At present, BST can reliably determine if fecal bacteria are from human or animal sources. If the bacteria are from animal sources, BST can also tell if the animals are livestock or wildlife, but less reliably than the human vs. animal separation. Many in the molecular biology community believe such fine differentiations are feasible. BST will be heavily used by regulatory agencies in the future. For example, in Virginia fecal coliform bacteria are the most widespread pollutant in rivers and streams.
Most states face a similar situation.
The ability to develop realistic TMDLs for fecal bacteria, and implementation of cost-effective BMPs for watershed restoration will largely depend on using the new BST methodology to accurately identify sources of fecal pollution in water. BST methodology is here and it does work, even though it is still must be considered experimental. Look for BST to be widely used in the near future and to be developed very rapidly.