Section 319 NONPOINT SOURCF PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY Exclusion Fencing Reduces Cattle s Impact and Restores Creek Waterbodv Improved A9ricultural Practices and land development along Cherokee ' """""> '" - • Creek contributed to increasing stream siltation, prompting the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) to add a 20.8-mile long segment of the creek to Tennessee's Clean Water Act section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Project partners implemented agricultural best management practices (BMPs) that reduced siltation and improved water quality. TDEC removed Cherokee Creek from the state's 303(d) list in 2008. Problem Project Highlights Cherokee Creek is in eastern Tennessee's rural Washington County. In 2000 TDEC performed a biological reconnaissance (biorecon) survey for the creek at mile 2.1 near Highway 81. Biorecon is one tool used to recognize stream impairment as judged by species richness measures, emphasizing the presence or absence of indicator organisms without regard to relative abundance. The biorecon survey documented poor scores, prompting TDEC to place a 20.8-mile segment of upper Cherokee Creek (from its headwaters to a point near Cherokee Road) on Tennessee's section 303(d) list in 2002. TDEC identified grazing practices and land development as the primary sources of sediment pol- lution that caused a loss of biological integrity. TDEC completed a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for siltation and habitat alteration for the Nolichucky River watershed, which includes Cherokee Creek. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the TMDL on February 26, 2008. Project partners installed agricultural BMPs along the impaired segment of Cherokee Creek in 2006 to reduce erosion. They built fences to exclude cattle from the creek and installed a pipeline to carry water to a new alternative watering tank (Figure 1). Funding from Tennessee's Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund helped pay for the BMPs. Figure 1. Example of an alternative watering tank. ------- Results Implementing agricultural BMPs had reduced silt- ation and improved habitat, allowing macroinverte- brate populations to rise. In 2005 TDEC established Semi-Quantitative Single Habitat Assessment (SQSH) stations at mile 1.0 (Taylor Bridge Road) and at mile 2.5 (Charlie Parker Road). Similar to the biorecon, the SQSH assessment is a tool used to recognize stream impairment as judged by species richness measures, emphasizing the presence or absence of indicator organisms without regard to relative abundance. The principal metrics used are the total macroinvertebrate families (or genera) and the number of families of mayflies, stone- flies and caddisflies (EPT). At mile 1.0, the SQSH documented 9 EPT genera and 31 total genera. The SQSH scored 38 out of 42 on the Tennessee Macroinvertebrate Index. At mile 2.5, the SQSH documented 9 EPT genera and 23 total genera for a score of 36 out of 42. On the basis of the SQHS data, TDEC removed the 20.8-mile segment of Cherokee Creek from Tennessee's 2008 Clean Water Act section 303(d) list for siltation (Figure 2). Partners and Funding Staff from Washington County Soil Conservation District worked closely with landowners to iden- tify and implement BMPs. This project received cost-share funds from Tennessee Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund. From 2003 to 2008, the Tennessee Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund provided $1,980 with an additional match of $661 from local landowners. BMPs installed along Cherokee Creek in Washington County, Tennessee TN06010108536-2000 Legend A BMPs along Cherokee Creek Cherokee Q^ Cherokee Creek WS L17J Tennessee Counties ID NRCSCode 1 614 2 516 Practice Watering Facility Pipeline Size of Project 1 Tank 600 feet County Washington Washington HUC8 6010108 6010108 Streamname Cherokee Creek Cherokee Creek TN Dept of Agricultui Cherokee Creek segments are delisted for Pasture Graz and Land Development, 20.S Figure 2. Map showing the previously impaired portion of Cherokee Creek and the locations of BMPs installed. I 55 • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "fc Office of Water g Washington, DC EPA841-F-09-001K June 2009 For additional information contact: Sam Marshall Tennessee Department of Agriculture Sam.Marshall@tn.gov 615-837-5306 ------- |