Chatfield Reservoir’s swim beach reopened after one day, while Cherry Creek Reservoir’s swim beach closed due to high bacteria levels.
DENVER — Chatfield Reservoir’s swim beach is back open after closing due to high levels of E. coli, but Cherry Creek Reservoir’s swim beach is temporarily closed for the same reason, Colorado Parks and Wild (CPW) said on Wednesday.
CPW said routine tests at Cherry Creek Reservoir’s designated natural swim area showed bacteria levels higher then allowable by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The health department defines unsafe levels of E. coli as 255 organisms per 100 millimeters.
>Video above: How do you know if you have E. coli? Our medical expert breaks it down.
The beach and other water-related activities including boating, waterskiing, paddle boarding and fishing remain open.
“These closures are not a common occurrence, but can be caused by fecal waste from wildlife, run-off from urban areas, or excessive run-off from rain, which we have had a lot of lately,” said Cherry Creek State Park Manager Jason Trujillo. ”There is still a lot of water coming into the reservoir, which is a good thing to be this full in July, but that is potentially the cause of our elevated samples.”
Meanwhile, Chatfield Reservoir reopened after a one-day closure after one of two tests showed bacteria levels above the health department’s limit. CPW said retests came back Wednesday morning showing the E. coli returned below safe levels.
“We had the one irregular sample that caused us to close the swim beach on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution, but the rest of our samples this year have been below the maximum limit. With today’s test results showing the levels are safe, we reopened our swim beach,” said said Ben Vinci, Chatfield State Park operations manager.
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