Swimming beaches at two Ramsey County parks in Arden Hills and New Brighton reopened Friday after being closed for two days due to high E. coli levels.

The beaches were those on Lake Johanna at Tony Schmidt Regional Park, 3500 Lake Johanna Blvd., Arden Hills, and at Long Lake Regional Park, 1500 Old Hwy. 8, New Brighton.

Both beaches have lifeguards from noon to 8 p.m.

The beaches were closed Wednesday after testing showed a spike in bacteria levels, probably because of heavy rains on Tuesday.

However, water tests done Thursday showed that bacteria levels had significantly declined.

Other beaches operated by Ramsey County remained within safe bacteria limits, including Lake Josephine and Lake McCarrons county parks in Roseville, and Snail Lake at Vadnais-Snail Lake Regional Park in Shoreview.

The summer beach season runs through Aug. 16.

KEVIN DUCHSCHERE