Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
A group of kayakers and a stand-up paddleboarder are among those enjoying the water at Little Girl's Point Sunday afternoon. Residents could escape the heat in the lake at the Point this weekend after the Western U.P. Health Department's latest tests showed E.coli levels resulting from the mid-June flooding had dropped enough to re-open the beach Saturday.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood Township - Residents can once again cool off at Little Girl's Point and several other area beaches and parks, after the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department's latest round of testing showed E.coli levels had improved enough to reopen them.
A total of 26 locations the health department is monitoring are reopen, according to the health department Saturday, with another seven locations under an advisory for users to swim at their own risk.
Locally, Gogebic County Park and Gogebic State Park on Lake Gogebic are open. Little Girl's Point in Ironwood Township and the Lake Superior beaches in the Porcupine Mountains are also open, as is Sunday Lake in Wakefield.
The Bond Falls reservoir in Paulding, Bergland Township Park on Lake Gogebic, Ontonagon County Park on Lake Gogebic and Ontonagon Township Park on Lake Superior are local beaches and parks under advisory.
The other beaches now open or under advisory are elsewhere in the department's five-county service area.
Ray Sharp, the health department's director of community health and education, said the determination between closed beaches and those with an advisory is based on state and federal guidelines for parts per million of E.coli and fecal coliform bacteria.
The health department has increased its monitoring of various locations since the rainstorms in mid-June, which led to flooding and the elevated E.Coli levels due to the resulting runoff.
Locally; Bobcat Lake in Marenisco Township, Courtney Lake in Mass City and Steusser Lake in Ewen remained closed as of Saturday.
Not every body of water in the WUPHD's five counties has been tested, according to Sharp, with most monitoring taking place at state, county or township parks.
One of the bodies of water not tested by the health department is Black River Harbor. Ottawa National Forest officials said Tuesday the beaches, trails and campground area at the harbor have remained open since the mid-June storms.
For a list of the statuses of all the beaches monitored by the health department, and updates on beach reopenings, visit the department's website at wupdhd.org.
For more information, call 906-482-7382.
