Rehoboth Beach — On July 6, state and federal officials put the crown on the head of Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach and declared them, in the words of Mary Katherine Gallagher, “Superstars!”

The neighboring beaches were two of only four in the country to get a five-star, or superstar, rating by the National Resources Defense Council, an international advocacy group, for its consistent excellence in ocean water quality.

The council’s report, called Testing the Waters, also praised Delaware’s Recreational Water Quality testing program that tests beach water for bacteria once a week throughout the summer and alerts the public to swimming advisories and beach closings.

On the meaning of the designation, Rehoboth Mayor Sam Cooper said, “It’s a testimony to the hard work of the city and the staff in keeping the city clean, and the beaches so this stuff doesn’t end up in the water and causing problems. It’s a great, great feeling to know that we’ve been recognized this way, again, because of the hard work of a lot people.”

Cooper gave kudos to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and other state agencies for their role in the city’s recognition.

“They’re the ones that set up the monitoring program. A lot of the program is about the monitoring. I’m sure a lot of beaches have clean water, but they don’t prove it, they’re not able to demonstrate it,” he said.

In his remarks to the crowd at the Rehoboth bandstand, Cooper gave credit to the late Jack Pingree, who worked for DNREC and helped get the program off the ground.

DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara said, “It really is a great partnership. And one of things that is special about Delaware is we all have an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to improving water quality.”

Gov. Jack Markell said, “For us to be able to celebrate the fact that two of the four best beaches in the entire country are right here in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach…it really doesn’t get much better than that. I could not be more proud of the folks who made this happen.”

As part of the celebration, University of Delaware President Patrick Harker presented Markell with a piece of “beach art” that summed up the day: a Life is Good beach towel.

Congressman John Carney said his colleagues in Washington, D.C. could learn something from Delaware’s example.

“They say to me, ‘When are you going to get something done in Washington?’ And the fact of the matter is we don’t get things done because Democrats and Republicans don’t want to work together. This is a perfect example, and this is a great example to the rest of the country, that when you put your politics at the door and come together, you can do great things. This didn’t just happen overnight,” Carney said.

Cooper said the history of the program in Rehoboth dates back to the late 1980s.

“It was before I was mayor. We got off to a rocky start because somebody from the state called the city manager and said you need to close the beach tomorrow. Needless to say, it didn’t sit too well. We met the next day with the folks from the state and agreed it probably wasn’t necessary to close the beach and there would be more investigation that winter,” he said.

The city and state gradually worked things out and the two parties have enjoyed a good relationship ever since, Cooper said.

The only major Delaware political figures not present for the event were senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper, who were called into session in Washington.

In a statement, Coons said, “I am impressed, though not surprised, that two of the cleanest beaches in the nation are located right here in Delaware. This five-star designation is the result of local, state and federal entities working together to create a clean environment that is not only good for public health, but for our job-creating tourism industry.”