Spatio-Temporal Variation in the Exceedance of Enterococci in Lake Burley Griffin: An Analysis of 16 Years’ Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Data

Ripon Kumar Adhikary (), Danswell Starrs, David Wright, Barry Croke, Kathryn Glass and Aparna Lal
Additional contact information
Ripon Kumar Adhikary: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
Danswell Starrs: Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, ACT Government, Canberra 2601, Australia
David Wright: Lake and Dam, National Capital Authority, Canberra 2601, Australia
Barry Croke: Institute for Water Futures, Mathematical Sciences Institute and Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
Kathryn Glass: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
Aparna Lal: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Recreational waterbodies with high levels of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) pose health risks and are an ongoing challenge for urban-lake managers. Lake Burley Griffin (LBG) in the Australian Capital city of Canberra is a popular site for water-based recreation, but analyses of seasonal and long-term patterns in enterococci that exceed alert levels (>200 CFU per 100 mL, leading to site closures) are lacking. This study analysed enterococci concentrations from seven recreational sites from 2001–2021 to examine spatial and temporal patterns in exceedances during the swimming season (October–April), when exposure is highest. The enterococci concentrations varied significantly across sites and in the summer months. The frequency of the exceedances was higher in the 2009–2015 period than in the 2001–2005 and 2015–2021 periods. The odds of alert-level concentrations were greater in November, December, and February compared to October. The odds of exceedance were higher at the Weston Park East site (swimming beach) and lower at the Ferry Terminal and Weston Park West site compared to the East Basin site. This preliminary examination highlights the need for site-specific assessments of environmental and management-related factors that may impact the public health risks of using the lake, such as inflows, turbidity, and climatic conditions. The insights from this study confirm the need for targeted monitoring efforts during high-risk months and at specific sites. The study also advocates for implementing measures to minimise faecal pollution at its sources.

Keywords: urban lake; recreation; health risks; seasonal; enterococci concentration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/579/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/579/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:5:p:579-:d:1387459

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().