With the town in the midst of a heat wave, two prime swimming locations were taken offline Wednesday afternoon. The main and upper beaches at Hopkinton State Park were deemed unfit for swimming by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) due to high bacteria counts (enterococci).

The water will be tested daily to determine when it is safe to re-enter.

According to Hopkinton Health Director Shaun McAuliffe, the likely cause is excrement from the many geese in the area, along with pets and humans who go in the water. He added that because the water does not actively move through the area (as it does at Lake Maspenock) it is more susceptible to such cases.