Water quality in three creeks in the backcountry of Grand Teton National Park, USA

This study was conducted in Grand Teton National Park during the summers of 1996 and 1997 to investigate the water quality in two high human use areas : Garnet Canyon and lower Cascade Canyon. To evaluate the water quality in these creeks, fecal coliform, Giardia lamblia, coccidia, and microparticula tes were measured in water samples. No evidence of fecal coliform, Giardia lamblia, or coccidia, was found in Garnet Creek. The water quality and gene ral water chemistry of Garnet Creek was similar to the reference site. No G iardia lamblia or coccidia were found in Cascade Creek, but fecal coliforms were present. The isolated colonies of Escherichia coli from Cascade Creek matched the ribosome patterns of avian, deer, canine, elk, rodent, and hum an coliforms.