By Greg Ellison

(July 9, 2020) Although bacteria level water tests performed at the Ocean Pines Swim and Racquet Club’s little beach area on July 3 were slightly above EPA guidelines, Assateague Coastkeeper Kathy Phillips said there’s no cause for alarm.

Phillips works with Assateague Coastal Trust to perform weekly water quality monitoring in the St. Martin River at the Racquet Club and 10 additional sites in the northern coastal bays and tributaries.

“The beach monitoring we do for our smartphone app is called the Swim Guide, “ she said.

Phillips said starting in 2010 weekly water test results for enterococci bacteria levels and other water-quality parameters at bayside recreation areas have been available online through the Swim Guide.

“When testing for enterococci, we’re using EPA guidance [that] says if within a 100 ml sample the most probable number of … bacteria is over 104, then that’s considered elevated,” she said. “This past week at the Swim and Racquet Club was at 108.4, so while it is over EPAs safe-swimming level, it’s just so little elevated that there’s really no cause for alarm.”

Phillips said although water samples above 104 organisms per 100 ml warrant an advisory, EPA guidance distinguishes among levels of elevation.

“If you drill down into the [EPA] water-quality monitoring website and guidelines for brackish water, which is … the northern coastal bays, even if you get up around 250 … per ml that’s not cause for super concern.”

“The good thing is we were made aware of the slightly elevated bacteria levels at the little beach in front of Swim and Racquet,” said OPA President Doug Parks. He added that association members should be made aware of the test results.

“It’s the responsibility of those that are in charge … that people are aware and they can make their own choices whether or not it’s a safety issue,” he said.

Phillips said bacteria levels detected in area waterways are traceable to land sources.

“Enterococci is a gut bacteria … coming from … dog waste that isn’t picked up from people’s yards and it gets pushed into the canals,” she said.

Phillips said the Swim and Racquet Club is downstream from many canal-side homes.

“There’s a lot of properties up there and most of them are just lawn straight down to the bulkhead,” she said.

Phillips said most homes near the Racquet Club lack vegetative buffer zones.

“By planting a vegetative buffer along their bulkhead, that helps filter what’s coming off [the] lawn,” she said. “It helps filter out the nutrients, but it also helps to filter out any bacteria.”

Phillips said pet owners living in waterfront communities should be especially diligent about removing pet waste, which will not just disappear into the lawn but instead disappears into the water.

“If they’re not picking up after their dogs [when] it rains, that’s getting washed off into the canal,” she said.

In terms of water recreation, Phillips said the elevated bacteria levels recorded at the Racquet Club last Friday would not trigger the Worcester County Health Department to issue a swim advisory.

“If we were talking numbers say above 400, now that might be cause to think twice before going in swimming,” she said.

Speaking on Tuesday, Parks said his grandchildren had just made use of the Swim and Racquet Club beach the day before.

“I told them don’t drink any of the water,” he said. “Keep your mouth shut.”

Phillips said good guidance for water recreation, especially if bacteria levels are slightly elevated, includes showering with fresh water after returning to shore.

“If we someday had a number of 400 or higher … make sure you don’t have any open cuts or sores when you go in the water,” she said. “If you are floating on the water on a raft you want to … take a hot soapy shower, not just rinse off with clean water, and clean your equipment.”

Phillips said detailed water testing data is available online at actforbays.org/data.

“I think it is fantastic that people are paying more attention to water quality and are taking an interest in the waterway that they like to recreate in,” she said. “They will become educated about what they can do to protect that waterway.”

Weekly test results are online at theswimguide.org/affiliates/assateague-coastal-trust/