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The use of E. coli indicator bacteria to assess waters for swimming uses in VT

The use of E. coli indicator bacteria to assess waters for swimming uses in VT. Neil Kamman VT Department of Environmental Conservation Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, VT May 2006. Vermont supports a multi-pronged swim-water monitoring approach. VT’s water quality standard for E. coli

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The use of E. coli indicator bacteria to assess waters for swimming uses in VT

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  1. The use of E. coli indicator bacteria to assess waters for swimming uses in VT Neil Kamman VT Department of Environmental Conservation Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, VT May 2006

  2. Vermont supports a multi-pronged swim-water monitoring approach • VT’s water quality standard for E. coli • Vermont’s assessment approach • Town Health Officer beach testing • Municipal beach monitoring • VT Forests, Parks, and Recreation monitoring • LaRosa Partnership program • Resources for monitoring provided by VTDEC

  3. The VT E. coli WQ Standard • VT’s WQ standard is 77 E. coli /100ml in Class B waters for all management types • VT’s WQ standard for Class A waters is even lower (33 “s.s.m.,” 18 geomean) • This is the most stringent standard suite in the U.S .

  4. What this means • Major studies in the early 80’s and recently developed E. coli standards by relating observed illness rates to varying observed E. coli levels • The minimum detectable illness rate was 8 swimmers per 1,000 over the course of the summer, based on a geometric mean of 126 /100ml, or single sample maximum values of 235. • A geometric mean is designed for data that are log-normally distributed, like E. coli

  5. VT’s water quality criterion in relation to EPA recommendation EPA recommended criterion VT criterion = 77 EPA allowable range

  6. VT Department of Health – Town Health Officers • VTDOH has published swim beach safety guidelines based on E. coli that relate to the VT standard of 77. • All towns may, thru the Town Health Officers, to monitor their informal but well-known swim holes. • Samples are delivered to DOH lab by mail, with results returned to officers as “safe to swim” or “not safe to swim” • This will be discussed in more detail by Dr. Bress during this meeting.

  7. Monitoring at VT State Parks • VT Dept Forests, Parks and Rec. monitors State Park beaches weekly at 24 high-use VT lakes (>30 park beaches). • Closure occurs when E. coli exceeds 77, which prompts a retest (VTDOH recommendation). • >95% of retests come back <77. • Closures at the magic “77” can create inaccurate public opinion about beach WQ in certain State Parks. • FPR has in-house materials to report to individual park operators regarding the magnitude of the closures

  8. Monitoring at VT State Parks • VTDEC tracks FRP data over time, analyzes trends, reports to EPA • Data archived electronically since 1977 • Geomeans for individual parks range from ~1 to 39 E. coli /100ml • Only four parks display regular violations of VT’s standard.

  9. Monitoring at VT State Parks

  10. Municipal beaches monitoring • Several towns regularly monitor their municipally owned/operated beaches using contract labs • Burlington Parks • Colchester • Bennington • Others? • Burlington and Colchester data are available online via websites • Closures are consistent w/ VTDOH recommendation

  11. The LaRosa Environmental Laboratory Partnership • Novel partnership between VTDEC and citizen organizations to enable monitoring of E. coli and other WQ parameters. • Competitive, RFP-based grant program whereby DEC allocates lab services to small / underfunded citizen organizations • 24 citizen watershed organizations have participated to date

  12. The LaRosa Environmental Laboratory Partnership • Projects adhere to QAPP requirements and to VTDEC guidance for E. coli sampling • Projects enable citizen groups to look into and address problems in their watersheds

  13. The LaRosa Environmental Laboratory Partnership

  14. VTDEC Resources for Citizens • VT is not a “Beach Act State” • VT nonetheless provides resources and/or partners with other groups for swim water testing. • VT routinely consults with groups interested in initiating swim water and other waterbody E. coli testing • VT would like to enhance reporting capabilities (e.g., website or hotline), but is limited by available funding

  15. VTDEC Resources for Citizens http://www.vtwaterquality.org/htm/wq_monitoring.htm

  16. For more information Neil Kamman VT Department of Environmental Conservation 103 S Main 10N Waterbury VT 05671-0408 802 241-3795 neil.kamman@state.vt.us

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