Section 319
NONPOINT SOORCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Using Agricultural Best Management Practices Restores Creek/
WatPrbndv Imnrnvpd Fecal coliform from animal agriculture areas, failing septic
tanks and impervious surfaces caused Georgia's Reedy Creek
to violate water quality standards. As a result, Georgia's Environmental Protection Division
(EPD) added a 13-mile segment of Reedy Creek to Georgia's Clean Water Act (CWA) sec-
tion 303(d) list of impaired waters for fecal coliform bacteria in 2000 and 2004. Using CWA
section 319 and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds, farmers installed
numerous best management practices (BMPs) on pasturelands adjoining the creek's
impaired segments. Water quality improved, prompting Georgia EPD to remove the 13-mile
segment of Reedy Creek from the list of impaired waters for fecal coliform in 2006.
Problem
Reedy Creek's 13-mile-long impaired segment
flows through Wayne and Appling counties, north of
where Reedy Creek joins the Satilla River in south-
eastern Georgia (Figure 1). Cropland is mostly on
the well-drained soils on long, narrow and flat-to-
gently-sloping-ridges paralleling many of the stream
courses. The broad flats of the watershed are often
poorly drained and support pine trees, and the wet,
narrow floodplains support bottomland hardwood
forests. Pastures, cropland and hayfields cover
approximately 22 percent of the area.
Monitoring data collected in the late 1990s show
that Reedy Creek violated the fecal coliform water
quality standard for its fishing designated use
classification (its most stringent classification).
The standard requires that fecal coliform levels not
exceed a geometric mean (four samples collected
over a 30-day period) of 200 colony forming units
(cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml) in the summer and
1,000 cfu/100 ml in the winter.
Data show that Reedy Creek violated water quality
standards for fecal coliform in one of four geomet-
ric mean sampling sets in 1998. Because Reedy
Creek did not meet criteria to support its fishing
designated use classification, Georgia EPD added
a 13-mile-long segment of the creek to Georgia's
2000 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
high fecal coliform levels. Georgia EPD identified
the primary sources as animal waste from upslope
practices and stormwater runoff on land without
BMPs in place.
Satilla River Basin
Major Rivers
Figure 1. Reedy Creek is a tributary of Georgia's Satilla River.
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Figure 2. This farmer combined heavy use area
protection with an alternate watering source.
Figure 3. This farmer is planting a pasture as a cover
crop on a critical watershed area.
Georgia EPD developed a total maximum daily
load (TMDL) study for pathogen loads in the Satilla
River watershed; the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency approved the TMDL in 2000. The TMDL
determined that pathogen loading into Reedy Creek
must be reduced by 92 percent to meet water qual-
ity requirements for fishing. The TMDL attributed
the pathogen loading to agriculture.
Project Highlights
Using a combination of CWA section 319 and EQIP
funding, the Seven Rivers Resource Conservation
and Development Council worked with local land-
owners to install BMPs that reduce pathogen runoff
into Reedy Creek and improve the landowners'
operations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service offices in
Wayne and Appling counties provided additional
technical assistance and support.
CWA section 319 funds paid for several BMPs
along Reedy Creek, including installing two foun-
dations to support cattle and soil in heavy-use
areas (places where cattle gather for watering and
feeding) to prevent erosion (Figure 2), adding two
grade-stabilization structures to prevent stream
bank failure, seeding pastures and planting riparian
zones to protect critical areas at three locations
(Figure 3), installing pipelines and other alternative
water structures such as wells and ponds at two
sites to keep livestock out of streams, and building
one poultry litter stackhouse. Those water qual-
ity control measures also provide livestock health
benefits and improve area aesthetics. Local agri-
culture agency partners advised landowners on the
technical design and specifications of BMPs and
provided oversight and expertise during installation.
Landowners participated voluntarily and provided
partial labor and funds for the BMPs, which were
installed between 2000 and 2005.
Results
Georgia EPD collected monitoring data on Reedy
Creek in 2003 as part of a larger effort to update the
Satilla River fecal coliform TMDL. These data show
that Reedy Creek no longer violated standards in
2003. In January and July 2003, the geometric mean
values were 101 cfu/100 mL and 89 cfu/100 ml,
respectively—well below water quality standards.
The revised TMDL, approved in 2006, found that
Reedy Creek met water quality standards for its
designated use and required no additional load
reductions. On the basis of that information, Georgia
EPD removed the 13-mile segment of Reedy Creek
from the state's list of impaired waters in 2006.
Partners and Funding
A total of $29,946 in CWA section 319 funding
supported projects in the Reedy Creek watershed.
Producers provided the remaining 40 percent of
BMP construction costs for a total of $49,910. EQIP
funding was provided to producers at a 50-50 cost-
share ratio. Key partners in this effort include the
Wayne and Appling counties' Soil Conservation
Districts, Seven Rivers Resource Conservation and
Development Council, and the Natural Resources
Conservation Service. Agents of these generous
partners provided technical expertise and labor.
Landowners in the Satilla River watershed contrib-
uted in-kind labor hours and some funding.
I
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-09-001X
September 2009
For additional information contact:
Jeff Linzer
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
404-675-6232 • Jeffrey.linzer@gaepd.org
Stan Moore
Seven Rivers Resource Conservation
and Development Council
912-367-7679 • stan.moore@ga.usda.gov
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