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Swim Guide welcomes Watauga Riverkeeper to the Affiliates Program

Posted: June 15, 2018 at 2:31 pm

It has been a busy season for new affiliates at Swim Guide, and we are thrilled to announce another in Watauga Riverkeeper! As an initiative of long time Swim Guide affiliate MountainTrue, Watauga Riverkeeper works to protect, monitor, and restore the beautiful natural waters of western North Carolina.

The Watauga Riverkeeper

The Watauga Riverkeeper is the key protector and watchdog of the Watauga River Basin in Western North Carolina. MountainTrue’s Watauga Riverkeeper endeavors to monitor and protect the quality of the region’s waterways by working with dedicated volunteers, through engagement with the Watauga and Avery county communities, and local and state government. The Riverkeeper wants all High Country residents and visitors to enjoy clean waterways that are free of pollution and support a thriving mountain ecosystem. The Watauga Riverkeeper carries out the following programs and initiatives to protect the Watauga and Elk Rivers:

VWIN Water Quality Monitoring Program where volunteers take 65 water samples monthly from 13 sites located throughout the Watauga River watershed to ensure that our waterways are clean and healthy.

Recreation/Access: The Watauga Riverkeeper works with local individuals and groups to improve access to fishing and recreational opportunities on the Watauga River.

Stormwater management occurs through the Muddy Water Watch program. River overs and citizens can use the Muddy Water Watch App to report pollution. Download today for free and help protect our watershed.

SMIE Biomonitoring Program through which the Watauga Riverkeeper leads workshops and trainings so that citizen scientists can help determine the presence of certain aquatic insects, which are great indicators of river health.

Patrolling the watershed for polluting activities and serving as a resource and point of contact for the public on issues related to the Watauga River.

Swim Guide: Weekly bacteria monitoring with real time public facing results. This free App also has a handy pollution reporting feature. Use Swim Guide to find clean fishable, swimmable water near you.

WNC Interactive Water Quality Map

River Cleanups such as Tailwater Roundup, Dad’s day River Cleanup and Big Sweep.

Kids in the Creek Environmental Education, Mast’s Get Outside Program.

Learn more about the Watauga River here in Beach Basics!

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North Carolina

Watauga River

	Green means the beach’s most recent test results met relevant water quality standards.

	Red means the beach’s most recent test results failed to meet water quality standards.

	Grey means water quality information for the beach is too old (more than 7 days old) to be considered current, or that info is unavailable, or unreliable.

	Green means the beach passed water quality tests 95% of the time or more.

	Yellow means the beach passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time.

	Red means the beach failed water quality tests 40% of the time or more.

	This means that this site has been issued a Blue Flag status for the current swimming season. This status does not indicate current water quality.

	Red means the water at the site has water quality issues or there is an emergency.

	Grey means there is no current water quality information, the beach is under construction, there has been an event that has rendered water quality information unreliable or unavailable.