The project was set up on 160 acres of pasture which the Swift Current Creek flows through. About 250 head of cattle graze this area using the creek as a water source. A watering system was set up and fenced off to prevent any damage from cattle. Water quality tests were completed five times during the growing season of 2011, 2012 and 2013: once in June, twice in July and twice in August. Water samples were collected, placed in a cooler with ice packs and shipped directly to Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) for testing of e coli (Most Probable Number per 100 millilitres [MPN/100mL]) and total coliforms(MPN/100mL). When water was collected to send to SRC an extra bottle was collected, frozen and sent to the University of Regina for DNA testing. DNA was collected to determine if the fecal coliforms were bovine or ungulate. In addition to field data and notes, results pertaining to water level (m) and discharge (m3/s) were obtained from the Government of Canada hydrometric station (Station 05HD036) just upstream from the project site. Finally, a riparian health assessment was completed on the site at the beginning of the project, on September 15th, 2010, and again at the end of 2013, on November 12th, 2013.

An added component to the project was the offer from the University of Regina to collect and analyse DNA from the e coli samples to determine whether they were bovine or ungulate. The results did show that the two positive ruminant results were at a time when cattle were both present and not present. In July 2011 when the e coli was at the highest level it had ever been, the DNA results indicated a positive ruminant result and the cattle were not present. Thusly, when the e coli was at the second lowest level it had been the cattle were present and the DNA again showed that there was a positive for ruminant. We can expect the positive ruminant when the cattle are present but when they are not we could determine that the ecoli are from upstream practices.