New Hanover County received its 2024–25 water‑quality monitoring report Wednesday, covering monthly sampling at 20 tidal‑creek sites across eight creeks and three freshwater sites in Airlie Gardens (the report’s 12‑month window ran July 2024–June 2025). The contracted marine biologist, Brad Rosoff of Coastal Protection Engineering, summarized results and next steps for addressing chronic bacterial and nutrient concerns.

Rosoff said turbidity and chlorophyll measurements were largely “good” across the creeks, with fewer than 10% of sampling exceedances at most sites over the year. Dissolved oxygen readings were mixed: most sites were in the good or fair range, while a small number—notably Island Creek and Prince George Creek—showed lower dissolved oxygen consistent with slower, more swamp‑like waters.

A continuing concern is Enterococcus bacteria, an indicator of fecal contamination. Rosoff noted long‑term trends show improvement at several sites but persistent, elevated Enterococcus at two upstream Pages Creek sites in the Bayshore neighborhood. "Pages Creek has been kind of the red‑head stepchild in this program for a number of years now," Rosoff said, noting one upstream sampling location had exceedances roughly half the time over the long term, though it has improved in recent years.

In Airlie Gardens, county samples showed increasing nutrient concentrations—nitrogen and orthophosphate—that correlate with higher chlorophyll and algal growth in the central and outflow portions of the lake. Rosoff said the input area (AG IN) typically shows lower chlorophyll, while the center and outflow sites show greater algal production, consistent with nutrient loading from stormwater runoff.

Board members pressed staff on sources and remedies. Commissioners asked whether development, septic‑to‑sewer conversions, stormwater controls, or animal inputs could explain bacteria spikes. Rosoff described past source‑tracking efforts in Pages Creek that identified human signatures in earlier studies and said the county is preparing a targeted study with a UNC researcher and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) using newer genetic‑fingerprinting techniques (developed in part during COVID research) that can distinguish human sewer discharges from other animal sources and centralized sewer versus isolated sources.

Rosoff and staff emphasized that routine monthly sampling provides a high‑level view but that targeted, higher‑frequency sampling and new source‑tracking methods are needed to pinpoint persistent sources in the Pages Creek watershed. The county is coordinating outreach, watershed management measures (for example "scoop the poop" campaigns and rain‑garden incentives), and discussions with CFPUA and neighborhood stakeholders to prioritize mitigation and further study.

The report and discussion highlight an overall long‑term improvement in many creeks since monitoring began in 2008, while singling out Pages Creek and the Airlie Gardens lake for continued attention and targeted investigation.