Glen Lake not safe for swimming: VIHA
High level of bacteria prompts warning
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is warning swimmers against wading into Glen Lake because of high bacteria levels.
Waters are tested weekly and the advisory will be lifted when levels drop to an acceptable level, said VIHA spokeswoman Sarah Plank. An earlier advisory was posted July 17, but lifted July 22.
Signs have been posted at Glen Lake. They will be removed when the water is considered safe.
Geese are the likely culprits, authorities say. The Langford lake is a favourite spot for the birds, and their fecal matter is primarily responsible for the climbing bacteria levels.
The swimming warning comes just after new beaches were unveiled at the lake.
Glen Lake Park underwent a $480,000 makeover more than two months ago, which added improved beach access as well as washrooms, showers, a rain garden, landscaping and playground equipment.
Another beach opened at the south end of the lake last month, thanks to a $40,000 to $50,000 investment, according to Langford Mayor Stew Young.
The mayor said city council was aware that bacteria counts in the lake sometimes reached unacceptable levels before they invested in the beaches.
“There’s always been bacteria in the lake from the geese, it’s a natural thing,” Young said. “We figured well, we’ll put the beach in and human activity will usually scare the geese away. But it’s just too new, maybe.”
No other beaches in the Greater Victoria area have shown unsafe levels of bacteria this summer, Plank said.
“We have had actually fairly good water quality this year in the lakes,” she said. “We’ve posted advisories for Elk Lake and Thetis Lake in the past, but this year we haven’t had to do so.”
An advisory is issued when the geometric mean of a sampling result exceeds 200 fecal coliforms — a type of bacteria — per 100 mL of water. High levels of fecal coliforms in swimming waters can cause gastrointestinal illnesses, according to Health Canada.
Between May and July, samples from Thetis Lake have ranged from 4 to 110 parts per 100 mL of water. Eagle Beach at Elk Lake ranged from 1 to 17 parts and West Hamsterly Beach measured between 8 to 200 parts — almost enough to trigger an advisory.
Plank said the likelihood of an advisory tends to increase toward the end of summer.
“As the summer progresses, [bacteria counts] tend to get higher because there’s less water and less water flow due to less precipitation at this time of year and also consistently higher temperatures,” she said. “So that tends to be the environment that helps bacteria grow.”