gave two study sites an "excellent" rating, 20 sites a "good" rating, 27 sites a "fair" rating, and five sites a "marginal" rating. Since 1999, the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance (known as the Petitcodiac Watershed Monitoring Group at the time) has collected water samples from May to October to study bacteria, nutrient, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and sediment levels. Two sampling sites, one upstream from the causeway and one downstream, were used during the 2009 study. The river had an average temperature of in August at the upstream location, in contrast to the average of at the same site over the total period of the study. E. coli levels were high upstream, and above recreationally safe levels downstream in June, July, and August. Nitrates and phosphates failed to meet the safe quality threshold on occasion. A publication by the New Brunswick Department of Environment in 2007 showed that the watershed did not meet the quality guidelines for E. coli in 10 percent of samples, for dissolved oxygen in 5 percent of samples, and pH in 3 percent of samples; in contrast, the river was always within safe nitrate levels. During their 2001 study, the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance noted the effects of agriculture on the river's water quality, and recommended to work with local farmers to install cattle fencing around streams which run through their properties, and "eventually phase out" cosmetic pesticide usage. The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper holds a stronger position on the issue: the organisation notes that pesticides "find their way into the surface and ground water by leaching into the soil or as part of stormwater runoff." They request that, while measures have been taken in 2009 by the provincial government to regulate cosmetic pesticide usage, the province must forbid its usage altogether and require chemical manufacturers to disclose health warnings and all ingredients on labels. The New Brunswick Department of Environment also warned of the erosion caused by the removal of the river's riparian zones, which is a common "land use practice". Although mining around the area essentially stopped with the closure of the gypsum mines in 1982, uranium mining has surfaced as a potential problem for the river. The province was the subject of a controversy in 2007 when it gave Vale Limited (formerly known as CVRD Inco) the right to mine for uranium at Turtle Creek, where the Greater Moncton water reservoir is maintained. Environmentalists warned of the