Microbiological Source Tracking Workshop

On February 5-7, 2002, SCCWRP, in cooperation with the US Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Quality Control Board, and the National Water Research Institute, co-hosted a workshop on microbiological source tracking techniques. The goals of the workshop were to: 1) Bring leading researchers together with regulators, and other interested parties to discuss the current state of methods used to track microbial contaminants in surface waters, and 2) Begin the process of developing a protocol for a comparison study of microbial source tracking methods.

The first day of the workshop included plenary talks by prominent researchers in the field. The agenda, along with abstracts from the plenary session is available by clicking on the link below. The second and third day of the workshop were devoted to breakout groups, which considered a broad range of questions associated with developing a protocol and study plan for a comparative study of these techniques. A document entitled "Microbial Source Tracking Workshop: Workgroup Findings and Recommendations", which summarizes discussions of workgroup participants in establishing evaluation criteria for microbial source tracking methods and outlines a design for a methods comparison study, is now available for download in PDF format.

Agenda and abstracts from the workshop