Lake Mattawa in Orange reopens after testing shows lowered bacteria levels

ORANGE — Lake Mattawa has reopened to the public after testing showed lower bacteria levels, according to the Board of Health.

“Testing will continue, as it has been, on a regular basis,” the Board of Health wrote in a Facebook post. “If levels increase again, we will make another announcement.”

The lake was closed on Wednesday after unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria were detected in a sample taken by the Housatonic Basin Sampling and Testing company on Tuesday. Drought conditions combined with runoff from heavy rains, Health Agent Matthew Fortier said, were “definitely a factor” in washing fecal matter into the lake.