As the summer heat continues to shine brightly on the Texas Hill Country, the City of Boerne would like to take a moment to remind residents and visitors of some simple ways to safely cool off this summer.
One of the most popular ways to beat the heat is to go for a swim. The Boerne Municipal Pool is open five days a week.
- Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: 1 - 6 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: 12 - 7 p.m.
- Monday - Tuesday: Closed
With qualified and trained lifeguards on duty during all hours of operations, this provides a safe way to cool down on a hot summer day.
Boerne City Lake remains open and safe for recreationalists to enjoy whether they are kayaking, paddle boarding or swimming. We do encourage visitors to be safe and never jump or dive into the water. It can be difficult to determine how deep the water is and jumping into shallow water can cause serious injury or death. Also, it is not only humans that enjoy Boerne Lake, from cows to wildlife, swimmers share the water with many animals, reptiles, insects and other critters. It is best to keep an eye out and maintain a safe distance if you see an animal nearby.
During these hot summer months, the City continues its monthly surface water quality monitoring program at Boerne City Lake. Since launching in 2019, the program has monitored a variety of water quality parameters with a focus on E.coli bacteria and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). All data collection activities operate under an approved Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and chemical analysis of samples are performed at the San Antonio River Authority's Regional Environmental Laboratory and continues to show that the lake is a healthy body of water.
Another option for many locals growing up was to enjoy a dip in an area swimming hole or natural waterway. While they are a great source of relief, this summer the on-going drought and high temperatures have begun to show impact.
On June 22, the City was notified that a water sample taken along the Cibolo Creek in the Cibolo Nature Center showed increased bacteria which can make the area unsafe for swimming or fishing. The location where the water was tested is downstream of River Road Park, where swimming is never allowed, but a quick visit also highlights the impacts from the drought.
Unlike swimming pools, there is an increase in risk when swimming in any natural waters because they are not chlorinated or disinfected. The conditions currently observed in the Cibolo Nature Center can be reasonably expected given the current drought conditions and the area being home to a large population of waterfowl.
The City of Boerne encourages everyone to remember these safety tips and exercise good personal judgement when swimming this summer.