All sites pass the Swim Guide test for a second week

All sites on the Upper Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds met recreational water-quality standards this week, for a second week running.

“When there’s no rain, there’s little-to-no bacteria entering the waterways through stormwater runoff,” said Clay Barber, Sound Rivers’ program director. “So, this dry weather might not be good for your garden, but the waterways are seeing a different effect.”

A Swim Guide fail means elevated levels of fecal bacteria in the water, which can come with increased risk of gastrointestinal illness and skin infections for pets and humans alike.

Swim Guide is an international water-quality program conducted locally by Sound Rivers, an environmental nonprofit based in Raleigh, New Bern and Washington whose mission to keep North Carolina’s waterways fishable, swimmable and drinkable.

Swim Guide runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. Each week, a team of Sound Rivers’ volunteers gathers water samples at more than 50 popular recreation sites from the Piedmont to the Pamlico Sound. Sound Rivers’ staff test samples for E. coli in fresh water and enterococci in salt water and pass/fail results are released to the public, providing an easy way to find out where it’s safe to swim.

Eighteen of the sites are located in the Upper Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins: at the Hickory Hill boat ramp, Ledge Rock boat ramp, Beaver Dam Lake day-use area, Rolling View boat ramp, Highway 50 launch and recreation area, Upper Barton Creek boat ramp and Falls of the Neuse canoe launch; canoe launches at Buffaloe Road, Milburnie, and Poole Road in Raleigh; the River Walk and Neuse Golf Club in Clayton; Town Commons Park in Smithfield, and Clubhouse Beach, Clubhouse boat dock, Moccasin Dock, Pavilion Beach and Pavilion boat dock at Lake Royale near Louisburg.

To sign up for Swim Guide notifications, go to soundrivers.org/swimguide or text “SWIM” to 833-686-5322 for weekly water-quality results.

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