E. coli in the Columbia River?

[rowenaman]

Saw that headline a few days ago in The Columbian - quote below:

[eanders]

I live and sail in the Gorge, but so far no incidents of chronic illness, just the typical seasonal allergies, which seem to be excacerbated by the waters of the Columbia during the algea bloom season.

Otherwise, I did develop chronic sinus infections while living in Santa Cruz, California, surfing at the local spots there. I learned later that these spots were located near the community's sewer outfalls. In Santa Cruz, the Surfrider Foundation starting monitoring these sites, and posting E.Coli counts in the local newspaper. After I stopped surfing these spots, my infections stopped. After these counts had been posted for a year or so, low and behold, the local governments received Federal funding to upgrade their treatment facilities. I moved during the upgrade process, but from what I understood was these were going to be the most state of the art treatment facilities, as they were going to dump effluent into the Monterey Bay Sanctuary (Federal designated protected natural area) and had to meet the most stringent requirements (essentially "drinkable" effluent.... maybe a bit exaggerated, but you get the point).

I think if word got out that the tourist destinations on the Columbia were infected with E.Coli, and the local area realized that the tourist economy was at risk, then local politicians might see the benefit in supporting the Columbia Riverkeepers in cleaning up the river, for the sake of the local economy. Heaven knows it benefits all of us to keep this place desirable for those who enjoy coming here in the summer. And, by the way, use the river as a main source of recreation during their visit.

From what I understand, the Federal regulations for E.Coli count are based on the "average" count from a particular sewer outfall source. That means, that the E.Coli count can be much lower at times or much higher at times, and still satisfy the requirement that it limit itself to an "average" count over time. That is troubling, because on a particular day you could be subjected to the higher counts, that still fall within "average" limits.

But, also, typically not much monitoring is done at these sewer outfall sites. So, if the Riverkeepers monitoring shows that they are consistantly not meeting the Federal standards for "average" outfall through random tests, then you have a case to force them to upgrade their facility to meet the standard. But, again it takes a public entity like the Riverkeepers to do the monitoring and then it has to be posted in the local media, so the public can see that it represents a threat to the area, and local politicians are forced to respond. With the NSA, you may be able to elicit Federal funding to assist in upgrading facilities, if they are shown to be the cause.

Any word on whether the Riverkeepers are going to continue monitoring on a periodic basis? Any chance it could be published to a website, or a Portland paper? It has to be done periodically, and randomly, to show that the effluent readings are breaking the standard on "average".

[afolander]

While I'm glad to see an organization (CRK) looking after river water and increasing public awareness, is the windsurfing community as concerned as the article implies?

The general public is aware because I've been asked about it by several nonsailers that read the recent news article, yet when I visited and sailed the Central Gorge over the weekend I never heard this subject brought up all all while rigging among the sailers at Doug's beach, the Hatch, Event site, or the shops in Hood river.

Is there a particular sailling site where this the 'windsurfer ailments' seems to more of an issue?

[isobars]

The farther west I sail, the worse the problem. I've heard it discussed countless times over the years, including three times this week by guys with problems but who are not aware of this forum or the newspaper stories. I've got river nose right now.

So?

Football => ruined knees, skiing => broken limbs, rock concerts => early deafness, water/beach/snow sports sans shades => skin cancer and early blindness from cataracts, and windsurfing => . . . the sniffles? Are you kidding?

Buy a nasal irrigation kit for $10 and fugheddabouitit.

\m/

[motherofjehu]

I'm pretty sure that if the health department comes out and finds that the E coli counts are above a certain level, they can close off a site for any kind of water sports or swimming. I know they do that for lakes (Rattlesnake lake near Seattle was closed down when they found a stash of shitty diapers in the water). Many of my friends and I are suffering from some mild sinusitis at the moment, probably allergy related. But I agree with isobars, quit bitching and keep surfing before they shut us down!

[afolander]

The direct source for the news article, Columbia River Keepers, seems organized. On their web site they are fishing for complainers with a form to fill out and extending a carrot of financial assistance for lab work. Given this, I would not be surprised if subsequent complaints make for a bigger media story.

FYI - In CA, concerns over general water quality resulted in reduced windsurfer access to the lake I where I learned to sail (to reduce windsurfers contaminating the lake water).

[isobars]

The "direct source" also included us ... the folks in this forum, in which the reporter participated and several people voiced problems. She wanted me to drive to Hood River to appear on camera, but I wanted no part of that level of publicity because of its potential for overreaction. I just advised her to Google <river nose> and press on. Fortunately, this ain't CA, so there's less likelihood of closures.

\m/

[WMP]

Hey, like I keep telling you folks.. it's all about diet. Ever hear about foods rich in antioxidents? Blackberries be da fix for chit like river nose. Yes indeed, maaa nature provides us a remidy up & down da river. Do I need to post a linkage...

http://www.crumcreek.com/library/antioxidant.html

[isobars]

I tried them. Took me weeks to get the stain off my nostrils and upper lip.

\m/

[ledel]

Folks it's good that this issue of water quality and symptoms is getting attention . A look at Columbia River wq from the perspective of human contact is definitely needed .We spend millions on fish ,yet have little data relevant to human contact.

But there is a lot of mis info out there . As I understand it ,the tests River Keeper is doing are for coliform bacteria, which can be an indicator of possible presence of e coli. These are very simple inexpensive tests which tell us little even in the unlikely event any Columbia River samples come in positive . I think the last post is correct. Ecoli isn't associated with sinus infection and is really only a problem if ingested (you drink contaminated water, which windsurfers try not to do- although it does happen occasionally )

The bigger issue is the overall quality of the Columbia. Everyone knows that slow moving rivers pick up pollen ,and all sorts of organic matter on the surface. Some of these may be allergens that cause some of us to react . Not much we can do about that ,but it would be nice to know what the most likely culprits and remedies are. However,there are also many discharges to the river from point and non point sources . Things like oil and grease from the dams and other sources , pesticides from run-off, toxics from spills, treated effluent from sewage plants , and contaminants from atmospheric deposition all make their way to the river ( contrary to popular belief, no rad waste from Hanford yet). Are these a threat to humans who have only occassional contact? Probably not, since the Columbia has a huge volume of water that dilutes contaminants. But no one really knows what low level exposures do over time. And the point is, we should be doing everything possible to keep and get this stuff out of the river . That is the fundamental goal of the federal Clean Water Act ,and it needs to be enforced. Whether it makes us sick or not , we don't want to be recreating in a sewer to the extent we can do anything about it.

River Keeper indicates on its website that it may be able to work with the regulatory agencies and extend testing to look for allergens that may be causing river nose and to toxics . That would be great. So I'd like to see us support River Keeper's long term efforts ( I have to remember to make a donation) And let's support regulatory efforts to improve water quality generally. This doesn't happen w/o public support.