Last week was the final week of summer beach monitoring, unofficially ending the summer recreational season. Thank you for following along with us for the past 15 weeks of Weekly Water Watch. Before we turn our focus to fall, let’s look back at what was a record-breaking year of Iowa beach advisories. 

The drought continued across the state in 2023, likely contributing to more microcystin advisories than average. In the 15 week monitoring period for 39 public beaches, Iowa DNR issued 21 beach advisories for microcystin and 111 for E. coli. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District issued 19 advisories for E. coli on the six beaches it monitors on Iowa reservoirs (Saylorville, Red Rock, and Coralville). 

Lower Pine Lake Beach near Eldora had the most advisories for E. coli: one for every week of the 15 weeks of the summer monitoring period. Since IEC began tracking E. coli advisories in 2014, we’ve never seen a beach under advisory for the entire summer. Similarly, Brushy Creek Beach near LeHigh had the worst harmful algae bloom we’ve seen since 2006; it was under advisory for microcystin for 10 weeks in a row. Lake Darling wasn’t far behind that total, with 8 microcystin advisories this summer.  

If these statistics concern you, you can help! Share your stories and pictures with IEC, submit action alerts or contact your legislator or local officials to express your concerns, or write a letter to the editor or op-ed for your local paper. IEC can help get your piece published. Check out our LTE and Op-Ed toolkit, or contact IEC Communications Director Angelisa Belden for assistance. 

Read the full story in our newsroom for a look at all the notable beach monitoring statistics from the summer of 2023.