E. Coli warnings posted in Jackson Hole
JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK)-There’s a new health threat to consider if you’re playing outside this summer. The Teton, Wyoming District Board of Health decided Tuesday to put signs on portions of Fish Creek and Flat Creek.
The signs carry warnings for swimmers and float tubers that there could be elevated levels of E. coli in the water.
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality rules state that, in all waters that are used for primary contact recreation, concentrations of E. coli bacteria should not exceed a geometric mean of 126 organisms per 100 milliliters during any consecutive 60-day period. That activity includes swimming, or tubing during the summer recreation season.
The Health Board said portions of Fish Creek have exceeded the limit, along with portions of Flat Creek that runs through the South Park Feed grounds, and at the end of Flat Creek before it joins the Snake River.
Signs will be posted within the next week near locations used by float tubers on Fish Creek, specifically, near Hunt Bridge and on the U.S. Forest Service property directly upstream from Hunt Bridge.
Others will be posted near the Hay Barn Bridge on the South Park Feed grounds, where float tubers regularly put in to Flat Creek. And, signs will be posted at the swimming hold at the confluence of Flat Creek and the Snake River on Von Gontard’s Landing.
The signs will include an advisory that bacterial levels in the affected waters exceed recommended environmental quality standards. Swimming or float tubing should be avoided.
