Bacterial Source Tracking at Impaired Beaches in the St. Louis River Area of Concern

Abstract

This final report details the results of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Project Bacterial Source Tracking at Impaired Beaches in the St. Louis River Area of Concern, hereafter referred to as the Bacterial Source Tracking Project. This project is described in the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) Remedial Action Plan (RAP) as Project 7.02, the goal of which was to conduct bacterial source identification via DNA analysis to determine if bacterial contaminants were of human origin, and if necessary, recommend additional restoration options. The field sampling portion of this project took place on six impaired beaches in the St. Louis River AOC, on the State of Wisconsin or State of Minnesota 2014 and 2016 303(d) lists of non-attaining waters due to contamination by pathogens. Primary environmental data generated during this project includes Sanitary Survey (SS) data, concentration of Escherichia coli in surface water samples, and origin of measured E. coli via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis. The SS and E. coli concentration data were generated by the Lake Superior Research Institute (LSRI,University of Wisconsin-Superior), while the DNA marker data were generated by the by Dr. Sandra McLellan’s laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences. The data generated from this project will be used by the St. Louis River AOC Coordinators and Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) 7 Technical Team to determine if BUI 7 removal targets have been met.