed low levels between 5 – 39 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Bob Hall Pier, Corpus Christi
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled: September 1, 2026
Reading:
All other testing sites at Bob Hall Pier showed low levels between 5 – 10 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Mustang Island State Park
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled:
August 31-September 1, 2026
Reading:
All testing sites at Mustang Island State Park showed low levels between 5 to 10 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Port Aransas
Bacteria level: Low to Medium
Date Sampled: August 31, 2026
Reading: One out of six testing sites in Port Aransas showed medium levels at 41 mpn/100ml. The other five testing sites reported low levels between 5-10 mpn/100ml.
Drone shot of Galveston Island’s historic pleasure pier extending into the Gulf of Mexico. Ahead of the 2026 Labor Day weekend, water quality testing conducted by Texas Beach Watch shows that levels of fecal matter indicator bacteria are elevated along the Galveston seawall. (halbergman/Getty Images)
Fecal matter levels in Galveston
Bacteria level: Medium to high
Date Sampled:
September 2, 2026
Reading:
Two testing sites in Galveston, at 69th Street and at 18th/19th Streets, showed high levels between 121 and 141 mpn/100ml. Eleven other sites along the seawall and south toward Scholes International Airport at Galveston showed medium levels between 41-103 mpn/100ml. Other sites, including East Beach, Stewart Beach, Fort Crockett Seawall Park, and Hershey Beach, showed low levels.
Fecal matter levels at Galveston Island State Park
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled:
September 2, 2026
Reading:
Four testing sites showed levels between 5 and 20 mpn/100ml
Fecal matter levels on the Bolivar Peninsula
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled:
August 31, 2026
Reading: Fifteen testing sites all along the gulfside of the Bolivar Peninsula showed low levels between 5 and 20 mpn/100ml.
Levels of fecal matter bacteria at Matagorda Beach
Bacteria level:
Low
Date Sampled: August 31, 2026
Reading:
All four testing sites at Jetty Park showed low levels at 5 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Surfside
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled: August 31, 2026
Reading:
All testing sites at Surfside showed low levels at 5 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at Jamaica Beach
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled: September 2, 2026
Reading: Sites showed levels at 5 mpn/100ml
Fecal matter levels at Sea Rim State Park, Sabine Pass
Bacteria level: Low
Date Sampled: August 31, 2026
Reading: All sites at Sea Rim State Park showed low levels of bacteria at 5 mpn/100ml.
Fecal matter levels at McFaddin State Park, Sabine Pass
Bacteria level: Mixed
Date Sampled:
August 31, 2026
Reading:
One site at McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge showed medium levels at 41 mpn/100ml while the remaining four sites showed low levels between 5 and 20 mpn/100ml.
This article originally published at Most Texas beaches show low bacteria levels ahead of Labor Day weekend.