#NoSwimEra #RestoreIowaWaters
Calling for the Beginning of the End of
Our #NoSwimEra @
Backbone State Park
Summer 2025 / or Memorial Day 2025
#NoSwimEra #48Lakes #RestoreIowaWaters
“What we’re doing with this project is acquainting people again with each other and with others about where they have seen access to this public resource — clean water — be diminished by those who are stealing our wealth and polluting our waters.” ”
Enough is Enough
We used to go to Backbone State Park on Memorial Day with family and friends to swim and enjoy our shared resource of clean, natural waters.
But Backbone will be almost deserted this Memorial Day because of fecal matter and toxic microcystins in the water at Backbone. Industrial chemicals and industrial-level manure deposits have concentrated these pollutants in our waters at historically harmful levels.
These pollutants cause health hazards such as:
Neurological effects
Respiratory illness
Skin rashes
Gastrointestinal illness (such as diarrhea or vomiting)
Skin, ear, eye, and sinus infections
Sources: Iowa DNR Beach Quality FAQ; U.S. EPA Fact Sheet; U.S. EPA Website; Iowa DNR’s Beach Quality FAQ; U.S. EPA’s Effects of Nutrient Pollution via WebArchive; Chris Jones, The Swine Republic
The Evidence at Backbone State Beach
The DNR issues “Swimming is Not Recommended” warnings at Backbone State Beach to save Iowans from these health hazards. According to the DNR, Backbone Beach was unsafe for swimming 11/16 weeks last summer.
The hazards at Backbone beach are, unfortunately, not unique. Public waters across Iowa are now frequently unsafe for recreational use.
#48Lakes
An Initiative of Driftless Water Defenders
We are part of a wider movement gathering at #48Lakes in Iowa in the summer of 2025 to draw attention to the loss of our public waters for recreation. We are building community with one another, remembering what we have lost, and calling for the beginning of the end of Iowa’s #NoSwimEra
#NoSwimEra #48Lakes #RestoreIowaWaters
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