One Upper Neuse Site Failed The Last Swim Guide Test Of The Season

From Sound Rivers

RALEIGH — Only one site sampled in the Upper Neuse failed to meet recreational water-quality standards in the last Swim Guide test of the season: Smithfield Town Common.

Poole Road and Buffaloe Road boating accesses were not tested.

“This means people can be pretty confident their Upper Neuse waterways are safe to recreate in over Labor Day weekend,” said Clay Barber, Sound Rivers’ program director.

A “Swim Guide fail” means elevated levels of fecal bacteria, which can come with increased risk of gastrointestinal illness and skin infections for pets and humans alike.

Swim Guide is an international water-quality program conducted locally by Sound Rivers, an environmental nonprofit based in Raleigh, New Bern and Washington whose mission is to keep North Carolina’s waterways fishable, swimmable and drinkable.

This summer marks the eighth year of Swim Guide in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds. The program runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.

Each week, a team of Sound Rivers’ volunteers gathers water samples at more than 50 popular recreation sites from the Piedmont to the Pamlico Sound. Sound Rivers’ staff test samples for E. coli in fresh water and enterococci in salt water and pass/fail results are released to the public, providing an easy way to find out where it’s safe to swim.

Ten sites are tested weekly in the upper Neuse: Barton Creek, Beaver Dam, Rolling View and Highway 50 boating access areas on Falls Lake; Poole Road, Buffaloe Road and Falls of the Neuse canoe launches in Raleigh; Neuse Golf Club and River Walk in Clayton; and Smithfield Town Commons.

Based in Raleigh, New Bern and Washington, Sound Rivers has worked for more than 40 years to protect the health of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico rivers and the communities that rely on them. The two watersheds cover nearly a quarter of North Carolina.