Three of San Luis Obispo County's public pools will be opening up this summer.
This comes after the parks department expected to keep all six pools closed through the rest of this year.
"Pools were closed last year due to COVID restrictions and, during the budget reductions last year, a permanent cut to our pool funding was implemented by the Board of Supervisors. However, during budget hearings last month, the Board restored funding for the pools," said San Luis Obispo County Parks Director, Nick Franco.
The pool closure was also linked to the lack of lifeguards and the uncertainty of the pandemic. Parks officials say lifeguards are recruited in the spring and are trained for the needed certifications in April and May.
"We didn't have enough time to recruit, train and hire sufficient lifeguards to open all the pools in the few weeks since the budget was restored," said Franco.
After some work by the parks department, they were able to train and hire a group of seven lifeguards allowing them to offer a limited schedule of pool openings over the next six weeks.
The parks department is opening the Shandon, San Miguel and Templeton pools on alternating weekends. The Santa Margarita Lake, Cambria and Cayucos pools will not be opening due to a lack of staffing.
"We prioritized the three North County pools due to the heat in that area and lack of easy access to other water-based recreation in those communities," said Franco.
Parks officials say they expect to open all of the county pools next summer.
Below is a schedule of the weekend pool openings.
Templeton Pool:
Aug. 7-8
Aug. 14-15
Aug. 28-29
Sept. 4-5
San Miguel Pool:
July 31-Aug. 1
Aug. 14 - 15
Aug. 21 - 22
Sept. 4 - 5
Shandon Pool:
July 31 - Aug. 1
Aug. 7 - 8
Aug. 21 - 22
Aug. 28 - 28
Sept. 6
Previous coverage:
San Luis Obispo County pools closed due to budget, lifeguard shortage
