NEW ORLEANS — There's a new silver lining to the unseasonable heat that Louisiana and Mississippi have been feeling this October: As of Saturday, you can once again swim at all beaches on the Mississippi coast after the water was deemed off-limits for most of the summer.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality made the announced months after they first closed off the water to swimmers and fishers due to a widespread bloom of dangerous blue-green algae. On Saturday, officials said all water at all 21 beaches along the coast, as well as the Pass Christian, Long Beach and Bay St. Louis harbors, were safe and open to the public once again.
“We are delighted that the Coastal Mississippi mainland waters are once again open for swimming," Coastal Mississippi CEO Milton Segarra said in part. "...we look forward to seeing both visitors and residents enjoying everything The Secret Coast has to offer."
The state began issuing 'water contact warnings' for its popular beaches back in June, when dangerous levels of bacteria from the algae, associated with the prolonged opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, took over local rivers, lakes and parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
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By the first week of July, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality was forced to close the water along the entire coast.
While the beaches themselves never closed, the local waterways that remained under strict warning began to open in the following months after the Spillway was finally closed on July 27 and the bacteria from the algae slowly dissipated.
According to the MDEQ, the blue-green algae causes rashes, stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
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