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NCL - About the Project

Fecal coliform bacteria can enter waterways by direct dischargeThis is a database of available fecal coliform bacteria, fecal streptococci bacteria, and nutrient loading data. It can be used to quickly identify available measures of loading from different landuses (bacteria and nutrients) and animals (bacteria only).

Increasing coastal development causes higher levels of both contaminant types to enter estuaries and affects water quality including both harvestability of shellfish as well as recreational uses. Fecal coliform bacteria and nutrients enter adjacent waterways by direct discharge, agricultural and urban storm runoff, and direct deposition.

Understanding the factors that affect loading into adjacent waterways is necessary for both estimating and reducing impacts.

Literature Review

The literature review used to obtain the information was performed on Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and Science Direct databases. A compilation of the keywords used are listed in the following lists:

Nitrogen search words

  • Ammonium,
  • nutrient cycling,
  • nitrogen,
  • phosphate

Fecal coliform search words

  • Bacteria,
  • coliforms,
  • Escherichia coli,
  • urban contaminant loads,
  • urban runoff

Water quality search words

  • Coastal waters,
  • estuaries,
  • landuse,
  • non-point pollution sources,
  • salt marshes,
  • stormwater runoff,
  • water quality

We do not imply that this is a comprehensive database. We intend to expand the data as new sources are identified. All users are asked to supply additional data sources by using the contact information page.


Please note: Although we have made attempts to verify all data, some of the primary sources were not available.