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Officials Urging People Not To Swim In The Iowa Great Lakes For Now

June 24, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Orleans)– This is NOT the time to be going for a swim in the Iowa Great Lakes. Mike Hawkins, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says water quality in the lakes is getting to be a real concern…

“That nutrient has already caused some very large blue green algae blooms on the area lakes. Even West Okoboji had a major bloom starting to occur yesterday. So water quality, contact with the water is still a concern. Recreational activity, swimming, things like that, especially with the wastewater bypasses going on, just making sure people are being safe when they’re around the water, children and any other vulnerable populations that we have should be avoiding that contact. We’ve been in the water, there’s been, working in the water, as long as you’re using precautions, is something you can do, but we’ve seen some folks even playing in it at some of the beaches that are flooded and that is not advised at this point.”

As of now, officials with the various drinking water systems in the area say tap water remains safe as it is treated and tested on a regular basis for any contaminants.

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