Sacramento, California Local News
2 beaches in North Lake Tahoe remain closed due to high bacteria levels
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It’s a stressful time at Watermans Landing, as the family-owned business faces the impact left behind by an 85,000-gallon raw sewage spill into North Lake Tahoe, last week.The spill is attributed to a Caltrans subcontractor who was drilling the foundation for a flashing traffic light to improve accessibility for pedestrians.The project is now on hold and a portion of the lake remains closed.”Losing a week of business in the middle of July is quite considerable,” said co-owner Anik Wilde.In a time when business should be thriving, Tahoe Watermans Landing is relying heavily on its coffee shop, as its kayaking and paddleboard rentals portion is suffering.Wilde says they’re issuing refunds and giving credits to customers who had reservations this week – as the water is off-limits.”It’s uncertain to where and how we’re going to recuperate the cost, so it’s unknown until the winter comes and see where we’re financially standing,” Wilde added.Nearly a week since the spill, a health advisory is still in effect due to elevated bacteria levels.The North Tahoe Public Utility District is running daily samples to identify bacteria including total coliform, fecal coliform, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) associated with untreated sewage. “Unfortunately, you can’t recover the release once it gets into the lake. Our goal as Placer County is to issue health advisories and tell folks to not go into the water in the advisory area until bacteria levels reach a level we would have expected to see before the release,” said Jason Philipe, health director with the Placer County Environmental Health & Animal Services.The impacted area spans the shoreline from the 5500 block of North Lake Tahoe Boulevard to the 4600 North Lake Tahoe Boulevard, including Carnelian West Beach and Patton Landing Beach.”A lot of the bacteria eventually does die off. These types of bacteria don’t survive outside of animals very long,” Philippe added. While it’s unknown when the health advisory or closures will be lifted, some business owners like Michael Aberley, have been fortunate to change the location where they run their charter business.”I know they’re trying to clean it up as fast as they can so what we’ve done is we’ve moved our customers to other beaches where they want to swim and get outside the boat,” Aberley said.The health advisory remains in effect at least through July 25. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
It’s a stressful time at Watermans Landing, as the family-owned business faces the impact left behind by an 85,000-gallon raw sewage spill into North Lake Tahoe, last week.
The spill is attributed to a Caltrans subcontractor who was drilling the foundation for a flashing traffic light to improve accessibility for pedestrians.
The project is now on hold and a portion of the lake remains closed.
“Losing a week of business in the middle of July is quite considerable,” said co-owner Anik Wilde.
In a time when business should be thriving, Tahoe Watermans Landing is relying heavily on its coffee shop, as its kayaking and paddleboard rentals portion is suffering.
Wilde says they’re issuing refunds and giving credits to customers who had reservations this week – as the water is off-limits.
“It’s uncertain to where and how we’re going to recuperate the cost, so it’s unknown until the winter comes and see where we’re financially standing,” Wilde added.
Nearly a week since the spill, a health advisory is still in effect due to elevated bacteria levels.
The North Tahoe Public Utility District is running daily samples to identify bacteria including total coliform, fecal coliform, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) associated with untreated sewage.
“Unfortunately, you can’t recover the release once it gets into the lake. Our goal as Placer County is to issue health advisories and tell folks to not go into the water in the advisory area until bacteria levels reach a level we would have expected to see before the release,” said Jason Philipe, health director with the Placer County Environmental Health & Animal Services.
The impacted area spans the shoreline from the 5500 block of North Lake Tahoe Boulevard to the 4600 North Lake Tahoe Boulevard, including Carnelian West Beach and Patton Landing Beach.
“A lot of the bacteria eventually does die off. These types of bacteria don’t survive outside of animals very long,” Philippe added.
While it’s unknown when the health advisory or closures will be lifted, some business owners like Michael Aberley, have been fortunate to change the location where they run their charter business.
“I know they’re trying to clean it up as fast as they can so what we’ve done is we’ve moved our customers to other beaches where they want to swim and get outside the boat,” Aberley said.
The health advisory remains in effect at least through July 25.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
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