Harry S Truman State Park’s Public Beach Remains Temporarily Closed for Water Quality Issues

The public swimming beach at Harry S Truman State Park remains temporarily closed for water quality issues, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The state park beach at Harry S Truman located in Warsaw remains closed following results of water samples taken Monday that indicated bacteria levels higher than those recommended for waters used for swimming.

The campground beach at Harry S Truman State Park remains open. Visitors to park may stop by the office or fee booth to obtain a pass free of charge to swim at the campground beach. Once tests from the public beach indicate the bacteria levels are within the standard suitable for swimming, the beach will reopen.

The swimming beach at Lake Wappapello located in Williamsville reopened today. The beach was previously closed due to flooding, however, the waters have rescinded and swimmers are once again invited to the beach. Thousand Hills located in Kirksville remains closed due to flooding.

The department collects water samples from all designated beaches in the state park system weekly during the recreational season to determine suitability for swimming. Beaches will be closed for high bacteria when a single E. coli sample exceeds 235 cfu/100ml or when the geometric mean – a 30-day rolling average – exceeds 126 cfu/100 ml. The sample test results indicate a snap shot of the water quality taken at the beaches at a specific time; however, a single sample does not provide an overall sense of the water quality in the lake where the beach is located.

The department will post the information about the beach status on the website at dnr.mo.gov as well as mostateparks.com. Visitors to Missouri State Parks are able to sign up to receive free electronic notices about the status of state park beaches while visiting the department’s beach status website.

This press release provided by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.