ATHENS, Tenn. — Signs are posted in a local park warning people not to wade, swim or fish in Oostanaula Creek because of fecal bacteria contamination.

The stream runs through Veterans Park, a popular walking area for local residents.

The signs are new, but not the problem, local and state officials said.

“This is actually a reposting,” Athens Utilities Board spokesman Wayne Scarbrough said. He said the signs were set in place in the 1980 but disappeared over the years.

Tisha Calabrese-Benton, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said the creek has been contaminated for many years with bacteria from upstream farms and from periodic sewer overflows.

“As is often the case, these signs tend to get vandalized or disappear, and we periodically repost them as we discover these issues,” Ms. Tisha Calabrese-Benton said.

She said farmers are working to upgrade their farm management practices, and AUB is working to stop sewage from getting into the creek.

Mr. Scarbrough said farmers upstream have been fencing cattle out of the creek. He said Niota, Tenn., farmer Robert Thompson was awarded the state’s top environmental award this year by the governor for his water-quality work.

AUB also has won awards for limiting discharges of untreated waste, and the utility recently completed a $17 million upgrade of the Oostanaula Waste Treatment Plant. AUB also operates the award-winning Mouse Creek Treatment Plant on the west side of the city.

Mr. Scarbrough said the signs are posted upstream from that plant, which has no effect on that portion of the stream.

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