Nicole Eastman, Riverkeeper Assistant/Watershed Protection Specialist
The 2024 Swim Guide Season has come to an end after 15 weeks of assessing E. coli levels at popular swimming areas and paddle accesses across the Yadkin River basin.
Riverkeeper assistant, Nicole Eastman collecting a water sample at Old 421 Park at the beginning of the Swim Guide season.
By the end of the season:
YRK staff and seven volunteers collected samples at 26 different sites which led to a total of 340 samples tested!
40,869 people viewed Swim Guide results on YRK’s Facebook page
YRK began posting bilingual results on YRK’s weekly Facebook and Instagram pages
5 Swim Guide sites were sponsored by individuals or organizations
The annual Swim Guide season provides the public with important information regarding the water quality conditions along the Yadkin River and at access sites on Kerr Scott Lake and High Rock Lake. The EPA E. coli guideline YRK uses to determine whether a site is safe for recreational use states a value greater than 235 colony forming units (cfu) in 100mL of water fails to meet the water quality criteria. Of the 340 samples tested, 66% met the E. coli guideline.
In addition to determining the weekly conditions of a river or lake site, YRK is able to identify “hotspots” for high E. coli levels within the Yadkin River basin. This summer, Ferguson failed the greatest percentage of time, 80%, indicating there may be pollution sources upstream of the site. Additional hotspots include Roaring River with a failure rate of 53%, Ronda with a failure rate of 60%, and Yadkin Shores with a failure rate of 53%. The YRK staff is digging deeper into the potential sources of pollution that may be impacting the E. coli levels at these locations.
Sites along the two lakes, Kerr Scott and High Rock, passed the most frequently including Tailwater, Boomer, Berry Mountain, York Hill (Yadkin River Park), Abbott’s Creek, Flat Swamp, and Buddle Creek.
YRK extends a special thank you to all the volunteers that collected samples over the course of the summer and to Annmarie Templeton, Cube Hydro Carolinas, Bill Jenkins and Pam Townsend, The Office of Civic & Community Engagement at Wake Forest University, and River Network for sponsoring sites for the summer! We could not have sampled at all these sites without you! If you are interested in volunteering next summer or sponsoring a Swim Guide site next summer, please contact nicole@yadkinriverkeeper.org.