Section 319
              NONPOINT SOURCE  PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
 Stream Restored through Improved Agricultural Practices and

 Erosion Control Work


WatPrbndv Irnnrnvpd   Sediment and nutrients in agricultural, roadway, and parking
        *"      '      	"  '""''   lot runoff degraded Adams Brook's biological communities
 and resulted in the waterbody being listed  on Vermont's section 303(d) list of impaired
 waters. The installation of several best management practices, including improvements to
 a manure storage facility and erosion control  work in several areas, resulted  in improved
 water quality and allowed Adams Brook to  be removed from the 303(d) list in 2004.


 Problem

 Adams Brook, a 3.5-mile stream in the cen-
 tral Vermont town of Randolph, is a tributary
 within the White River Basin. The Vermont
 Department of Environmental Conservation
 (VT DEC) classifies Adams Brook as a Class B
 water, a designation defined as "suitable for
 bathing and recreation, irrigation and agricul-
 tural uses; good fish habitat; good aesthetic
 value; acceptable for public water supply with
 filtration and disinfection."

 In 1997, VT DEC monitored macroinvertebrates
 in Adams Brook using the EPT index, which
 measures the presence of pollution-sensitive
 aquatic insects in a waterbody. The index
 assumes that streams showing high EPT rich-
 ness are less likely to be polluted than streams
 showing relatively low EPT richness in the
 same geographic region. In addition, VT DEC
 measured Adams Brook's biotic integrity (Bl).
 Monitoring results from both indices indicated
 that Adams Brook failed to meet Vermont's
 Class B water quality standards for aquatic life
 support.

 As a result of these findings, the state placed
 Adams Brook on Vermont's 303(d) list of
 impaired waters in 1998. Two VT DEC surveys
 and a concurrent White River  Basin planning
 process indicated that the impairment was
 caused by nutrient and sediment loads coming
 from a nearby farm, poorly protected roadside
Ditch near Adams Brook prior to being lined with rock.
Rock lining reduced sedimentation into Adams Brook.
ditches, and certain stretches of badly eroding
streambanks.
Project Highlights
In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food
and Markets worked with a local farmer to
plug a leak in the farm's manure storage pit.
They  also expanded the pit size to better
accommodate the volume and  type of animal
waste being generated. These  actions helped
to significantly reduce nutrient  loading to the
waterbody. Other activities helped to reduce
sedimentation. In 2001, VT DEC secured
the removal of an unauthorized culvert at an
upstream tributary, thereby reducing the ero-
sive force of stormwater in the  channel. During

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                                              Adams Brook Biomonitoring Results
Geomorphic instability and an unauthorized culvert
(upstream of the location in this photo) caused
heavy erosion and the dumping of rock piles at the
culvert shown here. Removing the unauthorized
culvert helped to address the instability and  reduce
the water quality impacts on Adams Brook.
the summer of 2002, the Vermont Agency
of Transportation lined the eroding roadway
ditches with stone and stabilized erosion at a
nearby parking lot. All these actions contrib-
uted to bringing  the stream into compliance
with Vermont's water quality standards.
Results
Macroinvertebrate sampling in 2001 showed
improvements in EPT taxa richness and Bl,
allowing Adams Brook to be assessed as
"good" and attaining water quality standards.
However, a waterbody cannot be removed
from the state's impaired list until 2 years of
biological monitoring data indicate compliance
with water quality standards.

Consequently, Adams Brook was reassessed
in 2002 and evaluated to be in "very good"
condition, exhibiting only minor differences
from nearby reference streams. The EPT rich-
ness remained well above the guideline for
Class B waters (though down somewhat from
the 2001 sampling period) and the Bl value was
significantly lower (better) than the previous
2 sampling years.
Sampling
Site
1.5
1.5
1.5
Date
9/16/1997
9/10/2001
10/2/2002

Assessment Rating
Fair
Good
Very good
Class B Guideline
EPT
15.0
23.0
19.0
> 1.6.0
Bl
4.77
4.30
2.14
<4.50
The table above compares Adams Brook
biomonitoring results with Class B water
guidelines. Data highlighted in bold indicate
the waterbody's failure to meet aquatic life
support biocriteria for Vermont Class B waters.
These data led to Adams Brook being added to
Vermont's 303(d) list in 1998.


Metric improvements in 2001 and 2002 indi-
cated that the stream community was under
less stress and the brook had achieved compli-
ance with Vermont water quality standards.
As a result, Adams Brook was removed from
the 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2004. The
next scheduled monitoring year for the brook
is 2006.
Partners and Funding
This project included financial and techni-
cal support from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation
Service and the Vermont Agency of
Agriculture, Food and Markets for improve-
ments to the animal waste storage facility.
These improvements were also funded in part
by the farm producer. The Vermont Agency
of Transportation protected roadside ditches
and established parking area erosion control
measures. All the improvement and protection
work was facilitated by the broader White River
Basin planning  process, which was managed
by VT DEC and supported, in part, with approx-
imately $50,000 in section 319 funding.
•    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
\   Off ice of Water
 a   Washington, DC
     EPA841-F-06-003A
     May 2006
For additional information contact:
Eric Perkins, EPA Region 1
617-918-1602 • perkins.eric@epa.gov
Rick Hopkins, VT DEC Nonpoint Source Program
802-241-3769 • rick.hopkins@state.vt.us
Steve Fiske, VT DEC Biomonitoring Program
802-241-1378 • steve.fiske@state.vt.us

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