There is still fecal bacteria in McGalliard Creek. Here's what's being done to find a source.

The Catawba Riverkeeper was close to pinpointing where fecal contamination of McGalliard Creek was originating, but new sampling results made officials look in a different direction.

The Catawba Riverkeeper, whose mission is to protect water within the Catawba River basin, is trying to pinpoint the source of fecal matter in the creek.

The organization has seen consistently high levels of the bacteria in McGalliard Creek.

In June, Catawba Riverkeeper representatives said the levels of E. coli that had been found in McGalliard Creek were four times higher than the safe swim standard.

Grant Buckner, northern basin director for the Catawba Riverkeeper, said Catawba Riverkeeper and representatives from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality drew samples from the creek and thought they had narrowed down the source.

However, a week before Hurricane Helene hit the area on Sept. 27, results showed higher amounts of bacteria coming from a side stream, Buckner said. He said it's an unnamed tributary that feeds into the creek.

"And so we took a couple samples up the side creek, and were seeing really high numbers," Buckner said. "So now we're sort of thinking maybe that side creek that comes into McGalliard Creek might be where the source of it is. And so we're going to try to take more samples moving up that side creek."

He said they were able to narrow it down to a smaller area, but it will take more investigation.

"There's no obvious source that we see upstream just from looking on Google Earth. So we're going to have to do some boots-on-the-ground walking and collecting samples to try to narrow that down a little more," Buckner said.

He said the organization will try to do that in the next several weeks. The Riverkeeper's resources have been directed toward Hurricane Helene impact in the weeks since the storm.

The Catawba Riverkeeper previously told The News Herald the area in question was outside of the jurisdiction of Valdese. The town checked its lines and found no leaks, and employees of the foundation went to every bridge crossing and every publicly accessible site on the creek and sampled in the summer of 2023.

Catawba Riverkeeper Brandon Jones said in June the source area was initially narrowed down to an area south of Interstate 40 and High Peak Road.

Catawba Riverkeeper has said the bacteria is affecting the biologic and aquatic life in the stream, and people have been warned not to swim in the creek or McGalliard Falls.

McGalliard Creek has been on the impairment list since 2006 for fish, according to the list. The creek is also included in the state's 2024 draft list of impaired water, with the length of area of impairment being 3.9 miles from 0.6 miles upstream of the mouth to Lake Rhodhiss and the Catawba River, the list shows.

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