MERIDIAN, Idaho — As we near the summer months, many people have plans to swim and cool off in public pools, but changes are coming to how much government-managed pool water needs to be inspected.
Central District Health says House Bill 202 could cause a risk to the public’s health as lawmakers voted to eliminate state-level inspection enforcement.
“It is a risk to public health, and that’s why I think it was good to have some regulatory oversight in place,” said Russ Duke, Director of Central District Health.
Lawmakers in favor of the change say they don’t anticipate any threat to public health.
“We felt comfortable and confident that the local folks could handle and take care of the pools like they’ve always done,” said Rep. Lori McCann (R).
Representative Lori McCann says she ran the 21-page bill for the legislative Health and Welfare committee. She says the removal of the “enforcement of minimum standards of health, safety, and sanitation for all public swimming pools” aligns with deregulating trends that Governor Brad Little is working towards.
“We’re going to give all the authority to locals to handle this,” said Rep. McCann.
Senator Melissa Wintrow was the sole lawmaker to vote against the approval of this bill. She tells Idaho News 6, “Before it was presented on the Senate floor, I heard directly from a stakeholder that this bill could put public health at risk. Therefore, I voted no.”
She also says lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure the safety of those recreating, especially children, and if this removal threatens public health, a solution must be found.
Central District Health says it will no longer need to test the dozens of pools in its jurisdiction. “Unless they voluntarily say ‘we want Central District Health to come out and do these inspections,’ they would no longer be done,” said Duke.
Central District Health says they’ll also get involved should there be any disease outbreaks.
While the change takes effect July 1, the City of Meridian tells Idaho News 6 they plan to continue monitoring their pool water sanitation levels as they always have with multiple, daily in-person and automated system checks.
