Soggy summer at the beach
It has been a disappointing year for Niagara’s beach-goers.
“Has this been a very good season? No, it hasn’t,” said Niagara’s manager for environmental health Anthony Habjan.
The same storms that led to huge increases in sewage overflows this year have also led to poor water quality at beaches.
“If you look at this season as a whole, we’ve had a lot of poor weather. We’ve had a lot of storms and rain,” he said.
Meanwhile, record high lake water levels have also contributed to the problem.
“You take all these into account and that’s why we’re getting a lot of postings (of unsafe swimming conditions at Niagara beaches),” Habjan said.
“If you compare this to previous years, we’re on the high end. There have been times that probably ... 65 to 70 per cent of our beaches were posted.”
He said at times as many as 20 of the 27 beaches throughout the region were posted as unsafe.
Lakeside Park beach in St. Catharines was particularly hard hit this year, due primarily to the record-breaking water level on Lake Ontario.
Although that beach was posted as unsafe for most of the summer, it was one of 22 beaches posted as open for swimming, Friday. In addition to high E. coli levels at Lakeside Park, Habjan said the high water levels also obscured hazards such as debris hidden below the water.
Habjan said the frequency of sewage overflows this summer may have also contributed to the e.coli levels at area beaches.
The City of St. Catharines has an event planned at noon Thursday to finally unveil completed improvements at Lakeside Park, long delayed by the flooding.