LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (June 27, 2025) — As summer heats up, several public swim beaches across Arkansas remain closed after routine testing revealed elevated levels of Escherichia coli, prompting public health advisories and renewed attention to lake safety.
The Arkansas Department of Health’s Division of Environmental Health monitors water quality at more than 200 designated public swim beaches each year. Testing is typically conducted four times monthly during the summer season, and any location with two consecutive samples exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold is immediately closed until the water tests clean twice in a row.
E. coli, a bacteria often found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, can enter lake waters through a variety of sources. These include feces from resident Canada geese, widespread feral hog populations, leaking septic systems, or poor waste disposal practices by humans or pets. Closures are often reported shortly after heavy rainfall events, which wash contaminants from the surrounding land into lakes and rivers.
According to health officials, swim beaches are most frequently closed around holiday weekends, when both recreational use and water testing frequency peak. In 2025, an increasing number of closures have been reported at sites in Benton, Cleburne, Faulkner, and Sebastian counties. Several closures remain in effect this week, as local agencies await improved testing results…