Mountain Watershed Association has conducted bacteria monitoring in the Youghiogheny River Watershed for 15 years. Our watershed is widely used for recreation and it is apparent that the visitors use our waterways in many ways. The results typically reflect weather conditions, if it’s dry our results indicate that the water is safe for primary recreational use. When it rains, bacteria levels are severely impacted.
You might believe that the Yough and many of its tributaries are pristine and clean. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to water quality. If you assume the water quality is fine, you may be in for a painful and disappointing outcome after jumping in for a swim.
Our Swimmable Waters Program was started to use the bacteria monitoring data and provide the results to the public so they can make an informed decision on where it will be safe to swim, kayak, fish, etc. Our program is similar to many others around the world and we’ve collaborated with other Waterkeeper Members and Affiliates to produce outreach materials, standard operating procedures, and connections throughout our regions with state and federal agencies.
Our bacteria results report on the most probable number of Escherichia coli (E. coli) colonies for 100 milliliters of sample water collected. The threshold for safe primary contact, aka swimming, is 235 MPN per 100 ml. At this concentration or higher at least 33 people out of 1000 will suffer from some sort of bacteria related illness. This can include skin infections, stomach and headaches, gastrointestinal pain, ear infections, or worse. Serious infections can require serious medical attention and could result in lengthy hospital stays or even death.
In 2017, MWA created a monitoring plan for Meadow Run, one of the most cherished waterways in the Youghiogheny Watershed. Meadow Run is home to the Natural Waterslides in Ohiopyle and is used by thousands of visitors each year. Some choose to wade around in the deep pools, but many enjoy a full-send slide down the long rapid, fishing in the creek, and even kayaking down a long stretch when the water is high enough.
We’ve sampled several spots throughout the Meadow Run Watershed on a monthly basis. Our results showed higher bacteria levels after rain events. Our monitoring plan included using bacteriological DNA source tracking. This method is used to identify where the bacteria originated from. The results indicated that bacteria was from humans and cows. Our next step was to come up with some solutions.
One solution was to reduce the amount of bacteria from farms. We wanted to address farm runoff from properties that had areas where cows congregated like feeding and watering spots. One farm within the Meadow Run Watershed was able to use some grant funding to upgrade their operations by adding gutters and a concrete pad to control runoff from a feeding area. This prevented large amounts of water from making contact with cow manure before leaving the site and entering Meadow Run.
Another solution was to work with Wharton Township and the residents to host septic system maintenance workshops and create ordinances that would require septic system inspections prior to any home sales. The workshops detailed the importance of pumping your septic tank every 3 years (maximum) and having your system inspected for leaks and failing leach fields. The ordinances were not adopted by Wharton Township. We still have them and they will be available to any township in our area if they would like to take proactive measures to address high bacteria levels associated with on-lot septic systems.
This year’s results:
Heavy rainfall and unexpected weather conditions can impact the water quality and quickly increase the bacteria count present in surface waters and streams. Cloudy, brown water indicates an increase in sedimentation from run-off, which mostly likely includes bacteria laden soil, manure, and possible septic run-off.
The 2025 Swimmable Waters season was a bit tricky. With the increased rain and subsequent flooding that occurred throughout May and into the better part of June, many of our swimming areas failed. We even had to cancel routes on three different weeks due to heavy flooding and dangerous conditions. The heavy floods also majorly increased bacteria counts in all waters, including those with a history of being decently clean.
We entered a dry period later in the summer, and our test results have been much better throughout our sampling area. In the last week of August, all of our samples came back green. That’s a strong finish to an unpredictable swim season! Check out the latest results at mtwatershed.com/swimmable-waters – our sampling continues until the end of September.
If you have any questions or need further insight on our results, please reach out to Eric Harder, our Youghiogheny Riverkeeper at eric@mtwatershed.com