7-20 E. coli Results

[Ryan O'Donnell]

The third monitoring day for the Deerfield River Watershed Association was Wednesday, July 19th. I've attached the results in pdf and png format for you to forward, share online, or print and post.

Volunteers collected samples throughout the Deerfield River watershed and its tributaries that were tested for E. coli bacteria. E. coli is a bacteria found in the guts of all warm- blooded animals, including humans and is used as an indicator to test water for fecal contamination. The EPA recommends against primary contact (fully immersing in the water, i.e. swimming) when there are more than 235 organisms/100 mL water. Bacteria levels are often elevated after heavy rains due to bacteria being carried into nearby rivers by runoff. Because of this, we note whether results are from wet or dry weather sampling events.

Thankfully, the Deerfield watershed was spared from the catastrophic flooding seen in the neighboring West River watershed and elsewhere in Vermont and New York. Volunteers were able to safely collect samples at most but not all of our sampling locations. There was significant rain the day before sampling and there were high bacteria levels recorded at many locations that do not usually see them. Thunderstorms are moving through the region again today, so we would expect these conditions to persist into the weekend, unfortunately.

We continue to see the effects of last weeks floods and extremely high flows. The soil is saturated so any rainfall leads to increases in flows. Some access points remain washed out and safety buoys are not in place above some dams in the watershed. Please use extreme caution when deciding when and where to recreate in the Deerfield watershed until the flood damage can be repaired.

Please use these and historic sampling results to help make informed decisions about when and where to recreate more safely. You can also reduce the risk of waterborne illness by avoiding getting water in your mouth, cover any open wounds, and washing hands before eating and drinking after recreating in natural waters.

See these results and more from throughout the Connecticut River watershed at www.ctriver.org/isitclean

Thank you for your interest and support in clean water in the Deerfield watershed!

Ryan O'Donnell

 

He/Him

Water Quality Program Manager

Connecticut River Conservancy

15 Bank Row | Greenfield, MA 01301 

(413) 834-9939 | rodo...@ctriver.org 

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