Lake Country beach closed due to water quality issues

LAKE COUNTRY – The beach in Pioneer Park has been closed due to water quality concerns.

Signs are up warning swimmers not to swim at the Kalamalka Lake beach in Oyama.

Parents with children enrolled with the District of Lake Country Parks, Rec and Culture Department received an email on Friday advising lessons would be held at the beach at Kaloya Park instead.

Pioneer Beach has had water quality problems before. Just last summer the beach was closed by the Interior Health Authority when water tests came back from the lab with unacceptable levels of E. Coli.

According to guidelines on water quality issued by Health Canada there are a number of ways water can become contaminated with the E. Coli.

The water may be contaminated with fecal material from discharged sewage, storm water runoff from agriculture or urban areas, and wild or domesticated animals and even through fecal shedding by swimmers themselves.

Fecal shedding by swimmers is another way to say pooping in the water.

The email from the district says the poor water quality was discovered on Friday afternoon.

It’s impossible to say if any other beaches are dealing with water quality issues this weekend because Interior Health’s weekly beach water quality ratings are out of date. They were last updated on July 4.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

— This story was updated at 12:38 p.m., Sunday, July 13 to add a new picture.