Fifteen state beaches are unsafe for swimming for the unofficial last weekend of summer, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources beach monitoring report released Friday, Aug. 29. One locally monitored beach in the Des Moines area is also considered unsafe.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources monitors water quality at 39 state-owned swimming beaches and provides weekly updates to the public through its website and a hotline at 515-725-3434. Sampling begins the week before Memorial Day and continues through Labor Day.
What Iowa DNR beaches are not recommended for swimming?
Backbone Beach
Beeds Lake Beach
Blue Lake Beach
Bobwhite State Park Beach
Clear Lake State Park Beach
Crandalls Beach
Emerson Bay Beach
George Wyth Beach
Lacey-Keosauqua Beach
Lake Aquabi Beach
Lake Darling Beach
Lake Macbride Beach
Pine Lake South Beach
Pleasant Creek Beach
Prairie Rose Beach
Which Des Moines area beach is not recommended for swimming?
What Iowa beaches have a special status?
What beaches have improved to ‘OK for swimming’?
Four beaches saw improvements in water quality from week 14 data, posted on Aug. 22, to week 15. They have since been removed from the list of beaches not recommended for swimming:
Blue Heron Lake Beach at Raccoon River Park has tested high since late July. Testing from this week showed acceptable levels, a West Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department employee told the Register.
How does the Iowa DNR classify Iowa’s beaches based on their water quality?
DNR officials classify state park beaches into one of three categories annually based on their history of bacteria results in recent years:
Less vulnerable: The beach’s geometric mean standard is exceeded in two or fewer sampling seasons of the five most recent years of monitoring and was listed as “transitional” or “less vulnerable” in past monitoring seasons.
Vulnerable: Beaches are considered vulnerable when the geometric mean standard is exceeded in three or more of the five most recent sampling seasons.
Transitional: The beach’s geometric mean standard is exceeded in two or fewer sampling seasons of the five most recent years of monitoring and was listed as “vulnerable” in the past monitoring seasons.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 16 lakes have too much E. coli for safe swimming, final Iowa DNR beach monitoring shows
Reporting by Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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