Crystal Lake Main Beach still closed Sunday; Three Oaks Beach reopens

Crystal Lake’s Main Beach extended its streak of closed days Sunday because of high bacteria levels.

The swimming beach at Three Oaks Recreation Area, also in Crystal Lake, reopened Sunday, according to the area’s rainout.com page.

West Beach at Crystal Lake remains open Sunday for swimming. At Main Beach, boat rentals are still available, and the park remain open.

No status change has been reported for Lake in the Hills’ Indian Trail and Butch Hagele beaches, which remain marked as closed Sunday.

The several-day-long streak of closures extended what so far has been a challenging season for local beaches, some of which delayed their summer openings because of chilly weather in late May and early June, only to be followed by the high E. coli-related closures just before the Fourth of July holiday.

Beaches will reopen once new samples confirm that E. coli readings drop to acceptable levels. Factors such as natural die-off, wind, waves and ultraviolet rays from the sun all help reduce the level of bacteria. But how long it takes for the levels to reduce varies, according to the McHenry County Department of Health.

There are a variety of reasons for elevated levels of bacteria in the water, including storm runoff from rainfall, agricultural runoff, wild and domestic animal waste, bather defecation and wastewater.

Swimmers exposed to such high bacteria could develop gastroenteritis-type illness, with symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, headache, a low-grade fever, skin rashes and earaches. The McHenry County Department of Health advises anyone who experiences these symptoms after swimming at a public beach to contact a physician and the beach manager.

You can check the status of beaches at the Illinois Department of Public Health’s BeachGuard site here: idph.illinois.gov/envhealth/ilbeaches/public.