Connecticut's beaches received their water quality report cards today to kick off the summer season.

Nonprofit Save the Sound released its 2021 Long Island Sound Beach Report.

More than 200 beaches across Connecticut and New York are given a letter grade based on their water quality.

Short Beach in Stratford, Jennings and Penfield Beaches in Fairfield, Compo Beach in Westport, and Woodmont Beach in Milford all received an A or A+.

The grades are determined based on weekly water samples obtained from both the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and town conservation departments.

The beach report is released every two years.

A total of 79% of Long Island Sound beaches earned an A or B grade.

Still, 16% of Sound beaches were reported to have moderate to poor grades ranging from C to D, indicating that more work needs to be done to improve water quality and avoid beach closures. The remaining 5% of beaches did not monitor enough to record grades or did not report findings to the EPA database.

Officials say rain is the primary driver for water pollution at area beaches. Overall water quality failure rates doubled when it rained, from 5.5% in dry weather to 11.4% even 48 hours after wet weather.