Beach closings are a growing concern in coastal regions because of serious public health and economic ramifications. Two beach sites separated by 150 m of shoreline on Lake Michigan were monitored in the summer of 2003 and 2004 for E. coli densities to evaluate the potential outcome of relocating an existing beach to a site immediately to the south. Under identical weather conditions, there was a large disparity between the two sites for 25 of the 39 days tested, where E. coli levels at the existing beach were at least twice as high as those at the proposed beach. Following rainfall, E. coli levels at the existing beach increased up to 100-fold to levels as high as 4,500 CFU/100 mL, whereas only a 10-fold increase in levels was observed at the proposed beach site. Water exchange in the beach areas was predominantly from wind driven currents rather than dilution, and longshore current speed at the proposed beach was calculated to be twice that of the existing beach. Stormwater and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharged from two closely spaced outfalls approximately 0.5 km north of the existing beach was found to have E. coli levels above the EPA recommended limit of 235 CFU/100 mL for recreational waters. However, this input did not appear to be a major influence on beach monitoring results. In some cases, E. coli levels at the beach did not exceed 235 E. coli/100 mL during a CSO. Defining the sources and spatial range of pollution inputs would allow beach monitoring results to be interpreted in a more meaningful context, which may lead to the formation of effective management strategies.