On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Water Quality Division announced that E. coli levels within Huntington Reservoir had tested below the Utah Department of Health recreational thresholds. 

For residents of the Castle Country Area, this means that it is again safe to recreate in the lake with activities such as swimming, dunking their heads, or other activities that may get water in their mouths.

This announcement comes after a monthlong saga of weekly testing at the water body, which began on July 25, after two consecutive tests in high usage areas showed that E. coli levels were above the Health Departments safe recreational threshold.

Earlier, Castle Country spoke to Dr. Hanna Bonner from the DEQ who explained the testing process, “Samples are collected proactively on a monthly basis, June through October, at water bodies around the state. Three replicate samples are collected from the water at high-use recreational areas (in this instance near the shore of Huntington State Park). The three samples are analyzed for E. coli concentrations.” If the samples return positive, three additional samples are taken and tested before the issuing of a warning advisory. 

If an advisory is put in place, the DEQ tests the water weekly and keeps the advisory in place until two consecutive tests return showing that E.coli levels are at a safe threshold.

To stay up to date with advisories regarding Huntington Reservoir, you can visit the DEQ’s monitoring website here.