There is no way around it; the lake has taken some bad publicity hits in the last year.
What started as an abnormally high E. coli reading at a public beach, triggered a beach closing, blossomed into a “government cover-up”, and inspired “sweeping enforcement initiatives”, made for more than a few negative headlines in major newspapers and finally ended with the lake’s reputation in tatters.
The reality is that the lake, like every lake in the world, has E. coli in it and it always will. Like many other lakes, after an abnormally heavy rainfall (like the ones we had right before Memorial Day last year), some parts of the lake may show an increase in E. coli readings. This, in all likelihood, will also always be the case. Does this make the lake unsafe? No it doesn’t. It just means that people shouldn’t drink a bunch of lake water – especially after heavy rainfall.
E. coli, is widely misunderstood. There are many types of strains of E. coli. Most strains of E. coli are quite harmless. Only a few strains can cause illness – the result of ingesting a bad strain usually being diarrhea (never a fun thing).
Unfortunately, when the lake tested high for E. coli in May of last year, the public assumed that the strains found were harmful. That’s not true.
The truth is that the test didn’t show if the E. coli found was harmful or not – the type of strain was not known. The test did not differentiate between good and bad. Yes, there was a better chance that there were harmful strains in the lake at that time because the readings were high – but no one knows if the E. coli was harmful or harmless.
After the high E. coli readings before Memorial Day of last year, DNR’s subsequent testing showed that the lake was well within EPA standards. The governor’s own report that was released in late December showed very little evidence that there was elevated E. coli levels in the lake.
What was interesting to me was that during the months when the lake had the most people in it and around it (June through September) – the E. coli levels were very low – very much within EPA standards.
Quite simply, there is a lot of evidence out there that the lake is very far from being unhealthy.
Perception, however, is everything and many people – thanks to the firestorm of negative publicity – perceive the lake as unsafe, unhealthy and undesirable.
But here is the good news – people in the lake community are starting to work together. The lake has never been known to gather and work on common ground – but it is starting to happen. Most people can agree that the lake’s image needs to be repaired and protected - that is the tie that binds.
The first movement has been to attempt to educate the public. This newspaper is taking part in that. If you take a look at the back page of this section, you’ll see an ad that quotes a number of experts proclaiming that the lake is healthy. You’ll also see some simple facts on E. coli and water quality.
For those who want to learn more or want to immerse themselves in graphs, charts and numbers, there is a web site that has been created that contains more information, data and various reports – www.lakewaterquality.org. The site is in its beginning stages and it will be added to as time goes on.
There is also hope that we will go beyond countering the bad publicity. While the lake is in good shape, we need to protect it.
We need to take action that ensures our most valuable resource remains just that. Ways of having more in depth testing of the lake and better analysis of those findings are being discussed.
Understanding the lake better should lead to better ways, programs and laws that ensure we keep and improve water quality.
A local community leader said to me that there might be a silver lining to all of this negative publicity – that with our backs against the wall we might come together and work toward making a better lake.
I think he’s right and I think we’re beginning to see it happen.
Contact Lake Media publisher John Tucker at john.tucker@lakesunonline.com.
Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. —
