Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Stakeholders Implement Practices to Reduce Bacteria in the Kilchis River
Waterbody Improved
Bacteria from livestock and human sources caused Oregon's Kilchis
River to violate water quality standards, prompting the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) to add the Kilchis River to the state'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 Kilchis River watershed.
Data show that bacteria levels have dropped significantly and have met water quality standards
for recreation since 2009. However, the Kilchis River remains listed as impaired while additional
assessments are performed.
Problem
The 65-square-mile Kilchis River watershed
(Figure 1) drains into Tillamook Bay on Oregon's
coast. The dominant land use in the Kilchis River
watershed is state and federal forestlands, account-
ing for 97 percent of the watershed's total area.
Agricultural land uses cover about 2 percent of the
watershed, primarily in the lowland areas.
The Kilchis River is protected for recreational
contact use and aquatic life. Oregon's water qual-
ity criteria for these uses require that the 30-day
log mean should not exceed 126 Escherichia coli
counts per 100 milliliters (ml), based on a minimum
of five samples; and no single sample shall exceed
4065. coli counts per 100 ml.
Beginning in the late-1980s, data indicated that
bacteria levels exceeded water quality criteria
during the summer near the river's mouth. Between
1986 and 1994, 81 percent (17 of 21) of summer-
time samples exceeded the applicable criteria. As
a result, the ODEQ added a 13.1-mile segment of
the Kilchis River to the CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters in 1998 for bacteria. This segment
was divided into two separate segments (OR-
1238985454957-2.3-8.5 and OR-1238985454957-
8.4-15.4) on Oregon's 2002 list of impaired waters.
Project Highlights
The Tillamook Bay National Estuary Program, now
known as the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
(TEP), developed a watershed assessment report
for the Kilchis River in 1998. The report described
watershed conditions and recommended actions
that address issues of water quality, fisheries and
Figure 1 Stakeholders completed numerous
restoration projects in the lower Kilchis River
watershed (2000-2012).
fish habitat, and watershed hydrology. On a larger
scale, the TEP worked closely with community,
state and federal 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 temperature
and bacteria in 2001 (addresses all Bay rivers,
including the Kilchis River). Also in 2001, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
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 outlined agricultural facilities, practices
and restoration activities needed to address TMDL-
related water quality issues.
-------
In 2001 TEP began working with Oregon State
University on a 3-year genetic marker study on
bacteria in the Tillamook Bay watershed. The study
found that both humans and ruminants (including
livestock) contributed bacteria to the Kilchis River.
Using these data, watershed managers began
targeting practices to reduce bacteria.
In collaboration with NRCS and the Oregon
Department of Agriculture, the Tillamook County
SWCD worked directly with landowners to evaluate
and address problems with manure application/
storage, runoff and erosion between 2000 and 2012
(see Figure 1). In the lower Kilchis River watershed,
the SWCD helped landowners install seven aboveg-
round wet storage manure tanks, 22 underground
wet storage manure tanks and 12 dry storage
manure tanks. The SWCD also implemented seven
riparian fencing and planting projects with private
landowners and worked to promote BMPs such
as nutrient management, waste utilization and
prescribed grazing. Landowners adopted rotational
grazing plans on three farms.
Partners have implemented numerous riparian and
habitat restoration projects. For example, TEP has
worked with landowners to complete more than
10 restoration projects in the lower Kilchis River
through its Backyard Planting Program (BYPP),
many in partnership with Tillamook SWCD. TEP,
in collaboration with Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife and the Tillamook County Creamery
Association, removed a dam and improved aquatic
habitat by adding large woody debris and restoring
riparian areas along a Kilchis River tributary in 2009.
Both the TEP and SWCD conducted numerous
education and outreach activities in the Kilchis 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.
Results
Data collected in partnership with local groups
show that the Kilchis River main stem now meets
recreational use standards for bacteria. TEP collects
monitoring data in the Kilchis River watershed. Data
show three stations (K4, K5 and K6) on the main
stem have met the two-part recreational use water
quality standard for E. coli bacteria since 2009. The
data for station K4 (the station closest to the mouth
Site K4: Kilchis River at Alderbrook Br
2000
10)0
1
= 200
1 100
J
^ 20
10
2
1
° All Seasons
— Seasonal Sen Slope
ill!
-— H$-
uuL
*T
" 1
|l
[[
99 00
!
L
IT
jj1
ffe
i
I
1
01 02
/:! 11 iJjl
trnfriT]
'! I ) 1
1
Seasonal Kendall (SK)
Slope =-1.77658
Z= -3.489 Signif 99%
2xP = 0.0005
*
03 04 05 06
YEAH
I :
8 WQStandard:406max ;
fr~T~i i i '
h II J WQStandard:126Jneaii
1
,1 1 III i ii'i ill ill 111 i !!«!i :
nr|i ! II yi'llfLllff1! :
!lf III !'I 111 'J ';
i 1 i ||
i 1
07 08 09 10 11 12
Figure 2. Bacteria levels in the lower Kilchis River
have declined since 2000 and now consistently
meet water quality standards for recreation.
of the river) are presented in Figure 2. Data from
four additional monitoring stations on Kilchis River
tributaries show significantly decreasing trends
in bacteria. Previous DEO assessments classi-
fied the river as an impaired water covered by the
Tillamook Bay TMDL and restoration plans. Because
Tillamook Bay does not support its shellfish waters
designated use due to elevated bacteria levels, the
Kilchis River, which feeds into the bay, will remain
listed as impaired for bacteria pending additional
water quality assessments in the larger Tillamook
Bay watershed.
Partners and Funding
Partners working to restore Tillamook Bay and its
watershed have included the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board, Oregon Department of
Agriculture, ODEQ, Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, TEP, Tillamook County, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Tillamook County Creamery
Association, Tillamook SWCD, Tillamook Native
Plant Cooperative and private landowners.
Partners spent more than $1.8 million dollars
restoring and protecting the lower Kilchis River
watershed. The Tillamook Pioneer Museum spent
$1 million (mostly private funds) on the purchase
of Tillamook Bay-front property. Partners also
completed 17 riparian restoration projects at a cost
of $103,789, approximately $71,757 of which was
provided by CWA section 319 funding.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-15-001W
April 2015
For additional information contact:
York Johnson
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
503-322-2222 • johnson.york@deq.state.or.us
------- |