The graph to the left shows temperatures for Lake Independence from mid-March through July 7. The surface water is up to 79 F now....not very refreshing on a hot day, but won't take long getting used to.

Bacteria - Don't drink the water! Hennepin Parks regularly monitors the public swimming beaches for fecal coliform bacteria. Although these bacteria are not themselves necessarily harmful, they provide a measure of overall bacterial levels in the water. Hennepin Parks closes beaches when the fecal coliform counts are too high. We will post any closed beach information on this page so check back regularly. For more information on waterborne pathogens visit the Minnesota Department of Health web page.

Click on Swimmimg Beach Bacteria for information from each of the Hennepin Park beaches.

HENNEPIN PARKS SWIMMING BEACHES

OPEN - Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day daily from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Beaches with Lifeguards-
The following parks have beaches with lifeguards on duty from June 5th through August 15th, and daily from Noon to 8:00 p.m.. The beaches are open but unguarded daily from 9:00 a.m. until Noon.
· Baker Park Reserve (Main beach)
· Elm Creek Park Reserve
· French Regional Park
· Lake Minnetonka Regional Park Unguarded Beaches -
· Baker Park Reserve (Campground beach)
· Bryant Lake Regional Park
· Carver Park Reserve (Lake Auburn Campground/campers only)
· Cleary Lake Regional Park
· Fish Lake Regional Park
· Lake Rebecca Park Reserve

Beach wheelchairs are available at Baker and Elm Creek Park Reserves, and at Bryant Lake, French and Lake Minnetonka Regional Parks.

With the increase in development and lake use comes the threat of poor water quality. The water quality of many developed and recreational lakes around the twin cities has changed over the years. Bacterial and viral infections are a very real threat in lakes with compromised water quality. There are many different types of parasites, pathogens and diseases that can be carried in water. Here we present information on the most common problems in the Twin Cities metro area.

Swimmer's Itch (Schistosomiasis) - Swimmer's itch is an irritation of the skin caused by a small flatworm called a Schistosome that mistakes humans for their natural waterfowl hosts. The flatworm burrows into our skin to try to complete its lifecycle. Fortunately for us our body attacks them, which causes most of us to itch. For more information on swimmer's itch check out these websites: Nature.org or Minnesota DNR's: Swimmer's itch.

Iif swimmer's itch becomes a big problem, management agencies will treat the swimming areas with copper sulfate. The copper sulfate kills the snails that act as an intermediate host for the schistosomes. Unfortunately the copper sulfate is a nonspecific poison, which means that it kills or damages other aquatic organisms as well. One way to help prevent swimmer's itch is to avoid feeding or attracting waterfowl to swimming areas. Swim away from the shoreline, and if you do swim in an area that is known to have swimmer's itch, you should thoroughly dry yourself with a towel as soon as you exit the water.

Ultraviolet radiation - By being aware of the local UV Index you can protect yourself from the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Click on "local UV Index" to learn more about ultraviolet radiation and how it affects us.

Check out the EMPACT SunWise program to see how an EMPACT project is bringing information on UV radiation to kids in grades K-8.