Photo by Jessica Vaughn

MAGNOLIA SPRINGS – On Tuesday, June 26, Magnolia Springs town officials approved the decision for the town to join the Mobile Baykeeper SWIM Sponsorship Program, officially becoming the first municipality in Baldwin County to participate in the program. The decision was made in order to keep checks on the quality of the river and to give citizens the means to make educated decisions on where to swim.

“We were contacted after a hard rain with concerns about how dirty the water was and with questions of quality of the water,” said Mayor Bob Holk. “Mobile Baykeeper was contacted by some citizens and they came over and did some water testing, and then in talking with them we’ve learned of some programs that they offer.”

The team who tested the Cold Hole after being contacted by the citizens found that after the rainfall the river had high levels of bacteria, but the question remained: were the high levels due to the heavy rains, or was the problem on a larger scale? One program offered by Mobile Baykeeper, SWIM (Swim Where It’s Monitored), is designed to determine just that.

“The EPA has a threshold for swimming safety,” said Cade Kistler with Mobile Baykeeper. “They say anything above 104 CFU/100mL and you’re going to have about three percent of your swimmers getting sick, stomach bugs and that type of thing.”

The original test brought back results of 186 CFU/100mL, exceeding the EPA’s threshold by 78.8 percent. These results prompted the town council to take further action. Since that test, a second test where two samples were taken has been conducted near the end of June, and the results came back well below the EPA’s threshold the second time around.

“Both the second results came back, one sample at 31 CFU and ten on the other, they were both really low, so we were happy to see that,” Kistler said.

While the first sampling was done at the Cold Hole, the second round of sampling, and all future samples, were and will be conducted closer to the middle of the river at an area known as Devil’s Hole.

“This spot is a good representation of a place where people are swimming and kayaking and playing, a good spot to test,” said Kistler.

SWIM is set up where Mobile Baykeeper tests areas weekly from the beginning of April to the end of September, the main swimming season in the area. Afterwards, they perform one test a month from October to March, as well as tests before holidays that may involve outdoor activities, such as Independence Day or Labor Day. Due to the council’s joining after swimming season began, their rates have been prorated for the rest of the contract.

“Basically what we do is we go out to specified areas, and once a week we take these bacteriological samples that indicate fecal contamination,” said Kistler. “If the results come back with a high level then we go back out and retest the next day.”

The entire process takes two days, with samples being taken and immediately transported to Mobile Baykeeper’s lab where they are tested, and results given the following day. The groups also perform field blanks and lab blanks, and if the results come back anything other than zero they look into the matter to make sure everything was done properly and correct any mistakes. Once the results come in, Mobile Baykeeper sends the data to the town, as well as sending a mass email out to their email list. Anyone can go to their website and sign up if they’re interested in receiving the results of Magnolia River as well as various other locations throughout the Gulf Coast.

But what is done with the information once it has been distributed, especially if the results show a high level of bacteria? That is entirely up to the swimmers how they decide to handle the data after having it in their hands.

“Nobody is barring anybody from swimming,” said Kistler. “We’re not saying ‘you can’t swim here,’ because people can make the risk-based decision that they want to make. We want to give them the information … All we’re saying is that there is bacteria in the water and they may cause a problem.”

The council has discussed possible signage or flags going up at all town access points that will reflect whether the latest testing results have come back at low-levels or at high-levels, giving potential swimmers the knowledge they need to base their decision on.

“We also look for solutions to any problems,” said Kistler. “If we’re seeing high bacteria levels again and again, if it’s happening after certain rain events or certain dry events, then we’re going to start trying to figure out where it’s coming from … We’re going to try and assist and find a solution, but hopefully what we find is it’s relatively clean again and again. Then people can feel more confident and enjoyment of making the decision to swim, but they will know when there may be a problem.”

Not only will joining the SWIM program help to test for low or high levels of bacteria and get the information out to the public, it will also be a chance to find the source of high levels of sediment in the river.

“I think this is really exciting that the town is doing this, you’re going to be leaders on this front,” said Kistler. “You care about your resources, the river makes Magnolia Springs the place that it is, and with this we can communicate in a way that a lot of citizens can come and play in the river and swim in confidence that they’re making a decision based on good information, so they can protect their health and their family’s health.”

For more information on Mobile Baykeeper, their programs, or to sign up for their email list for updates on water bacteria levels, visit their website at www.MobileBaykeeper.org.