Several swim beaches across Arkansas are closed due to high E. coli bacteria levels.
Arkansas has 140 swim beach sites. They are monitored by the Arkansas Department of Health Marine Sanitation Program.
As of Friday, June 28, ADH reported 12 swim beaches were closed in Arkansas. Those include:
- Panther Bay, Lake Borfork in Baxter County
- Oakland Beach, Bull Shoals Lake in Marion County
- Piney Bay, Lake Dardanelle in Johnson County
- Shoal Bay, Lake Dardanelle in Logan County
- Spring Lake in Yell County
- Lake Leatherwood in Eureka Springs
- Shores Lake in Franklin County
- Shouse Ford, Degray Lake
- City of Beaver Beach in Carroll County
- Lakewood Ski, Lake Beach in Pulaski County
- Lake Beaverfork swim area in Faulkner County
- Horseshoe Bend Beach, Beaver Lake in Benton County
According to the health department, heightened E. coli levels are usually the result of geese, feral swine or humans.
Amid this week's closure of the Lake Beaverfork swimming area -- the second there in as many years -- the City of Conway asks parkgoers to stop feeding geese.
"We recommend folks to obviously not feed the geese, not get friendly with the geese," City of Conway spokesperson Bobby Kelly said. "We don't want to blame it on the public. There's all kinds of other contributing factors to. It's not just the geese, but it certainly will help."
Boating and fishing continue as normal on Lake Beaverfork. Swim beaches closed due to elevated E. coli levels can reopen once two consecutive tests by ADH indicate the bacteria is below a designated threshold.
Click here for more information on the Arkansas Swim Beach program and an updated list of closures.