Section 319 Nonpoint Source Program Success Story Oklahoma Turbidity Delisting Results After Agricultural BMP Implementation

Section 319
NDNPDINT SBIHE* PROGRAM SUCCESS STDRY
Turbidity Delisting Results After Agricultural BMP Implementation
Waterbodv I m Droved
High turbidity, due in part to practices associated with wheat,

corn, cattle, and poultry production, resulted in impairment of
Cloud Creek and placement on Oklahoma's CWA section 303(d) list in 2006. Implementing

best management practices (BMPs) to promote better quality grazing land and crop-

land decreased sediment loading into the creek. As a result, the Oklahoma Conservation

Commission has proposed that a five-mile-long segment of Cloud Creek be removed from
Oklahoma's 2010 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list for turbidity impairment. Cloud

Creek now partially attains its fish and wildlife propagation designated use.

Problem
Cloud Creek is located in Okmulgee and Muskogee
counties in the central eastern part of Oklahoma
(Figures 1 and 2). Land use in the watershed
consists of a large amount of cropland, primarily for
wheat and corn, as well as a large amount of cattle
and poultry production and a few hog operations.
Poor grazing land and cropland management con-
tributed to excess sedimentation in the watershed.
In the 2006 water quality assessment, monitoring
showed that 20 percent of Cloud Creek's seasonal
baseflow water samples exceeded 50 nephelomet-
ric turbidity units (NTU). A stream is considered
impaired by turbidity if 10 percent or more of the
seasonal base flow water samples exceed 50 NTU
(based on 5 years of data before the assessment
year). On the basis of these assessment results,
Oklahoma added the entire length of Cloud Creek to
the 2006 and subsequent CWA section 303(d) lists
for nonattainment of the fish and wildlife propaga-
tion designated use due to turbidity impairment.
Figure 1. Oklahoma's Cloud Creek.
Project Highlights
Landowners implemented BMPs with assis-
tance from Oklahoma's locally led cost-share
program and through the local Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), General Conservation
Technical Assistance program, and Grazing Lands
Conservation (GLC) program. Cloud Creek drains a
larger stream, Cane Creek, and the monitoring site
is located below this confluence. Thus, the moni-
toring data capture the effects of implementation
surrounding more than 30 miles of stream rather
than just the 5 miles reflected on the CWA sec-
tion 303(d) list (see Figure 2). From 2003 to 2007,
Cloud Creek Watershed
Monitoring Site
Figure 2. Cloud Creek is located in Oklahoma's
Okmulgee and Muskogee counties.

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landowners in the watershed reduced the potential
for erosion from cropland by implementing conser-
vation crop rotations on 338 acres and adopting
conservation tillage (no-till,  strip-till, mulch-till)
methods on 554 acres. To address erosion from
grazing lands, prescribed grazing was implemented
on 8,770 acres, with 18,309 linear feet of cross-
fencing installed to  improve grazing land quality
and 43 ponds constructed for alternative water
supply. Nearly three acres of erosion-susceptible
areas received heavy use protection to reduce sedi-
ment runoff.  Hay and forage planting occurred on
905 acres, and 1,101 acres of pest (weed) manage-
ment helped to improve the quality of grazing lands.
Landowners improved forage  harvest management
on 317 acres and upland wildlife habitat manage-
ment on 28 acres. Nutrient management plans were
adopted on 3,102 acres, with a small amount of
waste transfer and waste utilization included.

From 2008 to 2010, additional BMPs implemented
include conservation crop rotation on 259 acres,
conservation tillage on  440  acres, prescribed graz-
ing on 14,268 acres, 21,926 linear feet of fencing,
10 ponds, 259 acres of forage/biomass planting,
2,051 acres of weed management, 869 acres of
brush management, forage harvest management
on 957 acres, upland wildlife habitat management
of 481 acres, nutrient management for 3,553 acres,
and 1,750 acres of waste utilization to improve graz-
ing lands.

The Oklahoma Conservation Commission's educa-
tion program, Blue Thumb, has several volunteer
monitoring sites in Okmulgee  County. Three
intensive educational programs have been offered
by Blue Thumb staff in the watershed since 2004 as
well. These activities provide vital education  of the
residents of the watershed  and may help facilitate
behavior changes. Active volunteer monitoring and
education is continuing in the  area.
Results
The Oklahoma Conservation Commission's Rotating
Basin Monitoring Program, a statewide nonpoint
source ambient monitoring program, documented
improved water quality in Cloud Creek due to land-
owners implementing BMPs. In the 2006 and 2008
assessments, 20 percent of seasonal base flow
water samples exceeded the turbidity criteria of 50
NTU. This exceedance was reduced to 0 percent
in the 2010 assessment (Figure 3). Hence, Cloud
Creek has been recommended for removal from
Oklahoma's CWA section 303(d) list for its turbidity
impairment and now partially attains the Fish and
Wildlife Propagation designated use.
Partners and Funding
The Rotating Basin Monitoring Program, which
includes both fixed and probabilistic components, is
funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's EPA CWA section 319 program at an
average annual cost of $1  million. Monitoring costs
include personnel, supplies, and lab analysis for
19 parameters from samples collected every
5 weeks at about 100 sites. In-stream habitat, fish
and macroinvertebrate samples are also collected.
Approximately $600,000 in EPA CWA section 319
funds supports statewide education, outreach, and
monitoring efforts through the Blue Thumb program.
The Oklahoma cost-share program provided $33,964
in state funding for BMPs in this watershed through
the Muskogee and Okmulgee County Conservation
Districts, and landowners contributed $47,036
through this program. The NRCS spent approximate-
ly $138,017 for implementation of BMPs in the water-
shed from 2003 to 2010 through NRCS EQIP, GLC,
and general technical assistance funds. Landowners
provided a significant percentage toward BMP imple-
mentation in these programs as well.
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Cloud Creek Turbidity Levels
20% 0%
exceedance exceedance
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2006 2010
Assessment Year

Figure 3. Restoration efforts reduced turbidity
levels in Cloud Creek.
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
     Office of Water
     Washington, DC

     EPA841-F-11-001S
     March 2011
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips, Director
Water Quality Division
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov
405-522-4500

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