Island County restarts beach bacteria testing at three popular parks

Island County will restart beach bacteria testing on Memorial Day, focusing on three heavily used parks: Freeland County Park, Dave Mackie Park and Windjammer Park in Oak Harbor. The county’s Swimming Beaches program samples marine and freshwater beaches to reduce illness risk, and when indicator bacteria are too high for recreation, the public is notified through press releases and signs posted at the beach.

The three sites were chosen because of strong warm-weather use. Freeland County Park is one of the county’s best-known recreation spots, with beach access, a boat ramp, picnic facilities, restrooms and a playground. Dave Mackie Park and Windjammer Park round out the county’s priority list for the season as families, swimmers and paddlers return to local shorelines.

The beach program sits alongside a much larger water-quality effort. Island County’s Water Year 2025 surface-water report was presented to the Board of Island County Commissioners on April 8 by Natural Resources Manager Jennifer Schmitz and Environmental Health Specialists Renee Zavas Silva and Carlie Miller. The report covered more than 25 watersheds and tracked conditions in an additional 12, logging more than 4,000 staff hours and more than 1,000 water samples.

Its findings were mixed but mostly troubling. Of 25 sampled streams, only three met both water-quality standards, eight met one standard and 14 failed both. County officials said the trend is moving in the wrong direction, but the information is essential for protecting residents, reopening shellfish harvesting areas closed to pollution and keeping swim beaches open for recreation.

The county says septic systems remain a major part of that picture. About 72% of Island County residents use septic wastewater systems, compared with about 20% of U.S. homes. The county’s Pollution Identification and Correction program says Island County has approximately 29,000 on-site sewage systems, many of them old or degraded, that can release fecal pollution into waterways used for recreation, fishing, shellfish harvesting and drinking water. Staff have identified three areas closed to recreation and shellfishing because of high fecal coliform and E. coli levels.

Island County says it will keep focusing outreach in watersheds with water-quality exceedances and seek renewal of its PIC grant. For anyone planning a beach day this season, the message is straightforward: the water is open for use, but conditions can change, and the county will post warnings and issue press releases when bacteria levels climb.