Texas has also escaped the worst of the BP spill that has fouled many Gulf beaches, leading to 1,755 beach closings and advisories in the region.

"What has been verified to be from the Deepwater Horizon spill would probably amount to less than 50 total gallons of tar," Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. "We've had no impact from the Deepwater spill as far as impact to our beaches, and I doubt seriously that we will, particularly now that the well is capped and not discharging into the gulf."

The Natural Resources Defense Council said Wednesday that in 2009, beach closings and advisories were at their sixth-highest level in the 20 years they've been tracked. But Texas saw a drop in such advisories.

Environment Texas Director Luke Metzger said that was mostly because less rain meant not as much pollution reached the water.

"The best way to protect swimmers from beachwater pollution is to prevent it. To protect our beaches we need to reduce the amount of stormwater created by our cities, increase resources for cities in towns to upgrade their sewage treatment systems, and prevent other threats like oil spills from destroying our beaches," said Kara Byrom, an organizer with Environment Texas.

The report also provided ranks for 200 of the most popular beaches. Ten Texas beaches were listed, including two four-star beaches in South Padre Island.

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