Six recreational sites on local waterways failed the Swim Guide test this week: Poole Road canoe launch, Falls of the Neuse canoe launch, Clayton Riverwalk, Smithfield Town Commons, and Club House Beach and Pavilion Beach at Lake Royale.
“We can blame the rain for the results this week — any time you have periods of heavy, or even steady, rain, you’re going to get more pollutants running off into local waterways,” said Clay Barber, Sound Rivers’ Program Director. “It doesn’t mean you can’t have any contact with the water at these sites, it just means you need to take precautions. Keep your head above water and, if you have any wounds, make sure they’re covered and sealed.”
A Swim Guide “fail” means the water sampled has elevated levels of fecal bacteria 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 with a mission to keep North Carolina’s waterways fishable, swimmable and drinkable.
Each week, a team of Sound Rivers’ volunteers gathers water samples at 54 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.
Nineteen of the 54 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, Anderson Point 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.
Sound Rivers’ Swim Guide program is sponsored by the Water-Quality Fund in memory of Gene Pate, Grady-White Boats, Public Radio East, Cummins, UNC Lenoir Health Care, the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, UNC Pavel Molchanov Scholars, ECU SECU Public Fellows Internship Foundation, City of Greenville, Lake Royale Property Owners Association, Melinda Vann and David Silberstein, and Wendy and Tim Wilson.
To sign up for Swim Guide notifications, go to www.soundrivers.org/swimguide or text “SWIM” to 33222 for weekly water-quality text updates. For more information about Sound Rivers, visit soundrivers.org.
By Sound Rivers