Charlottesville: Elevated E. coli bacteria levels detected in Meadow Creek

The City of Charlottesville has issued a public advisory regarding E. coli bacteria levels in Meadow Creek after recent water quality monitoring conducted by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance detected elevated E. coli bacterial levels in the vicinity of Meadowcreek Gardens Park.

E.coli is a type of fecal coliform bacteria and when it is found in water, it is a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste contamination that can cause disease or illness.

Meadow Creek is one of Charlottesville’s main waterways, emerging from a culvert near the intersection of Barracks Road and Meadowbrook Road and flowing through the northern part of the city before entering the Rivanna River.

The city has developed a Urban Stream Health webpage, www.charlottesville.gov/Stream-Health, which provides the community with information about water quality in our urban streams, access to stream monitoring results, practical guidelines for interacting with urban streams, and suggestions for protecting the health of our urban streams.

This webpage will provide updates on the bacterial contamination in Meadow Creek as they are available