Are swimming hotspots safe from high bacteria levels? Here's who's testing them find out

ShoreRivers has brought back its annual Swimmable ShoreRivers bacteria testing program for this year's summer season to test the safety of swimming hotspots.

As part of the program, the organization deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and boating sites to assess human health risks. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers in-house labs.

“It's our goal to make sure those individuals have available to them the information they need to know — namely, whether the water is safe for them to recreate in from a bacteria pollution standpoint," said Matt Pluta, director of Riverkeeper. "Swimmable ShoreRivers strives to enhance physical access to our local rivers, as well as access to data and information to help our community make informed decisions about how, when and where we choose to enjoy our incredible natural resources.”

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The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples and makes public the results of that testing in Maryland waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on the organization’s social media pages.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, was set up last year to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community, and 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and show users where to find weekly results in both English and Spanish.

Weekly results are also shared on theswimguide.org, where descriptions of testing sites are available in both languages. In Total, 67 swim testers will monitor 50 sites on the Choptank, Miles, Wye, Chester and Sassafras rivers; Eastern Bay; and the Bayside Creeks.

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In Maryland, if the state or local government designates an area as a swimming beach, then bacteria monitoring and reporting is required. The organization contends a major gap exists on the Eastern Shore as very few areas are designated swimming beaches, and the results from those that are, are rarely posted publicly or in a timely manner. Multiple spots along the beach in Ocean City are included in the weekly report.

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Funding for the program comes from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers plan on working with local county officials to install more signage.

“We work with our local community every day, and we know they're interacting with our rivers in dozens of locations from Dorchester to Cecil County,” Pluta said.

Also returning for the 2024 season is ShoreRivers’ Pumpout Boat, which is a free service offered on the Miles and Wye rivers, that docks at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and operates from May to mid-Nov. When in operation, the boat will prevent more than 20,000 gallons of concentrated marine waste from entering waterways annually.

Scheduling a pump-out begins with contacting Capt. Jim Freeman at 410-829-4352, on VHF Channel 9, email [email protected], or by using the form at shorerivers.org/programs/pumpout-boat.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Swimming hotspots are constantly tested for high bacteria levels