Lake Herman Bacteria Up Slightly, Levels Still Safe

The bacteria monitoring project continues on are lakes and streams. Readings from last Wednesday on the two sites monitored by the Madville Times on the west side of Lake Herman were 80 and 60 colony-forming units per 100 ml. That's up from the near-zero readings of August, but still well below the EPA single-sample maximum of 235 CFU/100 ml for recreational use.

Monitors have one more round of scheduled samples in October before stowing their gear for the winter. Prospects are good for continuing this project next year: the Lake Herman Sanitary District has budgeted $700 to fund continued monitoring on this lake, and the East Dakota Water Development District and other funding sources may make possible the continuation of the project throughout the watershed.