Excessive e. coli levels continue to haunt Oak Creek after the Slide Fire.

Water sampled weekly by volunteers from the Friends of the Forest from five different locations along Oak Creek — including within the area of the creek closed by the fire — revealed an Oak Creek thousands of units higher than the federal e. coli standard after  major rainstorms hit the area July 8 and Aug. 19.

“When we had our storm the July 4th weekend, the water turned black for a couple of days,” said Amina Sena, hydrologist for the Red Rock Ranger District, a long-time collaborator with the Friends of the Forest. “We saw e. coli rates for all five sites exceed that standard an order of magnitude higher.

“We had an e. coli problem in Oak Creek before the Slide Fire, but the Slide Fire, every time it rained, mobilized so much more sediment and ash into the creek.”

At least one sampling location reported excessive e. coli levels as early as six days after the containment of the Slide Fire, which burned more than 21,000 acres throughout Oak Creek Canyon. Creekgoers should not expect the federal government to protect them from this problem anymore, said Marie McCormick, director of operations for the Oak Creek Watershed Council.

“As of this year, the Forest Service no longer closes recreational sites that demonstrate any exceedances in e. coli,” she said, “because it’s physically impossible. They would have to close every recreational site in the canyon.

“It’s basically swim at your own risk.”

For the full story, please see the Friday, Nov. 14, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.