Several Vaud campsites have recorded early departures and last-minute cancellations since Saturday, after the announcement of the presence of cyanobacteria in the water of a portion of the Neuchâtel coast.
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The Neuchâtel beaches located between the mouth of the Areuse and Colombier have been banned from swimming since last week. Swimming is not recommended on the rest of the coast.
FRÉDÉRIC RAVUSSIN
It is not strictly speaking a massacre, but the campsites on the Neuchâtel coast could dream of better to start the month of August. Opening delayed this spring due to the health crisis, they now have to face the consequences of the presence of cyanobacteria in the lake, which are causing some campers to leave their holiday resort or simply to give up their reservation.
Analyzes have yet to confirm it, but the “blue algae” would be the cause of the death of at least six dogs in the middle of last week between the mouth of the Areuse and Colombier (NE). As a result, the Canton of Neuchâtel has closed access to 500 meters of beaches in the area. And swimming is not recommended on the rest of its beaches. In the process, and although no other case of intoxication was announced, Vaud and Friborg did the same.
Only adults still bathe
In the middle of the holiday season, these precautionary measures were therefore not without consequences for the campsites bordering the shores of Lake Neuchâtel. “On Saturday, we noticed that only a few adults were still going in the water,” said Sébastien Bauen, who manages Camping des Pins. Located in the town of Grandson, however, the site has not recorded any cancellations or unplanned departures, just like the Camping du Pécos, also in Grandson.
In Yverdon, on the other hand, it’s not the same refrain. “Of the hundred reservations that were to start on Sunday, ten were canceled. And other customers have called for information, ”notes Jaime Montaldo. The manager of Camping Yverdon Plage tells those who can still wait for new information before giving up. “And we remind them that the site concerned is about twenty kilometers from here and that in Yverdon they can also bathe at the thermal spa if the weather is not nice like these days, or at the swimming pool which is nearby. two steps from here, ”he replies.
“The relationship of campers to the lake has changed”
While the results of the analyzes should fall this week, the speech is the same at the VD8 of Cheseaux-Noréaz, a few kilometers further along the south shore of the lake, where several customers already installed have interrupted their stay. “I have the impression that some read” not recommended “, but understand” prohibited “… What is certain is that the Canton’s invitations to caution have had an influence on the behavior of campers: their relationship to the “water and the lake has changed,” said the caretaker, Claude Aymard.
And at the end of the lake, at the communal campsite of Cudrefin, the reception manager, Sylvia Schaer deplores about ten early departures and some cancellations. Not much to worry about, however: “If things return to normal quickly, they shouldn’t have too much of a financial influence.” This is because the vast majority of campers do not panic, but observe a certain caution. “I look wherever I let my dog go and I obviously prevent him from going into the water …” suggests this Bernese from Lyss, who has been living at the Yverdon campsite for a few days.
They too are more at risk than adults because they are more likely to swallow water when bathing, children must look at the lake from a distance for now. “Of course we would like to know more, but for the moment we are paying attention, hoping that everything will be in order before the end of the week,” explains this mother who came from La Côte with full knowledge of the facts. Just disembarked from the canton of Zurich on Monday morning, these German-speaking Swiss did not want to give up their holidays either and have already thought of another solution: “In Yverdon, the beaches of Lake Geneva and Lake Murten are not too far.”
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