Berger Ditch discharges to the marina at Maumee Bay State Park (MBSP), just east of the MBSP bathing beach. Recent studies by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of Toledo researchers have identified the ditch as a source of Escherichia coli (E. coli), an indicator bacterium that is used to assess recreational water quality. An automatic sampler was installed at a USGS streamgage on Berger Ditch. Samples were collected as a function of streamflow, including negative flow conditions. Instantaneous discharges of E. coli and suspended sediment from Berger Ditch were calculated. When samples were collected, streamflow ranged from -21 to 227 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) and over the entire time period, streamflow ranged from -23 to 243 ft3/s. Discharges of E. coli ranged from 2.5 ? 108 to greater than 2.6 ? 1010 colony-forming units per second (cfu/s), and suspended-sediment discharges ranged from 0.01 to 2.2 kilograms per second (kg/s). One sample was collected during negative flow conditions, and discharges of E. coli and suspended sediment in this sample were -4.3 ? 108 cfu/s and -0.015 kg/s, respectively.
