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WASHINGTON [Aug. 2, 2024] — Two Tar-Pamlico sites failed to meet recreational water-quality standards this week: Havens Gardens in Washington and Cotton Patch Landing in Blounts Creek.

Plum Point in Bath was not sampled this week.

It’s a vast improvement over last week’s results, according to Clay Barber, Sound Rivers’ program director.

“Last week, we saw the results of all the heavy rain we had in July,” Barber said. “All that stormwater runoff, and the bacteria it carries, made its way into the river, and we had 11 sites fail. We also had a couple of sewer spills, most notably in Rocky Mount, that could have impacted water quality downstream. But this week, we’re back to pretty normal levels.”

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.

“If there’s a fail, that means use common sense when recreating on the water: keep your head above water and make sure the water doesn’t come into contact with open wounds,” Barber said.

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.

The program 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. 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.

Twenty-three of the Swim Guide sampling sites are located in the Tar-Pamlico river basin: five recreational sites at Lake Royale, near Louisburg; Tar River Reservoir and Sunset Park in Rocky Mount; the River Road boat access near Tarboro;  Town Common, Wildwood Park and Port Terminal in Greenville; Yankee Hall at Pactolus; the downtown waterfront, Mason’s Landing and Havens Gardens boat ramp in Washington; Chocowinity Bay at Cypress Landing; Broad Creek at Pamlico Plantation; Blounts Bay and Blounts Creek at Cotton Patch Landing; Dinah’s Landing at Goose Creek State Park; Bonner Point and Plum Point on Bath Creek; and Wright’s Creek boating access, near Belhaven.

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, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, UNC Pavel Molchanov Scholars, ECU SECU Public Fellows Internship Foundation, City of Greenville, Lake Royale Property Owners Association, Greenville Evening Rotary Club, Melinda Vann and David Silberstein, and Wendy and Tim Wilson.

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