Lynn Wharram was shocked at the amount of constant closures Willows Beach endured in the summer of 2023.
The beach had several closures in late August and September due to Island Health tests indicating high levels of bacteria that pose a health risk to the public.
“It’s not normally like this. Normally, Willows (Beach) is one of the cleanest beaches that we go to and that we test at. So it seemed kind of strange, especially at that time of year,” said Wharram, a lab volunteer at Blue Water Task Force.
From mid-May through the Labour Day weekend, Island Health tests the shorelines at Willows Beach and others around Greater Victoria. If the test shows that the waters are over 1,000 E. coli or 175 Enterococci per sample, studies indicate there is an elevated risk associated with these bacterial levels, according to Island Health. Even if the bacteria levels are at a medium level between 35 to 70, it’s advised by Island Health and the task force that swimmers use caution.
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Since Island Health only tests the water during the summer months, Blue Water tests every week to let year-round swimmers know if the water is safe to drive into.
“We previously used to test only every two weeks and last year after talking to a bunch of the cold water swimmers, and finding out how often they’re going in, which is daily, we decided to up our testing to once a week,” said Wharram.
Seventy-one per cent of the samples collected by Blue Water at Willows Beach meet the water quality standards set by B.C.’s Ministry of Environment, according to their website. It wasn’t until Aug. 27, 2023, that the task force tested the beach with high bacteria levels of 384 Enterococcus.
This result shocked Wharram as the test her team conducted a week prior was far lower. On Sept. 17, 2023, the beach tested for high levels again at 307 Enterococcus and repeatedly tested for high or medium bacteria levels until Dec. 10.
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Wharram started to suspect something out of the ordinary was impacting the water’s bacteria levels considering she had not seen extremely high bacteria levels at Willows Beach before a large rainfall.
“Normally after big rainfalls what happens is all the bacteria and stuff just on the road from birds or dogs or any animals will get washed through the storm drains and so that’s usually when we see high bacteria amounts,” noted Wharram. “It all gets flooded out into the ocean and almost every time after a big rainfall, that’s when you see it, but with Willows (Beach) we started to see it before that had happened.”
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Wharram is in contact with the District of Oak Bay to find out what the cause of the high bacteria levels could be. Island Health suspects the bacteria level could be due to several factors besides construction.
“Elevated bacteria levels may be due to a variety of factors, including water temperatures, tides, and wastewater discharge,” Island Health said in a statement to Black Press Media.
Blue Water will continue to test for bacteria levels at Willows Beach and surrounding areas. The results of their weekly tests can be found at surfrider.org.
- With files from Christine van Reeuwyk
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