A few weeks ago, with the encouragement of a Spy reader, we published the weekly findings from ShoreRivers that indicated that the Miles, Wye, and Choptank Rivers all failed the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended threshold for bacteria levels. In short, the data warned that swimming in all three rivers could cause significant health problems during the Labor Day weekend.
Needless to say, that report created a lot of questions about these ratings and how ShoreRivers gathers this information. That’s why we decided to spend a few moments with Elle Bassett, the organization’s Miles-Wye Riverkeeper, to understand these troublesome conditions better. And more importantly, how it can help Mid-Shore families make an informed decision on when and where to swim in our local rivers.
The Spy talks to Elle about the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and how the staff and volunteers take weekly samples and publish these from Memorial Day to Labor Day for the Miles, Wye, Choptank, Sassafras, and Chester on their website.
This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about ShoreRivers please go here.
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