Before entering the half-life stage, the government of Evika Silina remembered the upcoming bathing season. Hosam Abu Meri, responsible for public health and a party member of the Prime Minister, reported on the implementation of regulation No. 692 "Procedure for the Creation, Maintenance, and Management of Swimming Water Quality."
Plus Two Swimming Areas
Currently, 59 places have been included in the list of swimming areas in Latvia: 32 in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga, and another 27 in inland waters. Two new locations will be officially added to them. The Cabinet of Ministers has clarified the requirements that the managing entity of the swimming area must ensure:
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for example, to equip toilets, providing a wastewater drainage system to the sewage network or local treatment facilities, or to place portable cabins;
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to equip changing rooms;
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to place waste containers;
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to ensure loosening and sifting of the top layer of sand in the land area of the swimming place;
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to ensure regular and timely collection and removal of garbage.
Lifeguards Ready to Rescue
The inspection, according to paragraph 4 of regulation No. 692, evaluated the information from the Riga City Council and the Kuldiga County Council regarding the establishment of new swimming areas – in the Bolderāja quarry and the Kuldiga city beach – Maras pond, and recognized that these swimming places meet official requirements, "thereby promoting the opportunities for a healthy lifestyle for residents."
The Riga State City Council has prepared and improved the Bolderāja quarry, organizing water quality monitoring for swimming for five consecutive bathing seasons, ensuring daily cleaning of the surrounding area and maintaining equipped infrastructure.
The area is equipped with changing cabins, a children's playground, a volleyball court, benches for resting, surveillance cameras, walkways built at the quarry, and during the bathing season, portable toilets and waste bins are placed. To ensure the safety of swimmers and public order at the water body, a mobile lifeguard station module is planned to be installed during the 2026 bathing season.
In turn, in Kuldiga, in addition to the above, bike paths to Maras pond have been constructed.
Salary of Inspectors
The Ministry of Health has allocated positions to monitor swimming areas across Latvia – inspectors (base salary of 1509 euros "gross") and hygiene doctors (1797 euros). On average, monitoring one swimming area costs 594.12 euros per year.
But, of course, all this is very conditional – since the length of the coastline from the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga is about 500 kilometers for our republic. You can't have enough inspectors, so let's watch ourselves and those around us!
