Swim Guide - Tuckasegee River Water Quality Testing Locations

Swim Guide App

WATR is proud to be a water quality monitoring partner for the Swim Guide – an app that reports on water quality at over 10,000 beaches, rivers, and other swimming locations around the world. WATR currently monitors 17 sites in the Tuckasegee River watershed. Our volunteers take weekly samples during the recreational season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), and our partners at the NC Department of Environmental Quality analyze them. In 2026, we are sampling on Tuesdays at sites downstream of Barker’s Creek, and on Wednesdays at sites between Lake Glenville and Barker’s Creek. Results are posted on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The Swim Guide monitors E. coli levels at recreational areas, and lets you know if it’s ok to swim there. Unhealthy levels of E. coli come from sources like animal waste, agricultural runoff, or sewage. Rain events create runoff and may cause unhealthy test results, but if the river is generally healthy bacterial levels revert to acceptable levels after the runoff subsides. If the water tests unhealthy to swim in- make different plans for that day.

Red: the beach’s most recent test results failed to meet water quality standards, or the beach failed water quality tests 40+% of the time.

Yellow: the beach passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time.

Green: the beach’s most recent test results met water quality standards, or the beach passed water quality tests 95+% of the time.

Looking for more information? Check out the WNC Recreational Monitoring Dashboard to see if a site is safe for secondary recreation (paddling, tubing, wading, etc.), for specific E. Coli numbers, and to see data on other rivers in our region. You can find information about another 16 sites in our region at the EBCI Water Quality dashboard.