The Iowa Department of Natural Resources expanded its beachwater testing program this year to include 35 county-owned beaches. Janice Boekhoff oversees the program which she says is voluntary for the counties.She says the testing is going very well. She says the counties are not required to post warning signs at beaches that show high level of bacteria — but says you can find the information at the DNR’s website. Boekhoff says the early results show less problems at county beaches.She says as a whole the county beaches have come back much better than the state beaches in the last several weeks. Boekhoff doesn’t know why the county beaches are getting better results.She says they’re taking the exact same samples at county beaches as they are at state beaches. She says it just may be a matter of the timing of the tests. Boekhoff says it could also be that the lakes often have smaller watersheds that contribute less runoff that leads to high levels of bacteria.
