Enterococci are recognized by the U.S. EPA as indicator organisms to assess water quality in fresh and marine waters. Although enterococci are a robust indicator of fecal contamination in marine waters, interpretation of elevated levels in fresh waters is less clear. Because enterococci can originate from plants or sewage, it is important to understand the source of the enterococci as it relates to swimmers’ health. It may be that the species of Enterococcus present, rather than total Enterococcus spp., more accurately indicates the public health risk. This project will evaluate four real-time qPCR methods for enterococci and Bacteriodes and apply these methods to monitor ten Iowa beaches with elevated levels of enterococci and/or E. coli. This study will determine if the rapid total enterococci qPCR method can serve as a surrogate for the standard EPA culture method and if all four rapid tests will be able to track the source of the enterococci.