116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Backbone State Park swimming not recommended for holiday weekend
Water near its beach was among a handful with high bacteria concentrations
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The state has resumed its weekly water testing at dozens of beaches for high bacteria and their toxins, and four of them — including Backbone State Park near Dundee in northeast Iowa — are not recommended for swimming this Memorial Day weekend.
All four beach waters had elevated levels of E. coli bacteria when they were sampled earlier this week, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The source of the bacteria is often animal feces, and it is used as a barometer of overall bacterial populations.
The other three state parks with swim warnings this week include:
- Beeds Lake State Park, near Hampton in north-central Iowa.
- Black Hawk State Park, near Lake View in western Iowa. Water near the south beach had high bacteria concentrations, whereas swimming is safe at a beach on the north side.
- Nine Eagles State Park, near Davis City in far southern Iowa.
None of them had elevated levels of microcystin, a toxin produced by bacteria often known as blue-green algae.
The DNR samples water each week near beaches in about 40 state parks between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Elevated levels of bacteria and toxins can irritate skin and cause infections and illness.
The department posts notices at beaches where swimming is not advised. It's difficult to say how the beaches will fare year to year.
"Even when I decide to predict in my head what the season will look like, I'm thrown off," said Dan Kendall, who coordinates the beach monitoring program. "There are so many factors that come into play: heat, weather, how much rainfall we got in the spring, how warm the water is, how much wind we've had."
Heavy rainfall can wash feces into the waters. Calm and hot conditions can cultivate algae blooms that produce the toxins.
Warnings abounded last year
Abundant rainfall last year that helped lift the state from a nearly four-year drought also contributed to an abnormally high number of swim warnings.
Nearly a quarter of the state's weekly tests showed worrisome bacteria concentrations, the highest since 2010. Backbone had swim warnings for nine straight weeks.
At the end of the testing season, it had been the ninth-wettest year statewide in more than 130 years, according to Iowa State University data.
This year so far has been the 85th wettest, but drought conditions have improved to their best since September. About 7 percent of the state has moderate drought, according to Thursday's U.S. Drought Monitor report.
Near Cedar Rapids, Lake Macbride State Park and Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area are "OK for swimming," the DNR reported.
Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com
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