Briarcliffe Acres Volunteer Monitoring
In 2019, the Waccamaw Watershed Academy began the Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring program in Briarcliffe Acres monitoring three sites. This program has two goals: (1) To monitor fecal bacteria levels in the Briarcliffe Acres swash and (2) To monitor the eutrophication status of two lakes that are upslope from the swash and share hydrological connections.
For the Briarcliffe Acres Swash, the primary water quality concern is a long-term swimming advisory due to elevated levels of fecal bacteria in the surf zone downstream of Briarcliffe Acres Swash. Past studies by the WWA & EQL documented high levels of fecal bacteria draining into the ocean from the swash following rain events and found evidence of fecal bacteria derived from human sources. To reduce contribution coming from the Briarcliffe Swash, the Town switched the communities closest to the swash from private septic tanks to a new sewer line. The Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring assesses the success of this remediation effort and other management initiatives.
In addition to the swash, several natural lakes are present in the town of Briarcliffe Acres that now serve as stormwater retention ponds that have the potential to discharge into the Briarcliffe Swash. The major concern in these lakes is cultural eutrophication in which fertilizer runoff can lead to overgrowth of algae, followed by oxygen deficits. This is monitored via nutrient and oxygen measurements. The volunteer data are also used to detect potential illicit discharges of sediment through measurements of turbidity.
The volunteer water quality monitoring program is supported by Horry County’s Stormwater Management Program. The town of Briarcliffe covers the costs of the regulatory-level Enterococcus measurements performed by the EQL.
