Section 319
NDNPDINT SOURHE PROGRAM SUGKSS STPRY
Watershed Grazing Initiative Reduces Nutrient and Sediment Impacts
Waterbodv Imoroved
Excessive nutrient loads and turbidity severely reduced the
water transparency of New York's Chittenango Creek, pre-
venting fish propagation. As a result, the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYS DEC) added Chittenango Creek to the state's 1998 303(d) list of
impaired waters. Farmers implemented a series of agricultural best management practices
(BMPs), which improved the creek's water quality. Therefore, NYS DEC proposed removing
Chittenango Creek from New York's 2008 303(d) list for nutrients (phosphorus).
Problem
Chittenango Creek flows northward from its
headwaters at the Erieville Reservoir before
draining through the Cicero Swamp and eventu-
ally into Oneida Lake. It forms the border between
Madison and Onondaga counties for its lower
18 miles. The old Erie Canal flows east to west
through the Chittenango Creek watershed. The
creek flows through a unique geologic feature,
the Chittenango Gorge and Chittenango Falls
(Figure 1) north of Cazenovia. The drainage area of
the Chittenango Creek subwatershed is approxi-
mately 99,250 acres. The subwatershed includes
the villages of Cazenovia and Chittenango. Most
of the subwatershed is within the Oneida Indian
land claim. Agriculture is a primary land use, with
approximately 60 operating farms in the Madison
County portion alone. Thirty-seven of these farms
are dairy operations, while others include cash grain
and beef operations, along with several sheep and
pig farms. Chittenango Creek contributes approxi-
mately 18 percent of the total surface water inflow
to Oneida Lake (Figure 2).
New York added a 3-mile segment of Chittenango
Creek to its 1998 303(d) list because of impairments
to aquatic life uses and minor impacts to recre-
ational uses. NYS DEC identified agriculture as the
primary source of excess phosphorus, with addi-
tional contributions from urban/suburban land uses
and on-site wastewater systems. The 1998 assess-
ment of Chittenango Creek indicated violations
of the state's narrative water quality standard for
nutrients, which prohibits nutrients in "amounts that
will result in growths of algae, weeds and slimes
that impair the waters for their best usages."
Figure 1. Chittenango Falls is one of the outstanding
waterfalls in central New York.
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Project Highlights
Farmers implemented a series of agricultural BMPs
designed to reduce nutrient and sediment loads
to the Chittenango Creek subwatershed. BMPs
include restricted/designated livestock laneways,
controlled stream crossings for livestock, improved
fencing parameters, alternative livestock watering
systems, improved stewardship of existing pas-
turelands, and selecting and implementing better
vegetative cover. Additional BMP projects continue
to be funded through the latest round of grants.
Results
A range of both point and nonpoint source controls
helped improve water quality in Chittenango Creek;
however, implementing agricultural BMPs contrib-
uted significantly to the overall result. The agri-
cultural environmental management program that
was implemented worked to reduce phosphorus
loads to Chittenango Creek. Macroinvertebrate data
indicate that aquatic communities are no longer
impaired. The state's narrative standard is being
attained, and the creek now fully supports its des-
ignated uses of aquatic life and recreational uses.
Consequently, NYS DEC proposed removing the
creek from New York's 2008 303(d) list of impaired
waters for nutrients (phosphorus).
Partners and Funding
The Oneida Lake Watershed Agricultural Advisory
Committee, established in 2002, encourages
farmer participation in the Oneida Lake Watershed
Management Program, which includes the
Chittenango Creek subwatershed. Supporting
this effort, the NYS Agricultural Nonpoint Source
Abatement and Control Program (ANSCAP) has
funded a continuing series of BMP projects to
Source: New York State
Lands Interactive Mapping Tool—
www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/454T5.html
Figure 2. Chittenango Creek drains into New York's Oneida
Lake.
reduce nutrient, sediment and pathogen loads to
the watershed. ANSCAP funds are used as a match
for section 319 funding.
The BMP projects highlighted in this success story
were funded through ANSCAP, which provided
$246,687 of state funds on 26 farms in the Oneida
Lake watershed, including six high-priority farms
(receiving $47,772 of the funds) in the Chittenango
Creek subwatershed. The practices that were imple-
mented include those endorsed by the NYS Grazing
Lands Conservation Initiative, a grassroots coalition
of producers, agricultural industry and conservation
groups with an interest in the sound conservation
of private grazing lands. ANSCAP has continued to
support BMP projects that contribute to nutrient
and sediment load reductions in the Chittenango
Creek subwatershed.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-08-001P
September 2008
For additional information contact:
Francis Zagorski
Nonpoint Source Management Program
New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation
518-402-8168 • fgzagors@gw.dec.state.ny.us
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