Enterococcus (“Entero”) is a fecal indicating bacterium that lives in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals.
Recent Samples | Historical Statistics | ||||||
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Site Name (Watershed) | Sample Date |
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Entero Count
Entero CountEnterococcus (“Entero”) is a fecal indicating bacterium that lives in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals. |
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4 Days Total Rain (in)
4 Days Total Rain (in)The combined rainfall for the day of sampling, prior day, two days prior and three days prior. More than 1/4 inch is considered a “wet weather sample.” |
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Number of Samples
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Geometric Mean Geometric MeanA measure of central tendency (a weighted average) used by NYS DEC and the US EPA to assess water quality. The geometric mean is defined as the nth root (where n is the number of samples) of the product of the Enterococcus measurements. A geometric mean over 30 fails the EPA criteria for safe primary contact. |
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Maximum
MaximumThe highest Enterococcus count we have recorded at this site (“>” indicates an unknown number greater than this number and reflects the upper limit of our scoring ability for this sample). |
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Minimum
MinimumThe lowest Enterococcus count we have recorded at this site (“<” indicates an unknown number less than this number and reflects the lower limit of our scoring ability for this sample). |
Note: multiple counts of the same value will overlap and appear as one dot.
The Catskill Creek flows from the Franklinton Vlaie wetland in Schoharie County through Albany County and into Greene County. Forest and agricultural land cover much of the watershed. Most of the urban development in the Catskill Creek watershed is concentrated in the lower section of the watershed, which has helped preserve the upper watershed’s habitat value for fish. The creek downstream of the Route 23 Bridge is also important overwintering and spawning habitat for several fish species. The creek has several popular swimming holes and fishing spots along its course.
Read Riverkeeper’s 2019 data summary for the Catskill Creek Watershed.
Riverkeeper partners with local residents and with the Catskill Creek Watershed Awareness Project at Cornell Cooperative Extension to sample in the Catskill Creek watershed. For the first two years of our study, we sampled only the lower portion of the watershed, from Cairo to the mouth in the Village of Catskill. In 2014 we worked with watershed residents to identify additional sampling sites and expand sampling coverage to the headwaters.
Along the main stem of Catskill Creek, only the Village of Catskill and the Town of Cairo have municipal wastewater treatment systems. Upstream of Cairo, there are municipal wastewater treatment plants on the Tenmile Creek in Rensselaerville and Basic Creek in Greenville. Elsewhere in the watershed, communities are served by onsite wastewater treatment systems.
The village of Catskill has a combined sewer system, meaning that street runoff is combined with wastewater from homes and business before entering the treatment plant. During wet weather, the large volume of storm water can cause the combined flow to exceed the wastewater plant’s capacity. When this happens, untreated sewage and storm water is dumped directly into Catskill Creek. Six combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls discharge from the Catskill Wastewater Treatment Plant into Catskill Creek.
New York State regulates wastewater treatment plants (including CSO outfalls) through the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES). Under the SPDES program, the Village of Catskill is required to develop a Long-Term Control Plan describing how it will bring its CSOs into compliance with Clean Water Act standards.
Information on SPDES permit compliance and enforcement can be found online at EPA’s ECHO database.
Publicly Owned Wastewater Facilities within the Watershed
Upper Catskill Creek (above Freehold) is class C(T), meaning that water quality must support fisheries and non-contact recreation. The ‘T’ indicates that this section of the waterway is habitat for trout. Riverkeeper’s citizen partners currently do not sample in this reach.
Middle Catskill Creek (from Freehold to Cauterskill) is class B(T), meaning that water quality must support primary and secondary contact recreation and fishing. The ‘T’ indicates that this section of the waterway is habitat for trout. In this reach, citizen partners sample at:
Lower Catskill Creek (from Cauterskill to Catskill) is class C, meaning that the water quality must support fisheries and non-contact recreation. In this reach, citizen partners sample at:
Water quality assessments conducted by Hudson Basin River Watch (HBRW) in 2007 using macroinvertebrate indicators documented slight impacts in the upper and middle portions of Catskill Creek and in some of its tributaries. Sewage was among the impact sources identified in the HBRW assessment.
Contamination from illegal sewer pipe connections into Catskill Creek has been a major problem the creek’s lower reaches in recent years. Investigations by state and local agencies resulted in enforcement action in 2012. The crackdown on illegal dischargers, along with upgrades to Cairo’s municipal wastewater treatment plant, should lead to reductions in fecal-indicating bacteria in this part of Catskill Creek, and Riverkeeper’s sampling program will monitor for improvements.
Water Quality Data Sources
NYS DEC Waterbody Inventory for Middle Hudson River Watershed, 2012
Hudson Basin River Watch Watershed Report Card, 2007
Along the main stem of Catskill Creek, only the Village of Catskill and the Town of Cairo have municipal wastewater treatment systems. Upstream of Cairo, there are municipal wastewater treatment plants on the Tenmile Creek in Rensselaerville and Basic Creek in Greenville. Elsewhere in the watershed, communities are served by onsite wastewater treatment systems.
The village of Catskill has a combined sewer system, meaning that street runoff is combined with wastewater from homes and business before entering the treatment plant. During wet weather, the large volume of storm water can cause the combined flow to exceed the wastewater plant’s capacity. When this happens, untreated sewage and storm water is dumped directly into Catskill Creek. Six combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls discharge from the Catskill Wastewater Treatment Plant into Catskill Creek.
New York State regulates wastewater treatment plants (including CSO outfalls) through the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES). Under the SPDES program, the Village of Catskill is required to develop a Long-Term Control Plan describing how it will bring its CSOs into compliance with Clean Water Act standards.
Information on SPDES permit compliance and enforcement can be found online at EPA’s ECHO database.
Publicly Owned Wastewater Facilities within the Watershed