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Water Quality panel reports repeated E. coli failures at local sites and flags data-center water risk
Summary
A Water Quality Advisory Committee briefing to the Macon County commissioners reported persistent E. coli exceedances at multiple recreation sites, recommended environmental DNA testing to find pollution sources, and warned that large data centers can demand hundreds of thousands to millions of gallons per day of water, posing long-term planning challenges.
Jason Love, speaking for the Water Quality Advisory Committee, told the Macon County Board of Commissioners that routine monitoring showed repeated E. coli contamination at multiple recreational and upstream sites and urged the county to treat water as a core asset.
Love summarized volunteer and partner monitoring (MountainTrue) from May through August that found consistent failures for swimming-safety thresholds: Cartoogechaye Creek at the recreation park failed 15 of 15 samples, Little Tennessee at Tassee Shelter failed 15 of 15, Parker Meadows 15 of 15, Lake Emory 15 of 15, and Little Tennessee at Iotla Bridge failed 13 of 15. Love said water quality improved downstream away from Franklin and recommended targeted environmental DNA testing (cited at about $135 per sample) to better identify pollution sources.
On broader planning implications, Love praised the county's 2023 restriction on data centers and warned that modern facilities can require very large water withdrawals — he cited a range presented to the committee of roughly 300,000 to 5,000,000 gallons per day — comparable to the needs of a small town. He said that growth in AI and data demand will increase pressure to site such facilities and argued that water use and source identification should be core considerations in development review.
Love also reported results of student-conducted trash transects (UNC Chapel Hill), which found heavy litter loads: roughly 620 pieces per quarter mile in some Cartoogechaye and Cullasaja transects, about 1,600 pieces per quarter mile in sections of Cartoogechaye Creek, and more than 1,900 pieces per quarter mile in the Little Tennessee upstream of Franklin; plastics comprised about 2525 to 3525 of the debris. He urged commissioners to use the committee's technical expertise (engineers, hydrologists, biologists) when weighing development or cleanup priorities.
The board did not take immediate regulatory action at this meeting; commissioners discussed the committee's offer to help design targeted testing and how monitoring results could be used in permitting or education efforts.
The Water Quality Advisory Committee presentation was heard in the March 10, 2026, board meeting (presentation by Jason Love).
