BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Burlington officials say it’s safe to go back in the water at local beaches after a drop in cyanobacteria-related closures this summer. People we spoke with say they’re happy to have more recreation choices in the area.
“It’s definitely been so nice to be able to come to the beach more often and, you know, feel that security of being able to swim in the lake,” said Amber Mondor of Burlington.
There were 39 total days of closures across all beaches by this point last summer. There have only been 12 this year, and several of those resulted from sewage overflow after this month’s flooding. But when it comes to cyanobacteria, the main beach-closing culprit, there have been far fewer blooms detected, even with increased monitoring.
The parks department hired two employees who monitor and test the water on site, and they also introduced a new rating scale. “I think it’s been a good welcome change, certainly for staff and hopefully also the community. What it allows us to do is to be far more responsive to what is happening in our beaches,” said the city’s Erin Moreau.
In the past, Moreau says anything they would have considered a “category two,” meaning that cyanobacteria is present in low to moderate amounts — would have soon turned into a full bloom. But that isn’t happening as often this year. “In a way, we’re seeing the lake act differently this year. I am surprised sitting here today to say that we’ve had 15 of those alerts and they all didn’t amount into a closure,” she said.
Peter Isles with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation says a multitude of factors can impact cyanobacteria levels including weather, nutrient levels in the lake, water temperature, or choppy water. “Often, when we see those level two blooms, they’re really ephemeral. So, they’ll come and then the wind picks up and the waves will turn things up a little bit and it’ll disappear, which is probably indicative of just there are just fewer cyanobacteria around this year. But in terms of what’s driving that, you know, we really don’t have a good answer,” he said.
Ultimately, people are excited to have more days to enjoy the lake. “I definitely have come to this beach a lot, and last year — we moved last year — but like this year, I haven’t seen any cyanobacteria at all,” said Joey Paarlberg-Kvam of Burlington.
“It’s been statewide news — the closures in the last couple of years — and so we’re super psyched that this has been a, you know, much cleaner lake and there’s a lot of efforts in the area to keep things open and clean and cyanobacteria free,” said David Paarlberg-Kvam.
State officials say there have also been fewer beach closures around the rest of the state, but that levels can simply vary from year to year.