The Berrien County Health Department issued a no-swim advisory for Warren Dunes State Park on Tuesday after high E coli levels were found in the water.
Berrien County Health Officer Guy Miller tells us they test the water at 14 locations around the county each Monday, and if E coli is high at any of them, follow up tests are done. That’s what was happening Tuesday at Warren Dunes.
Miller expected Warren Dunes to be back open to swimming in short order.
“Usually with these larger bodies of water, they dilute fast,” Miller said. “So I mean, what we do anticipate, we’re going to go out and we did resampling. So when we get those results back, I wouldn’t be surprised if in less than 24 hours, those E. coli levels went way back down.”
Miller says E coli winds up in the water thanks to runoff from farms, faulty septic systems, sewer overflows, and wild animals. If the wave and wind conditions are right, it can take a little while for E coli to disperse in Lake Michigan.
“Last year, luckily, we didn’t close any beaches. We did monitoring all year and never had a high E. coli level. This year, Warren Dunes will be the second beach we’ve recommended or we have closed. So it ebbs and flows. Some years we see quite a few closures, some years we don’t.”
Miller says the health department is obligated to issue a no-swim order for a beach when E coli is found at too high of a level. You can check the state’s Beach Guard website to know which beaches are closed at any given time.
Below is a list of all the beaches monitored for E Coli by the Berrien County Health Department each week:
Michiana Village
Grand Beach
New Buffalo City
Union Pier – Townline Rd
Cherry Beach
Warren Dunes Beach
Weko Beach
Lincoln Township Park
Lions Park
Silver Beach
Tiscornia Beach
Jean Klock Park
Rocky Gap
Hagar Township Beach
