What are some best management practices (BMP’s) that King County is implementing to help keep swim beaches open this year?
If fewer geese spend less time at the parks, there will be fewer feces and the bacterial load will decrease. Goose control using trained dogs is occurring at some parks outside of the King County park system. Park personnel and the King County Marine Patrol have replaced the practice of washing duck and geese feces off of the walkways and into the swimming area. An option would be to spray geese feces with dilute hydrogen peroxide would kill bacteria and would photo-oxidize, posing little or no water quality threat. Comparison data indicate lower bacterial counts at beaches on open shorelines and in areas where there is greater exchange of water. Beaches in more enclosed bays, or with streams from an urbanized watershed discharging into them tend to have higher bacterial counts. At Juanita Beach pumps have been installed that increase the water circulation in the swimming area by bringing in cleaner water and pushing out the fecal coliform contaminated water.
