Microbial Source Tracking Approach to Investigate Fecal Waste at the Strawberry Creek Watershed and Clam Beach, California, USA.

ABSTRACT: Clam Beach is located in Northern California, USA, and is listed as an impaired waterway by the federal government. The scope of this study was to investigate this beach and surrounding watershed to determine, if possible, the source of the impairment by conducting an 11-h beach study and 8-week watershed study. We used traditional fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and microbial source tracking (MST) methods to help identify source(s) of the FIB. Our study was focused on four possible contributors: human, ruminant, canine, and bird. A total of 169 samples were collected, analyzed, and compared to the California Department of Health single sample maximum (SSM) objective. In the beach study, 29 (44%) samples exceeded at least one SSM objective, which would have resulted in a resample per state

SUBMITTER: Corrigan JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8297226 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature