After testing high for bacteria, Crystal Lake is back open, Patch reports. Crystal Lake became unsafe due to high E. coli and fecal coliform bacteria levels on July 1, prompting the city to issue an alert that no one – people or pets — should have contact with the water.
Of course, the lake is technically closed for swimming this year and the city has said that “trespassing will not be permitted,” something not everyone seems to feel applies to them.
Photo from June 20 of the “closed” Crystal Lake beach.
Crystal Lake is a “great pond” under MA law, at 33 acres exceeding the 10 acre requirement for that characterization. As such, there is a legal requirement that it be public for the purpose of hunting, fishing or boating. So, to that extent, it can’t be closed. I admit, though, that defining whether a large plastic flamingo, doughnut, or other float is a “boat” is a matter for the best legal minds to resolve!
More seriously, would we really want the Newton Police to be patrolling the lake 15 hours a day, ordering people out, and standing there until people have left the water? (Especially when a lot of those same officers grew up swimming from the coves with their friends!)
From what I’ve seen, people have been well behaved and considerate with regard to social distancing. I especially enjoy seeing the large family groups of people speaking Portuguese and other languages splashing in the lake together. I appreciate the financial and logistical items that made it impossible for the City to open the formal program, but there is a lot of good that’s going on at the lake.
In short, this is a “crime” that warrants little or no attention.
@ Paul Levy, I disagree. Not that people shouldn’t be allowed to swim there, but rather that there is rule against it.
I am disturbed by parent helping their children to climb the fence. It totally sends the wrong message.
Declare it “swim at your own risk” and stop the farce
Indeed. That would make the whole thing simpler. Thanks for the suggestion, Claire.
(And I wouldn’t have to convene my expert legal panel about whether a float is a boat!)
“Technically”, jaywalking is illegal in Massachusetts. Yet we all do it.
https://malegislature.gov/laws/generallaws/parti/titlexiv/chapter90/section18a
Glad Crystal Lake is safe again for those who partake (“at their own risk”).
As a parent, when the the “lake” is closed, I teach my kids that they can’t swim there. Just like my kids have to social distance and wear masks. They are no more special than any other person during a pandemic.
If the lake is closed, people shouldn’t be in the lake, especially the beach. It is tresspessing.
And I hope that NO one drowns there this summer. But it is not the job of the police to monitor the lake 24/7. We are adults and should we dip into the lake and can’t find our kid in the lake, there are no lifeguards to assist. It is their own risk.
I find it strange that the mayor announced the high bacteria levels but did not announce the return to normal levels. Or maybe I missed something. The city’s behavior regarding the lake is very strange.
@Newtoner – It seems very straightforward to me.
People were swimming in the lake, despite the fact that it was not city sanctioned. When the bacteria level rose, people were warned since it was a risk to public health.
When the level dropped, there was no need to alert people since the city doesn’t sanction swimming there.
Reading between the lines on some of the comments on this thread, it almost sounds like some folks are suggesting that since the swimmers didn’t have permission, the city should have just stayed quiet and let them get sick.
The “trespassing” argument seems pretty weak to me. Crystal Lake is NOT closed and there is no need to jump any fences, you can walk straight from the Lake Ave sidewalk into Cronin Cove. Yes, there is a sign that says no swimming, but to my knowledge, it has never been enforced. Of course, I don’t actually believe that the primary concern is people being on city property!
Also, while I don’t think that parents should not be shamed for trying to help their kids do something other than stare at a screen, a huge number of swimmers are not there with kids (unless their kids are in the 30s or 40s). Mixed in with the kids and teenagers, there are a bunch of older Newton residents who are trying to exercise and enjoy the outdoors.
@Tim The “trespassing” argument seems pretty weak to me. Crystal Lake is NOT closed and there is no need to jump any fences, you can walk straight from the Lake Ave sidewalk into Cronin Cove.
Parents and their children are jumping the fence at the bathhouse which is normally the only legal place to swim. When you jump a fence when there is a sign that says “No Trespassing” (which there is at the bathhouse), it is trespassing. Not a week argument at all.
Personally, I think they should open the gate and let people swim at their own risk. But parents jumping the fence with their children is just wrong. Way to teach the lesson that the rules don’t apply to us!
@Claire-
I suspect that the “no trespassing” is intended to insulate the city from liability in the awful event that something horrible happens. You are correct that there are multiple entry points, and if memory serves me, the city has no control over abutters swimming- though I could be flat out wrong.
I do hope that the City will continue to monitor water quality and make that data immediately available. High bacteria levels pose a significant risk to humans and pets and that data needs to be shared without reservation.
The mayor conveniently left the Lake is Safe out of her nightly emails. Didn’t suit her agenda. I did see the other day with no mask on…
Talk about mixed messages.
Now Crystal Lake is more modest than Lake Michigan, and the crowds there won’t match the one in the following article. Nonetheless, here is what can happen if people are left entirely to their own devices at places like lakes and beaches:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/12/health/michigan-coronavirus-torch-lake-sandbar/index.html