WASHINGTON, N.C. — The Tar-Pamlico gets the clean-water go-ahead this week, while three sites on the Lower Neuse failed the Swim Guide test this week: Black Beard Sailing Club on Upper Broad Creek, Slocum Creek in Havelock and Lawson Creek Park.

“We’re in the middle of a drought, but the New Bern area did see more rain than other places this week,” said Clay Barber, Sound Rivers’ program director. “Some of these storms we’ve been having lately are dropping heavy rain in some areas, not a lot in others, so that could account for the bad numbers at some of the sites we test.”

Swim Guide is an international water-quality program conducted locally by Sound Rivers, an environmental nonprofit with a mission to keep North Carolina’s waterways fishable, swimmable and drinkable.

Each week, a team of Sound Rivers’ volunteers gathers water samples at 54 popular recreation sites along the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins, from the Raleigh-Durham area to the Pamlico Sound. The samples are then tested for the bacteria E. coli by Sound Rivers’ staff, and results are released to the public, providing an easy way to find out where it’s safe to swim. Where it’s not, boaters, swimmers and their pets should avoid the water or practice caution at these sites, as exposure to bacteria-laden waters comes with an increased risk of gastrointestinal illness and skin infections.

Seventeen sites are tested each week in the Lower Neuse River basin: Oak Bluff Road and Highway 11 boat ramp near Kinston; Core Creek Landing at Fort Barnwell; Cowpen Landing and Spring Garden boat ramps; Glenburnie Park, Town of Bridgeton Park, Black Beard Sailing Club on upper Broad Creek, Lawson Creek Park, River Bend kayak launch, Trent Woods and Brice’s Creek — all in or near New Bern; the East Street boat ramp in Pollocksville; Slocum Creek boat ramp in Havelock; Rice Creek off the Bay River; and the Midyette Street boat ramp and Sea Harbour Yacht Club at Pierce Creek in Oriental.

Twenty-three sites are tested each week in the Tar-Pamlico River basin: five recreational sites at Lake Royale, near Louisburg; Tar River Reservoir and Battle Park in Rocky Mount; the River Road boat access near Tarboro; Town Common, Wildwood Park and Port Terminal in Greenville; Yankee Hall at Pactolus; the downtown waterfront, Mason’s Landing and Havens Gardens boat ramp in Washington; Chocowinity Bay at Cypress Landing; Broad Creek at Pamlico Plantation; Blounts Bay and Blounts Creek at Cotton Patch Landing; Dinah’s Landing at Goose Creek State Park; Bonner Point and Plum Point on Bath Creek; and the Pungo River at Woodstock Point, near Belhaven.

Sound Rivers’ Swim Guide program is sponsored by the Water-Quality Fund in memory of Gene Pate, Grady-White Boats, Cummins, Edward Jones – Rod Cantrell, Cypress Landing, UNC Lenoir Health Care, the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, Greenville (evening) Rotary Club, UNC Pavel Molchanov Scholars, ECU SECU Public Fellows Internship Foundation, City of Greenville, Lake Royale Property Owners Association, Melinda Vann and David Silberstein, and Wendy and Tim Wilson.

To sign up for Swim Guide notifications, go to www.soundrivers.org/swimguide or text “SWIM” to 33222 for weekly water-quality text updates. For more information about Sound Rivers, visit soundrivers.org.