As of last Friday, Jacksonport State Park's swimming beach has been closed once again due to a high E.coli bacteria count in the water. According to Park Superintendent Mark Ballard, the beach will remained closed until the Arkansas Health Department obtains two consecutive samples that are good.
Earlier this month, Arkansas Health Department Environmental Specialist Terry Baker explained that the sample is allowed 126 E.coli bacteria per 100 milliliters of water. In May, after heavy rainfall which resulted in large amounts of runoff, Jacksonport's water exceeded the allowed amount of bacteria, making a public health hazard and the beach was closed. After being opened for a short time, it has been closed again with high levels of the bacteria.
According to Baker, E.coli is a bacteria commonly found in the digestive tract of warm-blooded animals. The bacteria was deposited into the river by runoff water flowing from pastures near the river during the periods of heavy rain, resulting in the addition of cow and other animal's manure into the water.
"Once the runoff stops, I think the water will clear up," Baker said, adding that this is a fairly common problem, it's just normally expected earlier in the year.
"It's not that the bacteria will kill you," Ballard explained, "but it can make you very ill. We want to protect our visitors from such illness and keep everyone safe and healthy during this time."
Until the beaches are opened, visitors will continue to see signs throughout the park warning them to stay out of the water due to the health risk.
