MountainTrue Monitors Water Quality Levels
With quarantine easing and summer temperatures, people are flocking to the Watauga River to hang out, swim, paddle and fish. But before you go check out the water quality of your destination at the Watauga River.
A new resource – Swimguide.org – provides real-time water quality data for thousands of swimming holes, rivers, lakes and beaches around the world.
Locally, the Watauga Riverkeeper and MountainTrue High Country Director Andy Hill runs the program that monitors bacteria in the Watauga River, Watauga Lake and Price Lake on a weekly basis.
Volunteers adopt sites. Then they take samples from more than a dozen locations in the High Country, including 11 locations along the Watauga River or Watauga Lake.
“The Swim Guide is an amazing resource and our participation is only possible because of our dedicated volunteers,” explains Watauga Riverkeeper and MountainTrue High Country Director Andy Hill.
“They’re providing a crucial service to our community, reassuring people and families when it’s safe to get out and swim, fish and paddle.”
Water Quality Levels at 11 Watauga River Sites
Check out the water quality levels for the following locations below:
- Guy Ford Road Bridge near Bethel, N.C.
- Calloway Road Bridge in Foscoe, N.C.
- Shook Branch Swimming Area in Hampton, Tenn.
- Tester Road AW Access in Butler, Tenn.
- Watauga Point Recreation Area, Watauga Lake in Hampton, Tenn.
- Watauga River 321 Access Upper Gorge Park in Sugar Grove, N.C.
- Watauga River at Valle Crucis Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.
- Wilbur Dam Put-In, Watauga River at Elizabethton, Tenn.
- Lovers Lane in Elizabethton, Tenn.
- Hunter Bridge in Elizabethton, Tenn.
- Blevins Road Boat Ramp in Elizabethton, Tenn.
This database alerts the public to elevated E. coli levels due to runoff following heavy rains.
A green status icon means most recent results met quality standards, while a red icons means most recent tests failed. A grey icon means that the site wasn’t tested in the previous week.
“Additionally, MountainTrue also does Volunteer Water Information Network monitoring for chemical parameters and Stream Monitoring Information Exchange to document organisms in the benthic zone to give us a holistic picture of water quality,” according to a recent MountainTrue press release announcing the program.
Results and historical data are available at swimguide.org and a Swim Guide app is available online.
Click the following links for more news related to the Watauga River or adventures on the Watauga River, including swimming holes and waterfalls.