The water quality has improved significantly in Lake Guntersville since 1988. State health standards for body contact recreation have consistently been met at the major swimming areas of Town, Short, and South Sandy Creek embayments since 1988. Overall fish population dynamics have increased or remained stable since 1988, with no fish consumption advisories issued. While the above water quality improvements have occurred, there are still some major areas of concern noted in the report. One major concern is the increasing phosphate levels in all monitored surface water streams in the watershed.
Bacterial levels monitored in surface water streams remain too variable to establish a trend.
Private well voter monitoring continues to indicate significant contamination by fecal coliform bacteria. Sedimentation entering Lake Guntersville continues to cause concern. Rates of sedimentation have increased for the period 1961 to 1996 compared to the period 1940 to 1961. Currently the total reservoir storage volume losses are at approximately five percent. Clearly the Sand Mountain-Lake Guntersville Hydrologic Unit Area project has made considerable progress since it officially began in 1990.