Lake Kenosia Closed for Swimming

Danbury's Health Department closed Lake Kenosia for swimming due to high bacteria counts.

E-Coli and Salmonella are both found in geese feces, and both can cause illness in humans. The Lake Kenosia swimming area is closed until further testing proves it safe, said Director of Health Scott Leroy, because the bacteria count is unsafe.

The bacteria counts were OK all summer, Leroy said, but after all the heavy rain and the flash flooding last week, the bacteria count became unsafe.

"The geese are walking right from the beach into the water," Leroy said. "The water temperature is high. Cold water would stress the bacteria more."

Leroy said the city is trying to figure out exactly where the geese feces is coming from. The city is sampling up stream and it is testing runnoff into the lake from soccer fields, from the beach and any where else it might be coming from. The main area problem spot for the bacteria appears to be near the public swimming beach.

The Lake Kenosia Commission and the City of Danbury planted a transition garden between the lawns at Kenosia Park and the beach in an effort to keep the geese away from the beach and the water. Leroy and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said that appears to be working, but despite that effort, geese droppings are finding their way into the water near the beach anyway.

Leroy said the city is going to keep sampling the water, and it is going to figure out the source. A single goose drops up to 1.5 pounds of feces a day, and it poops every 20 minutes or so.

"It looks like the issue is the runnoff and the water temperature," Boughton said. "We had a lot of rain and the water is warm."