Water Quality Season Wraps Up

Water Quality Season Wraps Up

October 01, 2007

The WRP’s seventh water quality monitoring season is complete and the results are in!

Since June, WRP volunteers have tested water clarity (turbidity), conductivity, and E. coli bacteria at 25 sites throughout the watershed. Every week, the WRP publicizes the results of the E. coli testing, to alert the public about sites that exceed the Vermont and/or EPA national standard for contact recreation. For more information about the water quality monitoring program, follow this link.

Of the 25 sites we monitored this summer, 8 were chronically above the EPA standard. With the exception of one site at the Foxstand access area in Royalton, all of these sites are on the First, Second and Third Branches. Included in these sites is Ayer’s Brook, a large tributary of the Third Branch. Additionally, 4 sites throughout the watershed consistently exceeded the State’s more strict standard for safe recreation. The WRP is working to address the high E. coli levels found in these areas of the watershed.

For a copy of the 2007 E. coli summary, please call Mary Russ at (802) 767-4600.