Have a safe summer in the water Frédéric Chouinard - Le Saint Armand - juin/juillet 2018
Translated by Werner Wintels - Les Amis du Pinacle
A swim in a local lake or river is one of summer's greatest pleasures. It's important though to take safety precautions to avoid health problems. Activities that bring you in contact with water (swimming, kayaking, water skiing, sailboarding, etc.) are NOT recommended when:
- there are signs of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in the water, for example, when a dense foam or blue-green color appears, you could be at risk of contacting or ingesting the associated cyanotoxins;
- the water is full of sediments and not clear (for example after an intense rain) in order to prevent ingesting fecal coliform bacteria (E. Coli).
In addition, managers of municipal and private beaches should regularly monitor water quality in water bodies periodically affected by excessive concentrations of cyanobacteria and fecal coliform bacteria. Article 53 in the provincial law governing public swimming areas (Règlement sur la sécurité dans les bains publics of the Régie du bâtiment du Québec) effectively makes beach operators responsible for the safety of bathers. They must evacuate the beach and prohibit public and other types of access when the water is not clear or the safety of bathers is compromised. They should pay daily attention to the visual aspect of the water on their beach, including the monitoring of algal or cyanobacterial blooms
Nevertheless, water quality monitoring is not compulsory in Quebec and is mostly done on a voluntary basis. The provincial health ministry (Le ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux - MSSS) collects data from volunteers to help monitor water quality.
Water quality links for beaches
- In Quebec, you can can consult the bacterial water quality rating of beaches participating in the Quebec environment ministry's ( MDDELCC) monitoring program Environnement-Plage:
- In Vermont, daily data on cyanobacteria and notices for swimming in Missisquoi bay and Lake Chanplain are available from the Vermont Department of Health: Cyanobateria tracker
- For Venise-en-Québec, you may contact the municipality or it's tourism information office for information on the status of it's beaches: (450) 928-7607
- Other associations in the Missisquoi Bay watershed also track summertime E. Coli and cyanobacteria levels:
- Lake Selby : https://www.apelslacselby.com/
- Lake Kelly : lackelly@gmail.com
- Lake Trousers : http://www.lactrousers.com/
- Lake Long Pond : http://laclongpond.org/
- Lake d’Argent : http://www.arpela.ca/
- Lake Orford : https://www.sites.google.com/site/apelorlacorford/home
- Données aussi disponibles au Réseau de surveillance volontaire des lacs du MDDELCC :http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/eau/rsvl/
- For the more adventurous, the water quality of several rivers and streams in the Missisquoi Bay watershed are available at the Atlas interactif de la qualité des eaux de surface et des écosystèmes aquatiques
- The Ministry of the Environment relies on visual reports from the public on algal or cyanobacterial blooms. If you observe the kind of algal blooms described in the above link, please report it to the Ministry of the Environment using the following website form (French only): http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/eau/eco_aqua/cyanobacteries/formulaire/formulaire.asp
- The City of Sherbrooke provides a good website on prevaentative health measures and how to evaluate the water quality at beaches.
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| Categorizing severity of cyanobacterial blooms: Click to enlarge |
