Section 319
NONPOINT SOORGE PROGRAM FUDGES* STORY
Reducing Animal Sources of Fecal Coliform Restores Water Quality
Waterbody Improved
After water quality monitoring data showed that Anchorage's
Cheney Lake consistently failed to meet Alaska's fecal coliform (FC)
bacteria standard during the early 1990s, Alaska's Department
of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) added the waterbody to the state's 1994 Clean Water Act
(CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. ADEC believed that excrement from a large Canada
goose population and from people's pets contributed to the pollution problem. The Municipality
of Anchorage (MOA) and several partners implemented programs in the late 1990s to reduce the
wild goose population and address pet waste. Both efforts helped reduce the FC entering the
lake. Using monitoring data collected in 2006, ADEC determined that the lake meets water quality
standards. As a result, in 2008 ADEC removed Cheney Lake from the section 303(d) list for FC.
Problem
Cheney Lake is in a residential area of Anchorage in
south-central Alaska. The lake covers approximately
22 acres and has a mean depth of 5.8 feet and a
maximum depth of 14 feet. The lake formed in the
late 1960s when a large gravel extraction pit filled
with water (Figure 1). Cheney Lake is hydrologically
isolated; it is fed by springs, precipitation, and
stormwater runoff but has no natural inlet or outlet.
The area surrounding the lake is mostly residential
with parkland immediately along the shoreline.
Water quality data collected by MOA from 1991
through 1994 show that Cheney Lake exceeded
the FC standard almost every month. ADEC added
the waterbody to Alaska's 1994 CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters. The state's stringent
bacteria standards for Cheney Lake require that in a
30-day period, the geometric mean may not exceed
20 FC/100 milliliters (ml) and not more than 10 per-
cent of the samples may exceed 40 FC/100 ml.
ADEC attributed the FC pollution to nearby or in-
lake sources, including excrement from the Canada
geese that loitered on and around the lake, as well
as stormwater runoff carrying pet waste from the
area immediately around the lake.
Project Highlights
After an aircraft collided with a flock of geese in
1995 near Anchorage, killing 24 people, a task
force began working to reduce wild goose popula-
tions throughout the city. MOA worked with the
Figure 1. Alaska's Cheney Lake formed when an
abandoned gravel pit filled with water.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, and the Alaska
Native and American Indian Elders who live in the
Anchorage area to reduce the number of eggs
available for hatching. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act
ordinarily prohibits people from collecting wild bird
eggs; however, the USFWS granted special per-
mits to volunteers from the Elders Program of the
Southcentral Foundation. These volunteers collect-
ed and donated the eggs to Alaska Natives so they
could eat them as their ancestors once did. Other
methods to reduce the number of geese included
relocating goslings, harassing adult geese, altering
habitat and, when necessary, killing them (e.g., near
the airport). To discourage geese from gathering
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near waterbodies, MOA posted signs requesting
that people not feed the birds (Figure 2).
MOA, the Anchorage Waterways Council (AWC) and
several partners implemented a Scoop the Poop
program throughout the city in 2003 to address
problems with unmanaged pet waste. The cam-
paign educated pet owners about simple ways to
reduce the amount of FC that enter local waters
by picking up after pets and properly disposing of
the waste. Program elements included developing
posters featuring local celebrities, creating public
service announcements for local television stations
and installing more than 50 pet waste stations
throughout Anchorage's park system, trail heads
and neighborhoods, including one by Cheney Lake
(see Figure 3). These stations include signs, waste
bags and trash receptacles.
Figure 2. A sign
at Cheney Lake
discourages people
from feeding
waterfowl.
Figure 3. A pet waste
station at Cheney Lake
encourages people to
pick up after their pets.
Results
FC levels in Cheney Lake have declined. Historical
data shows that the FC levels in Cheney Lake have
decreased by an order of magnitude since the early
1990s when ADEC originally placed it on the list of
impaired waters. Even with the substantial popula-
tions of waterfowl still contributing FC to the lake,
the majority of recent water quality data are below
20 FC/100 mL with numerous samples measuring
OFC/100mL
From April to November 2006 ADEC monitored
water quality at eight stations (five in-lake stations
and three shoreline stations) in Cheney Lake. All but
one data point at the five in-lake stations meet the
geometric mean standard of 20 FC/100mL, the one
exception being a station reported at 21 FC/100mL
(skewed because of one sample of 85 FC/mL in
July). The combined data for the three shoreline
stations include six instances of FC levels (out of
85 data points) above the not-to-exceed standard
of 40 FC/100mL. Twenty-eight percent of the 2006
combined shoreline data are 0 FC/100 mL. Thirty-
four percent of the combined data have reported
values of 0 FC/100mL. Seventy-two percent of the
values are less than 10 FC/100mL, while 84 percent
are less than 20 FC/100mL. The majority of samples
showing FC levels are consistent with data repre-
senting background levels.
Because Cheney Lake is not hydrologically con-
nected to any other waterbodies, bacteria levels in
the lake are dominated by direct inputs and runoff
from immediately surrounding areas, rather than by
runoff from a larger watershed. Therefore, ADEC
believes that reducing the Canada goose population
likely led to most of the water quality improvement.
A secondary contributor to improved water qual-
ity was the effort by pet owners to better manage
pet waste in the parkland immediately around the
lake. On the basis of the data, ADEC and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency agree that occa-
sional violations of the water quality standards are
likely caused by direct inputs from natural sources
such as waterfowl. Therefore, ADEC removed
Cheney Lake from Alaska's CWA section 303(d) list
of impaired waters for FC in 2008.
Partners and Funding
MOA worked with the USFWS and the Elders
Program of the Southcentral Foundation to reduce
Anchorage's Canada goose population by allowing
an annual egg hunt. In 2006 AWC received $23,953
from the Alaska Clean Water Actions Program
(which includes CWA section 319 funds) to sup-
port developing the Scoop the Poop campaign.
Numerous partners participated in the campaign,
including ADEC; University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Cooperative Extension Service; U.S. Bureau of Land
Management; Anchorage Animal Care and Control;
Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Anchorage
Unleashed; and MOA's Watershed Services and
Parks and Recreation departments.
I
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-09-001F
June 2009
For additional information contact:
Tim Stevens
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
907-269-7515
tim.stevens@alaska.gov
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