Ministry of Health discusses elevated E. coli findings at local lakes

Director of Media and Health Sector Relations Jennifer Graham, in an email to northeastNOW, indicated there was no one available for an interview at this time.

However, the Ministry did provide a statement as to the E. coli testing and why more local lakes had tests with high bacteria levels.

“An increase in testing often increases E. coli detections but this doesn’t mean there is more bacteria at these beaches than normal,” the statement explained.

According to the statement, another possible reason for the increased amount of E. coli at beaches this summer is due to rain events.

“Run-off often carries E. coli into the shores of water sources (within public recreational swimming areas),” read the statement.

However, the Ministry said through the statement “there is no evidence to indicate that there is a substantively elevated risk at these public swimming areas compared to previous years.”

The Ministry’s Healthy Beaches Program is monitoring levels of bacteria at lakes across the province, and the statement said they have been striving toward frequency of testing at all selected recreational swimming areas in the program.

Water sampling will continue to be monitored by the Ministry to pick up any trends or significant changes in condition.

As of this article, there were six E. coli advisories across the province, with four on Last Mountain Lake northwest of Regina.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

by Cam Lee

Ministry of Health discusses elevated E. coli findings at local lakes

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