Study Reveals High Numbers of Bacteria in the Rio Grande
By
KGNS News
Story Created:
May 6, 2012 at 11:07 PM CDT
Story Updated:
May 7, 2012
New at ten tonight.
The Texas clean rivers program releases early results of a bacteria study in the Rio Grande, which are being called shocking.
The information outlined in an article by the Rio Grande International Study Center showing fecal coliform shooting off the charts starting near Laredo's International Bridge 2, hitting 14,200 colonies per milliliter with E-Coli levels exceeding 2 thousand 4 hundred colonies.
The director of the study center stresses that Jefferson water plant sits upstream from this area so Laredo's drinking
Water is completely safe but down stream is where the problems start.
Tricia Cortez is an expert in river studies and said, that what we see is levels of bacteria exceeding U.S. standards by almost 20 times, Mexico's standards by almost 14 times and the problem persists down miles downstream. This is South Laredo to Rio Bravo so we know those communities to get water safe there using lots of chemicals to treat the level of bacteria.
Safe water advocates encourage people to stop dumping in storm drains and the river and say we need strong leadership to prioritize the problem.
