Taghum Beach bacteria come from a variety of sources, says RDCK
By Bill Metcalfe
Swimmers were advised last week not to swim at Taghum Beach until further notice because of high fecal coliform bacteria (E. coli) levels.
The reason this seems to happen every summer, according to Nicole Ward of the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK), is a combination of large numbers of waterfowl especially geese, warm shallow water, increased human use, and dogs.
Jim Dinwoodie of the City of Nelson also speculates that the septic systems of trailer parks and subdivision in the Taghum area might be a contributing factor.
Ward says water samples taken last week showed coliform counts 20 times higher than the limit set by the Interior Health Authority. She says that on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week the RDCK will receive the results of a more recent sample.
Ward says the location of Nelson’s sewage treatment plant upstream from the beach is not a factor.
“We would not point the finger at that,” she told The Nelson Daily. “If there are ever any problems with their operation they have to get the Ministry of the Environment involved for additional testing, and they would let us know.”
Dinwoodie says effluent from the sewage plant into the river is tested weekly, and for the past few weeks levels have been much lower than the acceptable guidelines set by the Minister of the Environment.
“There have been no events,” he said. “It has been business as usual.”
Dinwoodie says that occasionally there are overflows from the plant into the river following extreme rainstorms because some of the storm sewers in Nelson are connected to the sanitary sewer system. But there have been no such storms this summer.
Ramona Faust, the RDCK director for Area E in which Taghum Beach is located, says she has tried unsuccessfully to find out the reasons for the periodic contaminations.
“It happens yearly, it is fairly brief, and I have no idea if it is a natural source or if there is anything that could be done differently,” she told The Nelson Daily.
Referring to public response to the annual swimming advisories, Faust said, “People seem to be willing to let this keep happening.”
