New signs set to go up at GRCA beaches

CAMBRIDGE — The Grand River Conservation Authority hopes to have basic information about the risks of swimming at its beaches ready in time for Canada Day.

Public health units recently told the authority, which operates nine public beaches at eight conservation areas, that they would no longer test the beaches for fecal coliform counts.

Instead, the authority will provide information on when the beach might not be safe for swimming, and leave it up to visitors to decide if they want to take that risk. High bacteria levels can increase the risk of getting diarrhea or developing minor skin, eye, nose or throat infections.

The authority is still working with public health officials on the wording, but it plans to have temporary signs posted at each of its beaches by next weekend and a paper insert that park staff will hand out to visitors, said Lisa Stocco, the GRCA’s communications manager.

For decades, health units in Waterloo Region, Brant County and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph have sampled the water at authority beaches every week from late May to Labour Day. When lab results came back with high E. coli levels, the authority posted signs to warn people of the potential health risk.

But lab results take a day or two to come back, and water conditions could change in the meantime, giving people a false sense of security if a beach wasn’t posted, Stocco said. She’s said she’s “very confident” that system sent a misleading message to park visitors.

“People might think, if it’s not posted, it’s OK, or there’s no risk,” Stocco said. “There’s always a risk when swimming in a natural body of water. We feel it’s more proactive and more prudent on our part to share that information.”

The new information the authority will provide would make it clear that swimming in a lake or reservoir is riskier than swimming in a chlorinated pool. It will outline the conditions that make infections likelier: heavy rain within the last 48 hours, water so cloudy you can’t see your feet when you stand in it, high waves, or lots of birds or bird poop on the beach.

The information should be very clear, with simple language and plain, clear-cut pictures, GRCA board members urged staff at a meeting Friday.

“I don’t think we need to get highly technical,” said board member Elizabeth Clarke. “I think we need to emphasize that this is about your safety.”

“It needs to be written at a Grade 6 level: ‘You can get sick if these conditions exist,’” said board member Chris White.

The authority plans a “comprehensive” public education strategy to make sure people can make informed decisions about the risk of getting sick from swimming at the beach. It will include large signs at each beach as well as smaller signs at park entrances, information in park brochures, as well as on the authority website and on social media.

“If people have other questions with regard to current park conditions, they can call the parks,” Stocco said.

Beaches such as at Elora Quarry, Belwood or Pinehurst that are on a lake or quarry tend to have low or very low E. coli levels, while beaches on a reservoir, such as Shade’s Mill in Cambridge, Laurel Creek in Waterloo, Rockwood, Conestogo or Guelph Lake, have high E. coli readings more often, said water quality supervisor Sandra Cooke. The authority also plans to: inspect beaches daily, as it currently does, but also document daily conditions such as the cloudiness of the water, weather conditions or rainfall in the previous 24 to 48 hours;

have authority engineers assess beaches each year before swim season to determine potential sources of contamination and ways to reduce it; and,

sample beach water every two weeks to monitor long-term trends in water quality, and post results on the authority website.