Swimming, wading and shoreline play at the main beach area of Fred Henne Territorial Park are restricted while water quality testing is underway.

Routine monitoring recently identified elevated levels of bacteria, including E. coli. Additional testing is being conducted to confirm those results and determine whether levels exceed established Health Canada Guidelines for Canadian recreational water quality.

E. coli is commonly found in the natural environment at low levels. The purpose of testing is to confirm whether those levels are higher than what is considered safe for activities like swimming or wading.

At this time, the restriction is precautionary. There have been no reports of illness due to exposure to beach water. Visitors to the park are advised not to swim or wade in the water until further notice, and to avoid drinking untreated lake water.

Other things to note:

• The playground remains open for public use.
• The boat launch area is not affected by the bacteria, however, we do not recommend swimming at the boat launch area due to boating and motorized watercraft activity.
• We will continue to test bacteria levels at the beach and may re-evaluate access restrictions to protect public safety. 
• Routine water quality testing at Prelude Lake Territorial Park and Reid Lake Territorial Park has confirmed that bacteria levels remain within safe limits.

We will share updates as results become available in the coming days. We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure public safety.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Melvin Leonard
Assistant Director, Strategic Communications
Industry, Tourism and Investment
iticommunciations@gov.nt.ca
867-767-9202 ext. 63038