People seek refuge at popular NOTL beach, but is the water safe?

NEWS UPDATE, Friday, June 27: This story has been updated to reflect the fact the region’s newest form of signage was erected as of Friday at Queen’s Royal Beach.

The beach again failed safety tests conducted on Thursday and, with the Canada Day long weekend looming, it has been closed since June 16.

However, none of the signs at the beach explicitly tell people the water is unsafe. It is up to beachgoers to find out via the region’s website at niagararegion.ca/living/water/beaches.

Summer’s finally here and thanks to record-breaking temperatures and humidity this past week, many people sought refuge in air-conditioned comfort, shade or a dip in Lake Ontario.

The mercury hit the high 30s Celsius but with the Florida-like oppressive humidity, it felt like 45 C or worse.

With school winding down, many Niagara-on-the-Lake children stayed home and those who didn’t sought comfort wherever AC or shade was available. Pools and the Virgil splash pad were popular.

Many seasonal farmworkers, accustomed to working in the heat, were still on the job in sauna-like conditions, though fewer of them were seen toiling in the fields.

And a social media campaign was launched to buy cooling towels to help them cope with the crazy temperatures.

Last weekend, particularly, dozens of visitors opted to take a soothing dunk in Lake Ontario.

But there was a problem: for the past week, starting last Thursday, the E. coli levels were unsafe at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s only monitored beach — at Queen’s Royal Park, near the gazebo.

And unless you knew to check Niagara Region’s online beach water advisories, you probably wouldn’t be aware that dangerous E. coli counts had forced closure of Queen’s Royal and several other beaches around the region.

The region tests Queen’s Royal every Tuesday and Thursday from Victoria Day to Labour Day — and while many factors including heat, wind, larger numbers of swimmers and heavy rainfall can all affect E. coli results, as of Wednesday, the beach was still considered unsafe.

The previous day’s testing still showed high levels of E. coli.

On the weekend, and again Wednesday afternoon, that didn’t stop people and pets from swimming, wading and frolicking in the water. On Sunday, young children were seen ingesting water as they played in the lake, because that’s what kids will do.

E. coli is especially dangerous for children, seniors and those with depressed immune systems, the region warns on its website.

And the Mayo Clinic says swallowing water with high E. coli content can lead to an infection that causes stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

In severe cases, it can lead to kidney failure. It usually is more severe in children than adults.

But until The Lake Report started asking questions earlier this week, there were no signs posted warning people that E. coli counts are elevated and the NOTL beach is closed.

Signs on the beach are no longer the region’s policy — although, by Wednesday afternoon, officials had replaced the innocuous “Welcome to the beach” sign at Queen’s Royal with the formerly used bright yellow signs warning people to avoid the water.

That change only came after repeated questions by The Lake Report to the region and the town. Then, by Friday, the yellow “warning” sign had been replaced by the region’s new-look “This beach is monitored” sign.

It includes details on how to find out the status of the beach, but it does not tell you if the beach has been closed for failing tests.

That’s because the region’s public health department has altered how it lets you know that water problems might be lurking at the local beach. And it is now up to beachgoers to figure it out.

The bright yellow “warning” sign that resurfaced for a few days this week at Queen’s Royal has been overtaken by online notices that the public has to seek out.

“Posting beach water quality results on our website provides instant updates as soon as results are received, offering one trusted source of information and reflecting best practices in public health communication,” Niagara public health spokesperson Meghan Marchand said in response to questions from The Lake Report.

As well, “we recommend swimmers always consider weather and water quality indicators such as if there is a large number of swimmers, wind and high waves, large number of birds, recent heavy rainfall, and cloudy water,” she added.

“Bacteria levels in beach water can change rapidly, often faster than static signs can reflect. In addition to posting beach water test results on our website, educating the public is a key part of supporting safe swimming decisions.”

Those newly designed signs that state “This beach is monitored” offer educational advice, a weblink and a QR code to the region’s test result site.

However, those were not up at Queen’s Royal until the beach had already been closed for a week. Instead, all weekend and most of this past week there was a sign saying, “Welcome to the beach” and “Help keep our beaches clean.” Below that was information about what can cause water problems.

Nowhere do the “welcome” or “monitored” new signs tell you whether the beach is safe to use.

That is now left up to the user.

Last weekend some beachgoers were surprised when told the water had high E. coli levels. And on Monday most of the people just wanted to relax and not worry about any problems.

“I wouldn’t go very far” into the water, said Jeff Pace.

“I assume it’s not safe to swim here,” added Mehmet Oztemir. “I’m here to relax.”

However, Coltt Carthew felt that if “it’s a health hazard, there should be notice,” adding if he knew that he probably wouldn’t have gone to the beach.

Kaylee MacKay, who was there with Carthew, agreed she wouldn’t hit the beach if she knew it had E. coli problems.

A Town of NOTL spokesperson said the town and region “work together to ensure that public notice signs are appropriately posted at designated locations.”

— with files from Daniel Smeenk