E. coli Workgroup
Welcome to the E. coli Workgroup!
The Utah Division of Water Quality (DWQ) is facilitating an E. coli Workgroup to develop consistent statewide policies outlining actions to be taken when violations in the E. coli water quality standard for recreational waters occur.
DWQ adopted a new E. coli field methodology and created a Monitoring Council to expand cooperative monitoring of recreational waters throughout the state. It is anticipated that the increased monitoring will result in more findings of recreational waters exceeding the water quality standard for E. coli which may pose health risks to recreationists.
The E. coli Workgroup is comprised of stakeholders from a broad base of state, federal, and local agencies with land management, health, environment, and recreation duties. Workgroup meetings are open to all interested parties and will be held quarterly, as best as possible. The initial objectives of the group include:
- Benchmark other states to determine best practices regarding E. coli sampling, assessment methods, health advisories and beach closure protocols.
- Develop protocols outlining when and how to issue warnings, closures, and reopening of recreational waters when E. coli exceedances occur.
- Develop public information materials, including facts sheets, pamphlets, advisory notices, and website to inform the public about E. coli health advisories and closures of recreational waters.
- Coordinate with the Utah Monitoring Council as they are the technical experts on E. coli field methodology IDEXX Quanti-Tray/2000 System SOPS and DOC, cooperative sampling locations, and data.
- Formalize protocols with interagency MOUs.
E-mail Notices
The Division of Water Quality is expanding its bacteriological monitoring and anticipates finding more violations of the E. coli water quality standard for recreational waters. The E. coli Workgroup is charged with developing a consistent statewide approach when violations in recreational waters occur. New deq-ecoliworkgroup Listserv information...
Contact information
For more information on Utah's E. coli Workgroup, please contact Leah Ann Lamb, DWQ.
For more information about Utah's E. coli Monitoring Program, please contact Sandy Wingert, DWQ.
Upcoming Meetings:
Revised: January 30, 2012