If you’re looking to visit an Iowa beach between rain showers, there are more than a dozen you’ll want to avoid.
A total of 15 beaches are not recommended for swimming, as of Aug. 14. That’s one fewer beach than in the previous week’s Iowa Department of Natural Resources beach monitoring report.
The Iowa DNR provides weekly updates on which state beaches are experiencing high levels of E. coli or algae that can be dangerous to swimmers. You can check the latest reports on the DNR website or by calling 515-725-3434.
Staff collect weekly samples at 41 state-owned swimming beaches to determine the public’s risk of coming in contact with waterborne diseases. Testing starts a week before Memorial Day and runs through Labor Day.
What Iowa DNR beaches are not recommended for swimming?
Backbone Beach
Beeds Lake Beach
Clear Lake State Park Beach
Emerson Bay Beach
George Wyth Beach
Lake Ahquabi Beach
Lake Darling Beach
Lake Manawa Beach
Lake of Three Fires Beach
McIntosh Woods Beach
Nine Eagles Beach
Orleans City Beach
Pleasant Creek Beach
Prairie Rose Beach
Union Grove Beach
What other beaches are not recommended for swimming?
The Iowa DNR also tracks reports for 39 city or county beaches across the state. This week, 15 of the beaches reported E.coli levels above the single-sample limit.
Hickory Grove Park Beach in Story County was the only beach in Dallas, Polk or Story counties to report high levels.
Lake Red Rock, which is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reported high bacterial levels and does not recommend swimming at the lake’s North Overlook Beach or Whitebreast Beach.
Which Iowa beaches have improved to ‘OK for swimming’?
Three beaches listed as “swimming not recommended” on the Aug. 7 report have now improved and are considered “OK to swim”:
Which Iowa beaches have special statuses?
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:
Brian Smith is a senior editor and audience strategist for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at bsmith@dmreg.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: These 15 beaches on DNR’s ‘swimming not recommended’ list this week
Reporting by Brian Smith, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Brian Smith, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
