Bacterial Monitoring Study
Since 1999, PACD has been actively involved inc ollecting credible water quality data on the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River above and below the City of Lander. In 2002, the Middle Fork was included in Table A of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's (WDEQ) 303(d) List of Waterbodies with Water Quality Impairments with the cause of the impairment being fecal coliform bacteria. In 2007, Escherichia coli (E. coli) became the new standard to evaluate surface water quality impairments for contact recreation in Wyoming. We test for both E. coli and fecal coliform which are correlated with incidences of gastrointestinal illnesses and indicates a water quality problem.
PACD collects weekly data from seceral monitoring sites along the Middle Fork from May through September. The program focuses on:
- Identifying spatial boundaries of the impairment
- Identifiying potential contributions
- Implementing voluntary mitigation of potential bacterial contributions with best managment practices (BMP).
The monitoring project is a component of the Septic Rehabilitation Program targeting the listed river and is funded by a Section 319 grant from WDEQ.
