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Sunset Beach has been under a recreational public health advisory for 108 days due to harmful algal blooms.
CELINA - Over five years ago, Grand Lake advocates laid out a plan to improve water quality at West Beach to the point where people could swim without worrying about recreational public health advisories triggered by algal blooms.
The ambitious endeavor pursued by numerous entities hasn't panned out yet. Nevertheless, people are swimming - or more precisely, wading and splashing about - in the shallow waters of what has since been renamed Sunset Beach to reflect its picturesque setting and alleviate confusion about its location.
Sunset Beach is located off Edgewater Drive in Auglaize County near the Villa Nova housing subdivision.
A project spearheaded by Ohio Department of Natural Resources in 2019 saw about 41,000 cubic yards of nutrient-rich sediment removed from the 8 acres of lakebed in the beach area.
The muck was replaced by a new sand base. The rock wall that had stretched around part of the mouth of the beach was extended to create a curtain; it doesn't completely cut off the beach from the lake, but the goal is to prevent large inflows of water and excess sediment.
Aerators and diffusers were also installed to infuse the water with oxygen and disrupt algae growth.
Later on, the waters received applications of Phoslock, a clay-based mixture that binds floating phosphorus, making it unavailable as a food source to the lake's blue-green algae
Officials had hoped the water would test either negative or below the state's no-contact threshold for cyanotoxin levels and that the beach would become a safe place for swimmers.
Sunset Beach is located off of Edgewater Drive in St. Marys.
Today, Sunset Beach, as well as the main east, state park campground and Windy Point beaches, has been under a recreational public health advisory for 108 days due to algal bloom.
The advisories are triggered when cyanotoxins - in these cases, microcystins - are equal to or exceed a recreational threshold, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Microcystin is a toxin produced by cyanobacteria, more commonly called blue-green algae, that can sicken people and animals.
"Avoid all contact with the water. Algal toxins have been found at unsafe levels. Swimming and wading are not recommended. Keep pets away," the recreation public health advisory reads.
Officials have learned over the years that aeration alone doesn't appear to have any impact on toxin levels, said Mercer County Agriculture and Natural Resource Director Theresa Dirksen.
"Aeration does help keep scum off the surface and keep things moving, but it really doesn't seem to have an impact on the level of toxin," she said. "The theory behind the aeration was to keep muck levels down, keep oxygen levels up, and there were some companies that were saying, 'Yeah, it would keep your toxin levels down,' which isn't the case."
The aerators have been turned off this summer as to not interfere with an experiment underway in beach waters by Ohio State University. It involves nano-bubble aerators that add ozone to the water, according to Dirksen.
As to whether the mission will ever be accomplished, Dirksen linked its ultimate fate to that of multiple water-restoration projects on and around Grand Lake, remarking that "if we keep treading in the right direction, hopefully we can reach that goal at some point."
"I think we have to get the whole lake to that point," she said. "This (beach) area is going to do what the lake does. Even though it's semi-closed off, we've shown with the data over the last four years that it still does whatever the lake does."
She also cited a host of improvements at Sunset Beach - a public sand volleyball court, a kayak launch and playground set - as signs of positive development.
"We've really enhanced the area and added amenities to the site as well, so it's not just about swimming," she said.
County community development director Jared Ebbing also takes a positive stance on the beach experiment.
"It's healthier water," he said. "I wouldn't call that a failure if the dissolved oxygen level and the overall health of the water is more desirable to swim in. Go tell me if you like swimming in somebody's pond that has a fountain circulating water or somebody's pond that does not."
Due to harmful algal blooms, Sunset Beach, along with other beaches near Windy Point and the state park campground, are placed under a no-contact advisory.
The no-contact warning at Sunset Beach hasn't stopped people from entering the waters.
"There are people who swim out there, a number of people," said Donna Grube, director of the Greater Grand Lake Visitor Center. "On really hot days … you'll see folks out there despite the warning signs. It isn't packed or crowded, but it does get used as a swimming resource."
The number of swimmers varies between a handful and over a dozen, Grube said.
"A lot of lunch goers sit at the picnic tables at noon time and a lot of times parents bring their kids and they're swimming, before school started, obviously," she said. "We do have, I would say, a fairly decent amount of people swimming, but not what we had hoped for."
Ebbing offers no recommendation on whether to swim or not at Sunset Beach. Rather, he said people need to assess the risk for themselves, just as they do with everyday activities such as getting behind the wheel of an automobile.
"It's obvious over the last how many years, people have decided to take a calculated risk by utilizing our lake, and how many people have gotten ill?" he said. "I think we learned this with COVID: They've got to take personal responsibility and determine what their quote-unquote risks are."
People are often seen swimming at Boater's Beach near the mouth of the Big Chickasaw Creek, not to mention private ponds where no toxin testing takes place, Ebbing said.
In his view, what makes Sunset Beach any different?
"Why do the (no-contact) signs go up with a certain number? People don't stop and think about that, to assume their own level of risk and to assume their level of going out and enjoying the lake and pleasure. They have to start doing that," he said.
Sunset Beach draws visitors for reasons other than the swimming hole. In recent years, a new Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible playground and kayak launch, boat ramps and sand volleyball court have been added to the beach.
"It absolutely did (attract more visitors) because there's stuff for people do to in that area other than just swim," said Grand Lake St. Marys State Park Manager Dave Faler. "Any evening, as long as the weather is nice, there's somebody out there doing something, playing on the playground or playing volleyball or kayaking."
Grube said she's surprised about the amount of volleyball games being played at the beach.
"It's just fascinating to me how many folks enjoy doing that," she said.
Kids and young adults also can been seen throwing footballs or engaged in other recreation.
"I think people are now attracted to the site because of the upgrades. It gives them more of a focus," she said. "I feel very good about it, and I think the neighborhood feels good about it also because it seems to offer something that wasn't there before and there's a good response to it."
The beach has been used as the backdrop of engagement and senior photo sessions and is often frequented by wildlife and nature photographers.
"A lot of sunset pictures. They look really good there with a little bit of trees and then the sunset over the lake, so a lot of folks do go and take pictures there," Grube said.
