Ice House Pond reopened to swimming Tuesday morning after being closed due to high bacteria counts.

Popular freshwater swimming hole has been owned by the land bank since 2003. — Mark Alan Lovewell

The remote kettle pond and popular freshwater swimming hole off Lambert’s Cove Road in West Tisbury was closed on July 25 after testing over the state limit for enterococci last week, land bank land manager Ian Peach said Monday.

The land banks owns and manages Manaquayak Preserve, a 35.5-acre property that offers the only public access to Ice House.

Mr. Peach said the pond was closed on Wednesday after a repeat test stayed above the state threshold of 61 colonies per hundred milliliters.

Enterococci is a bacteria that can cause infections.

Mr. Peach said the cause of the bacteria is unknown.

“Unfortunately we can’t be exactly sure,” he said. “Sometimes it’s wildlife or animal feces but I can’t speculate.”

He said testing will continue to be done weekly.

Property was expanded and trailhead changed in 2015. — Graham Smith

Samples are sent to the Wampanoag laboratory in Aquinnah.

Mr. Peach said on Monday that land bank records for the past three years show there has been one or two spikes in bacteria counts at least once a summer.

“But there has never been a sustained spike,” he said.

The land bank limits access to Ice House through restricted parking and also by monitoring the number of swimmers in the pond.

Seth’s Pond — a larger cousin to Ice House that fronts Lambert’s Cove Road and has more public access, remains open, West Tisbury town officials said Monday.

The land bank bought the original Ice House property in 2003. The property was expanded significantly in 2015 with the addition of 22 acres and the main access point was moved to off Lambert’s Cove Road. The old access point is now restricted to neighbors and people over 70, or people who need assisted access.

Holly Pretsky contributed reporting.