High Levels of Bacteria Found in Estero River

Holley Rauen, a retired nurse and now volunteer at the Happehatchee Center in Estero warns a man about the contaminated water as he passes by on his kayak. She said she’s been on edge ever since a kids’ summer camp ended at the center a few weeks ago.

“On the last day of camp two little girls came up to me and said, Ms. Holley, Nurse Holley, we have diarrhea,” she said.

She said she told the camp leaders to cancel kayaking and canoeing lessons for the kids once she learned the water had a high contamination of fecal indicator bacteria. She said even though it’s hard to prove, she thinks those two little girls got in the water before her warning.

So, she started posted signs around the river. It’s after she learned the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) monthly test of the river showed bacteria levels over 800. The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) considers beach water unsafe for people when it hits 71. Estero River has ten times that limit!