(Ames, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, this week, said swimming is not recommended at beaches at 10 separate Iowa State Parks due to high levels of E.Coli (fecal) bacteria. Sources of E. coli can include untreated human sewage, failing septic tanks, livestock agriculture, pets, wildlife, and illegal connections from home sewer systems to surface water. When E. Coli exceeds the permissible level in recreational water, it results in the closing of beaches, ponds, lakes, and swimming and fishing areas.

The bacteria standard for Iowa’s recreational waters consists of two components:

• A geometric mean standard based on 5 samples in a 30-day period (126 colony-forming units of E. coli bacteria per 100 mL of water).
• A one-time maximum standard based on a single sample (235 colony forming units of E. coli bacteria per 100 mL of water).
  

  Swimming is not recommend for Beaches/Parks w/yellow dots; Blue dots indicate insufficient data; Red indicates closed; Green is OK for swimming.

In our area, the last, single sample taken from Prairie Rose Beach in Shelby County (July 6), was well above the one-time standard, coming in at 310/mL, and a mean of 122.67. Lake Manawa State Beach in Pottawattamie County was tested (July 6) at 110/ml in the last five-sample, with a Geometric mean of 130.7. And, the Lake of Three fires near Bedford in Taylor County, is temporarily closed to swimming, but the Lake of Three Fires State Park is still open. The DNR said last week a swimmer from Missouri may have contracted a rare brain-eating amoeba from the water.

The most commonly reported symptoms of E.Coli are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever. More information about beach monitoring, including an interactive map, can be found at the Iowa DNR website here.