OGDEN VALLEY — People looking to enjoy one of Ogden’s go-to aquatic recreation spots this weekend are being advised to exercise caution due to the presence of a harmful pathogen.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Weber-Morgan Health Department have noted that a waterborne pathogen warning advisory has been issued for Pineview Reservoir.

That advisory is in effect for the Middle Inlet Picnic Area of the reservoir, where E. coli counts taken from the water were above Utah Department of Health recreational thresholds.

Although waterbodies around the state are regularly monitored for waterborne pathogens, Dr. Hannah Bonner — an environmental scientist with the DEQ’s Division of Water Quality — told the Standard-Examiner that E. coli typically doesn’t appear in quantities that pose a significant threat to humans.

“Generally, we’ll have a few, two to five or so, waterbodies that we’re monitoring for recreational water quality that will have E. coli exceedances in a typical summer. So, it’s not super common,” she said.

Bonner says that elevated E. coli levels are the result of fecal contamination from animals and/or humans, and noted that people who are immunocompromised, the elderly and young children are at the greatest risk for experiencing sickness due to exposure to contaminated water.

“The risk of fecal contamination is that it can introduce harmful bacteria, viruses or parasites to the water. So, there’s a wide variety of potential symptoms,” she said. “Most commonly, what we see is gastrointestinal illness. So, vomiting, diarrhea and nausea that can last anywhere from a few hours to days or weeks.”

Preventative measures that can be taken include avoiding any sort of recreational behavior that could result in water entering the body through the mouth.

“We’re recommending don’t swim, don’t dunk your head, maybe don’t water ski or jet ski right there along the shore if you’re kicking up spray,” Bonner said. “You probably want to keep kids and toddlers out of the water in that area.”

Bonner stressed that the advisory was issued only for the Middle Inlet Picnic Area of the reservoir. She also added that while the local health department is still collecting samples and data, these issues can resolve themselves naturally over a period of “a couple of days or a week.”

The Weber-Morgan Health Department initially misidentified the issue at Pineview as an algal bloom in a Facebook post. And while that wasn’t actually the issue on this occasion, Bonner noted that such blooms are present in other area waterbodies.

“We just put up some help watches for Andy Adams Reservoir and Clinton Pond in Davis County,” she said. “Those are mostly used for fishing spots, but some paddling as well. Harmful algal blooms were spotted at those earlier this week.”

She added that samples were collected from those waterbodies on Thursday and that testing would yield results by early next week.

For an interactive map of current conditions at Utah water bodies, visit https://tinyurl.com/3ca6yb6x.

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