With a big summer holiday upon us, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has posted swimming advisories at six state beaches and removed swimming advisories from six others. Jesse Rolph of the D-N-R says the beaches aren’t closed but swimming is not recommended. She warns swimmers not to swallow the water and cautions people who are very young, very old, or have weakened immune systems to avoids swimming. Visitors can still go to the beaches and enjoy fishing, boating, and sunbathing. Swimmers should just exercise caution when heading into the water. Along with making sure not to swallow water Rolph gives a few other precautions for swimmers. Rolph says to avoid water if you have open cuts or wounds, parents should change kids diapers in the restroom, wash hands after using the restroom, and shower after swimming at the beach.Rolph says high levels of E-coli bacteria at the six beaches beaches bumped them up to the advisory status. The test indicates that other disease causing pathogens are present. Those pathogens can cause skin infections, nausea, or diarrhea. The bacteria levels typically rise and fall as a result of runoff from rainfall. Beaches placed on the advisory list are Big Creek, Lake Macbride, Rock Creek, Union Grove, Backbone and Beeds Lake. Rolph says the D-N-R did take several beaches of the advisory list The beaches removed from the swimming advisory list are Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo, George Wyth, Lake Darling, Lake of Three Fires, and Red Hawk. State beaches are monitored weekly and you can check out the beach monitoring results for yourself at “www.iowadnr.com.”
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