The natural swimming ponds at Castlegar’s Millennium Park are temporarily closed.
The city says during routine park maintenance, civic works crews noted potential water quality issues and closed the ponds as a precaution while water testing is completed.
“We apologize for any inconvenience the temporary closure may have on people visiting the park,” said director of municipal services Chris Hallam.
“Safety is always a top priority while maintaining our parks and the natural ponds at Millennium Park and we look forward to reopening the ponds as soon as we can confirm the water is okay for swimming.”
The city says it follows the Canadian Recreational Water Guidelines and regularly tests the natural ponds’ water quality and submits the results to Interior Health Authority for review.
The ponds only opened for the season last week. They have been periodically closed in years past due to positive E. coli samples and algae blooms.