Elk Neck State Park Elk River

Source Information

Sampling season runs from May - August each year. Samples are analyzed for entercocci bacteria, with results reported as the geometric mean of the number of "colony forming units" (CFU) per 100 ml of water for three samples collected at the beach each date. High priority beaches are sampled weekly, medium priority beaches biweekly and low priority beaches monthly. Maryland Department of Environment Regulations establish the following limits for bacteria: A beach is marked Green when single sample results show enterococci counts below 104 units/ 100 ml of water for high and medium priority beaches or 158 cfu / 100ml of water for low priority beaches. A beach is marked Red when single sample results have enterococci counts above 104 units/ 100 ml of water for high and medium priority beaches or when the geometric mean of all samples collected over 30 days is above 35 cfu / 100 ml of water. A beach is marked Grey when reliable or up-to-date information is not available. Sample results are available at: http://www.cecilcountyhealth.org/ccdhxx/ccdhBeaches.asp Maryland Healthy Beaches notification system has partnered with Google Earth to send updates. However, Swim Guide prefers to contact the Health Department directly as we are unable to determine the monitoring schedule Google Earth uses.