Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Stakeholders Implement Practices to Reduce Bacteria in the Tillamook River
Waterbody Improved
High bacteria levels from livestock and human sources caused
Oregon's Tillamook River and several of its tributaries to violate
water quality standards, prompting the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) to
add these waters to Oregon's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 1998.
With support from multiple organizations, landowners installed best management practices (BMPs)
throughout the watershed. Data analyses show that bacteria levels declined significantly between
1999 and 2012. The downward trends are expected to continue; the Tillamook River and many of its
tributaries should consistently meet recreation water quality standards for bacteria in the near future.
Problem
Tillamook River Watershed
The 62-square-mile Tillamook River watershed flows
into Tillamook Bay on Oregon's coast (Figure 1). The
Tillamook River Basin includes 45 square miles (mi2)
of forest, 13 mi2 of agriculture and approximately
1.6 mi2 each of rural residential and rural industrial
land uses. The river offers salmon and trout habitat
and feeds into shellfish waters. The public uses the
river for swimming and wading.
Oregon's bacteria water quality criteria for recre-
ational contact use and aquatic life requires that the
30-day log mean should not exceed 126 Escherichia
co/i counts per 100 milliliters (ml), based on a mini-
mum of five samples; and no single sample shall
exceed 406 £ co/i counts per 100 ml.
Data collected at river mile 13 of the Tillamook River
between 1986 and 1990 showed that 36 percent
(8 of 22) of values violated the applicable bacteria
water quality criteria in fall, winter and spring. Data
collected from 1986 to 1989 showed that 80 per-
cent (8 of 10) of values exceeded the criteria in the
summer. As a result, ODEQ added an 18.5-mile seg-
ment of the Tillamook River (OR-1238834454692-
0-18.5) to the CWA section 303(d) list in 1998
for bacteria. Because data showed that several
Tillamook River tributaries (Killam, Simmons, Mill
and Bewley creeks) also failed to meet bacteria
standards, ODEQ added them to the 1998 CWA
section 303(d) list as well.
0 2 3 Miles
Project Highlights
The Tillamook Bay National Estuary Program, now
known as the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP),
worked closely with community, state and federal
Figure 1. BMPs installed throughout the Tillamook River Basin
(2002-2012).
entities to develop and implement the Tillamook Bay
Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan
beginning in 1999. ODEQ completed a Tillamook Bay
watershed total maximum daily load (TMDL) for tem-
perature and bacteria in 2001 (addresses all Bay riv-
ers, including the Tillamook River). Also in 2001, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Tillamook Soil
and Water Conservation District (SWCD) published a
Watershed Plan/Environmental Assessment for the
Lower Tillamook Bay watershed. The 2001 document
identified agricultural practices and restoration activi-
ties that must be implemented to address TMDL-
related issues.
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In 2001 TEP began working with Oregon State
University on a 3-year genetic marker study on bacte-
ria in the watershed. The study found that bacteria in
the upper Tillamook River came from ruminant (i.e.,
cattle, sheep, antelopes, deer) sources, while that in
the lowerTillamook River came from both humans
and ruminants. Using these data, watershed manag-
ers began targeting practices to reduce bacteria.
Between 2002 and 2012, the TEP and Tillamook
County SWCD (funded through the CWA section
319 grant program and in cooperation with federal,
state and local partners) worked with landowners to
address bacteria sources by implementing projects
such as removing invasive plants and restoring
native plants in riparian and other sensitive areas
(at 27 sites) and fencing out livestock and restoring
native vegetation around streams (at two sites).
Other partner projects included replacing or modify-
ing 16 culverts to reduce flooding and erosion, add-
ing one spillway to reduce flooding on agricultural
lands, and decommissioning two roads to reduce
sedimentation (see Figure 1). Both the TEP and
SWCD conducted numerous education and out-
reach activities in the Tillamook River and greater
Tillamook Bay watersheds, including distributing
fact sheets, hosting field trips, holding workshops
and classroom-based discussions, and publishing
articles in local newspapers.
Table 1. Data analyses show that bacteria levels have
dropped significantly in the Tillamook River subbasin
Results
Stakeholders' efforts to reduce bacteria pollution
are working. Since 1997, TEP has collected monitor-
ing data from 10 stations throughout the watershed
(extending from the river's mouth to its headwater
tributaries). ODEQ performed a Seasonal Kendall
trend analysis test on the data from all 10 monitor-
ing stations. This statistical test determines if the
bacteria levels are generally increasing or decreasing
over time (and assigns a confidence level associated
with the trend). Although no stations consistently
meet the bacteria water quality criteria for recreation,
all stations but one show a significant decreasing
trend in bacteria counts over time Table 1. A sample
of site-specific data can be seen in Figure 2.
Partners and Funding
Watershed partners have included the Tillamook
SWCD, TEP, NRCS, ODEQ, Oregon Department
of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Forestry,
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon
Impaired Water
Tillamook River
Tillamook River
Killam Creek
Fawcett Creek2
Bewley Creek
Monitoring
Sites
TLO, TL1.TL2,
TL4, TL7
TL10
TL11
TL12
TL13
Data Collection
Period
1999-2012
2003-2012
2003-2012
2003-2012
2003-2012
Bacteria Reductions: Seasonal
Kendall Test Confidence Level1
99%
99%
95%
99%
80%
The confidence level indicates the probability that the values are correctly
showing a decreasing trend.
Not listed as impaired for recreational use; however, this water is included in
the TMDL. Data collected show periodic exceedances of the recreation water
quality standard since 2003.
Tillamook River TLO
2000
1000
g
= 200
All Seasons
Seasonal Sen Slope
Seasonal Kendall (SKJ
Slope= -21.83926
Z= -5.610 Signif 99
2xP = 2.02E -8
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
Year
Figure 2. Seasonal Kendall test results for site TLO (1999-2012)
on the lowerTillamook River main stem.
Watershed Enhancement Board, Bureau of Land
Management, EPA, city of Tillamook, Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department, Oregon Solutions, Tillamook
Bay Watershed Council, Tillamook County, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Tillamook County Creamery
Association, the Northwest Oregon Restoration
Partnership and private landowners.
The TEP and Tillamook SWCD and their partners
have spent approximately $2.6 million restoring and
protecting the Tillamook River watershed. Work
included 29 projects (at a cost of $234,970) that used
CWA section 319 as a portion of the funding source.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-15-001V
April 2015
For additional information contact:
York Johnson
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
503-322-2222
Johnson. york@deq.state.or.us
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