Testing sites in the Tuckaseegee Watershed throu
ghout Jackson County saw high levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the water on several occasions during the sampling season.
According to the EPA, water that tests above 126/100 mL for fecal coliform, also called E. coli, is considered hazardous. The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River is a local nonprofit organization who tests at 14 different sites along the Tuckasegee and its headwaters from the end of April to the end of August. The results are used to inform the public of water quality ratings at popular water recreation sites using an app called Swim Guide. They observed levels exceeding this threshold at multiple sites over the past several months.
“It’s caused by a variety of factors, but the most prevalent is sheet flow from rainfall that picks up matter from faulty septic [systems] or animal operations and washes it into the waterway,” biologist Ken Brown said.
Water samples collected in 2023 and 2024 at various points in Scott’s Creek and Savannah Creek were used for a microbial source tracking project conducted by WATR to find the sources of the fecal coliform. The tests found much higher levels of E. coli after stormwater events and that the sources included human, dog and cattle fecal matter.
Brown said another cause for high readings could come from the release of large amounts of water from hydropower impoundments (dams). The increased velocity of the water flow stirs up sediment in the riverbed. This sediment has E. coli embedded within.
“There might be an assumption that we’re living in a wonderfully protected clean and preserved watershed that supports these great fisheries. But when you go out to the Dillsboro recreation area on Scott’s Creek in the summer you have a higher likelihood than not of exposing yourself to what the EPA deems to be dangerously high fecal coliform levels,” Hydrologist and executive director at WATR Katie Price said. “It’s sort of a nasty little secret.”
While E. coli does not often cause illness from contact, assuming it is not consumed, it is typically an indication of a source of fecal contamination and can alert to the presence of other harmful pathogens. Additionally, it points to conditions that are at odds with the overall health of the watershed.
“E. coli is not likely directly hurting creatures living in the water, but it’s correlated with things that are,” Price said.
An example is the fecal contaminants connection to high levels of algae growth. The algae feeds off nitrogen and phosphorous, which are both components of fecal matter. They can also come from other sources such as runoff containing high amounts of fertilizer. Price says the algae growths are made worse by the declining population of macroinvertebrate species which clean the algae off the rocks. When the algae grow in large quantities, it can deplete oxygen levels in the water, affecting the health of the entire river’s food web.
Price said one of WATR’s goals in monitoring these E. coli levels is to obtain funding and resources to execute plans that would help fund action plans to better understand its effects on the ecosystem and respond accordingly. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality says solutions such as improved infrastructure, implementing best management practices on agricultural operations, more effective nutrient management and improved storm water capture would help produce cleaner waterways.
