On Wednesday, July 17 , the Virginia Department of Health issued a recreational advisory for the James River between the Manchester Bridge and Osborne Landing. For the safety of people and pets, VDH advised that any water activity where submersion in the water is likely — including swimming, wading, tubing, and whitewater kayaking — should be avoided.
VDH says they were alerted to a sewage leak on Tuesday, July 16. Both it and the Department of Environmental Quality then began actively monitoring high bacteria levels in the river.
According to several news outlets, testing conducted on Thursday, July 11 reported extremely high levels of E. coli in the water — roughly ten times what the EPA considers safe.
On Thursday, August 1 — just over two weeks after the advisory was announced — the VDH announced that the advisory had been lifted. It cited data from earlier that week indicating that bacteria concentrations had returned to acceptable levels for river recreation.
However, it still advises that children under five, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems continue to exercise extra caution. Swimming in the James always poses some level of risk, according to VDH, since river water is not disinfected.
Bacteria levels generally tend to increase after rainfall due to Richmond’s combined sewer system. You can monitor river conditions day-to-day using James River Association’s River Watch tool.
VDH observed no impacts to Richmond drinking water, which is taken from a site well upstream.
