Little Choctawhatchee River at Highway 123

Most waterways are open but please keep safe and help others stay safe by maintaining distancing.

This site itself is lightly used for recreation but is an entry point for paddlers travelling down the Little Choctawhatchee River past the remains of the Old Power Dam to the Choctawhatchee River and the boat ramp at Clayhatchee or beyond.

Historical data for the site is available at the Alabama Water Watch website under Site Code 04007028. There have been data with moderate levels of bacteria and observations suggesting even higher levels reported by paddlers and fishermen.

Until fairly recently the Little Choctawhatchee River had high bacteria counts every time there was a good rain event. Smaller rain events delivered and still deliver bacteria from livestock in tributaries not far upstream. Large storms caused and may still cause bacteria from sewer overflows to enter the stream. Although the offending Beaver Creek WWTP is closed there has not yet been enough data collected to rule out problems from sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and while improved the warning system for SSOs is still inadequate. Folks using this site should avoid using it for swimming immediately after and up to perhaps 48 hours after a large rain event.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Meets water quality standards
Current Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on June 22nd, 2022. Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on June 23th, 2022 at 9:08 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

37°C

Clear and sunny

Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The State of Alabama does not regularly monitor inland swimming areas/beaches. The monitoring is done by Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper and its volunteers at sites where there is significant recreational use. Monitoring is done using methods (the Coliscan EasyGel protocol) utilized by the Alabama Water Watch (AWW) program. The Alabama Water Watch program has submitted QA/QC plans that have been approved for first-alert monitoring by Region 4 of the U.S. EPA. AWW trains, certifies and periodically recertifies volunteer monitors.

Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper generally monitors sites in the Alabama portion of the river basin for E. coli from April to September. If resources allow these sites will at a minimum be monitored once prior to each major summer holiday. If additional resources are available and conditions allow, most sites will be monitored six times, once a month in April, May, June, July, August, September to check for contamination. Some sites will be monitored more frequently, typically weekly as part of an effort to get river segments use classification upgraded to include swimming and whole body contact recreation. All data will be posted in SWIM Guide. Sites that fail to meet water quality standards will be reported to the media county health departments, the local watershed management authority, posted to the blog on the Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper website and reported directly to members of Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper, the Wiregrass Canoe and Kayak Club and members of the SE Alabama Chapter of the Alabama Scenic River Trail.

Sites that fail to meet water quality standards will be tested approximately once a week until they meet water quality standards. If they continue to fail to meet water quality standards, efforts will be made to post the sites as failing or have them posted. Sites that meet water quality standards in the early testing period will be tested prior to each major summer holiday. If at any point they fail to meet water quality standards, they will be tested as above.

According to ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WATER DIVISION – WATER QUALITY PROGRAM, for incidental water contact and whole body water-contact recreation, the bacterial quality of water is acceptable when a sanitary survey by the controlling health authorities reveals no source of dangerous pollution and when the geometric mean E. coli organism density does not exceed 126 colonies/100 ml nor exceed a maximum of 235 colonies/100 mL in any single sample in non-coastal waters.

Our sites are GREEN when E. coli do not exceed a maximum of 235 colonies/100 ml in any single sample.

Our sites are RED when the E. coli in a single sample exceeds a 235 colonies/100 mL in any single sample unless the sample is an outlier - for example it was taken in a first flush event or shortly after a significant runoff event.

Water Quality Graph