Earlier this week, nine of 11 spots on Columbia’s major rivers showed bacteria levels high enough to prompt temporary warnings against swimming.
But that wasn’t surprising to Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler, whose organization tested the water and issued the advisories. The high bacteria levels, which followed downpours in the Columbia area, verified the threat people face when they swim in natural waterways after heavy rains, he said.
In effect, swimming after rainstorms is the worst time to take a dip in a river, lake or the ocean, particularly in urban areas where stormwater pipes direct pollutants off the land, he and others said…