Section 319
              NONPOINT SOURCF PROGRAM SUCCESS  STORY
 Conservation Efforts Improve Water Quality

Waterbodv Improved  A9ricultural Practices alon9 DeMoss Creek contributed
             y    ^          to silt  runoff that degraded water quality. The Tennessee
 Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) added the creek to the state's
 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters because of siltation.
 Landowners implemented numerous best management practices (BMPs), including sedi-
 ment control  basins and conservation plantings. Water quality improved, prompting TDEC
 to remove DeMoss Creek from Tennessee's list of impaired waters in 2008.
 Problem
 DeMoss Creek is part of the South Fork Obion River
 watershed. It flows west of the town of Trezevant in
 Carroll County, Tennessee. DeMoss Creek did not
 support its designated uses of fish and aquatic life,
 prompting TDEC to add a 24.2-mile segment of the
 creek to the state's 2002 CWA section 303(d) list
 of impaired waters for sedimentation  and siltation.
 TDEC attributed the loss of biological integrity to
 sediment from eroding, non-irrigated  cropland and
 riparian areas.
 Project Highlights
 Landowners installed agricultural BMPs along
 DeMoss Creek with support from Tennessee's
 Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund (ARCF)
 (Figure 1). BMPs included two water and sediment
 control basins and one acre of critical area plantings
 (see Figures 2 and 3). The practices helped reduce
 the amount of sediment entering the creek.
 Results
 In 2005 TDEC conducted a biological reconnais-
 sance (biorecon) survey of DeMoss Creek using
 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rapid
 bioassessment protocol III. A biorecon survey is a
 tool used to evaluate stream impairment as deter-
 mined by species richness measures, emphasizing
 the presence or absence of indicator organisms
 without regard to relative abundance. The biorecon
 survey score is used as a measure of compliance
 with water quality standards for the beneficial use
 offish and aquatic life. The principal metrics used
               DeMoss Creek, TN08010203001-1200
        in the South Fork Obion River WS in Carroll County, Tennessee
  0   0.5   1
     TN Dept of Agriculture
        8/14/08
Figure 1. This map shows the location and types of BMPs
installed in the DeMoss Creek watershed.

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Figures 2 and 3. Examples of water and sediment control basins implemented in western Tennessee.
are the total macroinvertebrate families (or genera);
the number of families (or genera) of mayflies,
stoneflies, and caddisflies (collectively referred to
as EPT—short for the order names Ephemeroptera,
Plecoptera and Trichoptera); and the number of
pollution-intolerant families (or genera) found in a
stream. The biorecon index is  scored on a scale
from 1  to 15. A score of less than 5 is regarded as
very poor. A score of more than 10 is considered
good. The 2005 biorecon survey score for DeMoss
Creek was 11. The survey documented four EPT
families, one intolerant family  and 18 total fami-
lies—yielding an overall habitat score of 93. Those
results indicate that the water quality in DeMoss
Creek has improved and now supports the creek's
fish and aquatic life designated use. Therefore,
TDEC removed a 24.2-mile segment of DeMoss
Creek from the state's CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters in 2008.
Partners and Funding
This project was funded through cost-sharing from
CWA section 319 grant pool projects. From 2003
to 2008, ARCF provided $10,938 in funding with
an additional match of $4,538 from landowners.
Other key partners include the Carroll County Soil
Conservation District, which helped landowners
implement BMPs, and landowners, who contributed
the majority of the in-kind match.
I
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
     Office of Water
     Washington, DC

     EPA841-F-09-001Q
     August 2009
For additional information contact:
Sam Marshall
Tennessee Department of Agriculture
615-837-5306 • Sam.Marshall@tn.gov

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