Beachgoers heading to Social Security Beach on the north side of the Prineville Reservoir will have to pay a day-use fee of $5 per vehicle starting today.

Social Security Beach is a popular day-use spot for locals and out-of-towners about a quarter of a mile from the Prineville Reservoir Resort. The beach is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and no overnight camping is allowed.

The resort will charge $5 per vehicle, seven days a week during the peak season, said Julie Mayers, who is the new owner of the Prineville Reservoir Resort with her husband, Richard Mayers. Visitors will have to pay the fee at the resort’s store with cash or credit card because the resort does not take checks, she said. Signs are posted alerting visitors of the new charge.

The resort established the day-use fee to help cover the costs of providing regular garbage service and maintaining the beach and portable toilets, she said. Resort staff will monitor the area to make sure people have paid the fee.

The new fee is the same amount the resort charges for its other day-use areas, Mayers said. The resort also has campsites, a seven-room motel and a primitive cabin for visitors.

Mayers said the fees were necessary because the Bureau of Reclamation is requiring the 94-acre resort to maintain the beach as part of its lease. The resort pays the reclamation bureau a percentage of its gross income to lease the area for the resort.

Larry Zakrajsek, a land and water specialist for the reclamation bureau, which owns the reservoir, said the agency has always required that the resort maintains Social Security Beach, though it wasn’t always done. With the Mayers on board as the new owners, the reclamation bureau reinforced that requirement, he said.

Zakrajsek said the agency hasn’t officially approved the $5 fee, but it is in line with other fees charged at the reservoir.

Steve Memminger, the manager of the Prineville Reservoir State Park, said there are no other spots at the reservoir that have day-use fees.

Only overnight camping fees are charged at the state park and at Jasper Point, he said.