KIRKLAND, Wash. — A popular swimming area in Kirkland will be closed through the weekend after the water tested positive for high levels of E. coli.
Juanita Beach closed Wednesday afternoon, according to the city of Kirkland.
When crews tested the water Monday, they found 1,781 colony-forming units of bacteria per 1,000 mL of water, which King County Water and Land Services says is “high concern."
The city said crews noted there were a lot of waterfowl on the eastern shore, which may have caused the elevated E. coli levels.
King County staff will test the water on Thursday and again on Monday.
King County monitors levels of harmful algae and bacteria at 19 lifeguarded beaches and four tributary creeks through the Swimming Beach Monitoring Program.
Water samples are collected at King County beaches every week from three different parts of each beach. The test results are averaged together to find the bacteria value.
A beach is usually reopened when the three-day average E. coli value is below 200 CFU/100 mL and the daily E. coli values from the two most recent sampling days are both below 200 CFU/100 mL, according to the King County website.