The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District announced that Spillway Beach at Laurel River Lake, Kentucky, is safe to swim in again this year.
Last year, The Corps closed Spillway Beach for a short time due to E. coli detected in the water.
However, Park Ranger Codey Hensley for Lake Cumberland & Laurel River Lake assured us that public health and safety are their main priorities.
Hensley stated the water is tested every other week during the recreation season. If test results are ever too high, the park will close the beach and begin to monitor it closely, and re-test until the numbers are lowered.
“The beach water has tested well within the regulation numbers for E.coli this year,” said Hensley. “We just had the week or so last June when the numbers ran high – there were a couple dozen geese hanging out on the beach that drove the numbers up.”
He added, “Those geese were captured and removed from the area by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. E.coli test results were much lower after.”
If anything changes, Hensley and other park rangers will post signs at the beach and immediately put out a news release.
For more information or if you have any questions, contact the Lake Cumberland Resource Management Office at 606-679-6337.
Samantha Walden, Staff Writer at the Kentucky Daily
Photo by The U.S. Forest Service