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EMC News – Is the Tay River safe for swimming and if not, what can be done to make it safe? These were the questions circulating during a meeting on April 18 organized by the Canadian Federation of University Women, entitled “Treasuring the Tay.”
More than 100 residents turned out to the Perth Legion hall to listen to and ask questions of guest speakers from a variety of organizations related to the Tay River and its watershed, including Friends of the Tay Watershed, the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA), the Stewart Park Festival, EcoPerth and the Town of Perth.
Perth residents may be familiar with the sign posted near the outdoor swimming pool in Stewart Park informing potential swimmers there is “no swimming in this area at any time.” Despite the sign, and particularly during the Stewart Park festival, swimming does occur in the Tay River as it runs through Perth.
Dr. Paula Stewart from the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit explained that a river is not the same as a swimming pool and there are always risks associated with swimming in a river or lake. Some of these risks include a risk of infectious disease from swallowing water, vomiting or diarrhea, e. coli, hepatitis A, among others.
“There are multiple sources of contamination in the Tay River that can’t be controlled,” Stewart explained, adding that the Health Unit looks at what makes a safe place for swimming while recognizing lakes and rivers can never be “pure” like a swimming pool.
The Health Unit’s criteria for assessing a public swimming area include verifying the presence of qualified supervision, public access to the site, accessibility for water samples, performing an environmental check for possible sources of contamination and evaluating for any safety hazards. Before swimming in a river or lake, Stewart advises residents to first assess and think about the situation and learn what’s upstream before making a decision.
Samples taken from the Tay River dating back to 1998 from three Perth locations – Rogers Road, Gore Street and Craig Street – not only confirm there is e. coli in the river water at these locations, but that these levels have been rising steadily.
“Forty-six per cent of the time you wouldn’t want to be in the water,” RVCA representative, Patrick Larson, explained, “But 54 per cent of the time you would be safe…it is a matter of balance.”
Carol Dillon, a representative from the Friends of the Tay Watershed, agrees there are problems with the Tay River’s bacteria levels, but is heartened by the statistics presented by Larson, and sees them as a challenge to clean up the river. Although Dillon agreed the Tay River is “a slow moving, shallow, surface water river that may have a lot against it,” she still feels if the river is swimmable 54 per cent of the time then it is possible to decrease e. coli levels to the point that it can be swimmable 75 per cent of the time.
“It’s in good shape right now, if we all do what we can I’m certain we can get it (safe times) up.”
Dillon suggested she would like to see work begun now to make the Tay River the cleanest urban river in Ontario by Perth’s 200th anniversary in 2016.
Town of Perth representative, Grant Machan, stressed the Tay River is a small river sensitive to impacts from the environment and that the water quality of the Tay can be influenced by external factors. He reiterated the Town of Perth’s position that Stewart Park “is not a designated swimming area.”
Alfred Von Mirbach, from EcoPerth said he would love to see the Tay River swimmable again, particularly because if there is public swimming permitted in the river, it means the river is healthy. He sees the first step is to determine what is causing e. coli to proliferate within the river and why it is continually increasing.
“We need to use our resources as effectively as possible, but ask, how do we solve the problem?”
Stewart Park Festival representative John McKenty said it is the responsibility of the Stewart Park Festival to inform festival goers that the Tay River is not a designated swimming area and that e. coli levels may be above acceptable limits. Ultimately, however, he stated, “it is a personal decision” each festival goer must make on their own.
The fact that there is e. coli above recommended limits present in the Tay River was not disputed by any speakers at the meeting, instead, issues seemed to center around what can be done to improve the water quality to the point that it is once again swimmable?
Questions following the discussions centered around including Tay Valley Township within any further discussions about cleaning up the Tay River and questioning if there would be a work group formed between the different organizations represented at the meeting in order to work on the problem.
No formal decision to form a working group to confront the Tay River contamination was made at the meeting.
General consensus among panel members seemed to be that although it would be wonderful to reduce e. coli levels to allow swimming in the Tay River, swimming is not feasible at this time. In the meantime, the decision to swim or not to swim lies in the hands of the public.
“It’s all about the level of risk you are willing to entertain,” Dr. Stewart said, “If you want safe, swim in a pool.”
© 2009 – 2011 Perth EMC
Full Article: http://www.emcperth.ca/20110421/news/Is+the+Tay+River+safe+for+swimming%3F