ESCHERICHIA COLI (E.coli)
Escherichia coli is a non-pathogenic indicator bacteria that is used to evaluate the presence of fecal contamination in surface waters. While the presence of e.coli does not prove or disprove the presence of harmful pathogenic bacteria, e.cloi presence correlates highly with the presence of fecal contamination and may be an indictor that other harmful bacteria are present.
In order to evaluate water quality conditions for e.coli, water quality sampling was conducted in 2008 and 2009 on streams listed as impaired for either fecal coliform or e.coli (see map below). E.coli total maxiumum daily loads were developed for those streams not attaining water quality standards for e.coli. The "Lower Gallatin Planning Area TMDLs & Framework Water Quality Improvement Plan" written in 2013 contains those TMDLs and can be found on DEQ's Final TMDL Documents under the Upper Missouri tab.
Map 3.1 E.coli-Impaired Streams (in RED) in the Lower Gallatin TMDL Planning Area
DOCUMENTS, DATA & REPORTS
E.coli data and reports consist of:
- Nutrient Sampling and Analysis Plans (SAPs)
- Electronic data files (Microsoft Excel format)
- Quality Assurance (QA) Reports
- Water Quality and Nutrient Source Summary reports
Reports are in .pdf format and require free Adobe Acrobat software. Water quality data is in Microsoft Excel format, and can also be downloaded through the EPA's STORET Data Warehouse. Table 3.1 below provides an annotated list of downloadable documents, data, and reports. (Note: data and reports are the same as the documents available in the Nutrient Pages, as nutrients and e.coli were colletced as part of the same effort.)
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