Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Implementing Best Management Practices Improves Salt Cree
Waterbody Improved
Low dissolved oxygen (DO) and elevated levels of Escherichia coli
bacteria, attributed in part to practices associated with cattle production,
resulted in impairment of Oklahoma's Salt Creek. As a result, Oklahoma added the stream to the state's
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for DO (in 2006) and E. coli (in 2010).
Implementing best management practices (BMPs) helped to reduce sediment, nutrient and bacteria runoff
from grazing lands into the creek, and water quality has improved. As a result, Oklahoma has nominated Salt
Creek for removal from the 2012 CWA section 303(d) list for its low DO and E. coli impairments.
Problem
Salt Creek, a 22-mile-long stream, is in Lincoln and
Creek counties in central Oklahoma (Figure 1). The
primary land use in the watershed is cattle produc-
tion. A lack of healthy riparian areas, combined with
runoff from agricultural areas, allowed nutrients and
bacteria to reach local waterbodies. Excess nutri-
ents, in turn, can lead to the overgrowth of nuisance
algae, and the subsequent breakdown of the algae
can then cause DO levels to fall below critical levels
needed to support aquatic life.
Water quality assessments in 2006 showed that
19 percent of the water samples from Salt Creek fell
below (i.e., did not meet) state DO criteria for warm-
water aquatic communities. A waterbody is consid-
ered impaired if more than 10 percent of samples
(based on no more than five years of data before
the assessment year) fall below 6.0 milligrams per
liter (mg/L) from April 1 through June 15 or below
5.0 mg/L during the remainder of the year. On the
basis of these assessment results, Oklahoma added
Salt Creek to the 2006 and subsequent CWA section
303(d) lists for failing to support the fish and wildlife
propagation designated use due to DO impairment.
In addition, a 2010 water quality assessment
showed an £ coli geometric mean of 158 colony
forming units (CPU) per 100 milliliters of water in
Salt Creek. E. coli are bacteria common in animal
waste and can cause human illness. These bacteria
are used as an indicator of the possible presence
of other harmful pathogens. Waterbodies with a
geometric mean above 126 CPU during the rec-
reation season (May 1-Sept. 30) are considered
impaired for primary body contact recreation due to
an unacceptably high health risk from waterborne
diseases. On the basis of these assessment results,
Oklahoma added Salt Creek to the CWA section
Figure 1. Salt Creek is in central Oklahoma.
303(d) list of impaired waters in 2010 for failing to
support the primary body contact recreation desig-
nated use due to E. coli impairment.
Project Highlights
Landowners implemented BMPs with assistance
from Oklahoma's locally led cost-share program and
through the local Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives
Program, Conservation Stewardship Program
and general technical assistance program. These
projects focused on keeping livestock away from the
stream, protecting the riparian area and improving
grazing land. Since 2006, producers have installed
30,358 feet of fencing, 11 new ponds, two water
wells, four watering facilities, 1,389 feet of pipeline,
and 175 feet of reinforced, low-erosion animal trails
and walkways that have kept livestock out the creek
and provided alternative watering sources. Riparian
areas were protected using seasonal residue man-
agement on 66 acres, establishing riparian forest buf-
fer on 66 acres and establishing herbaceous cover
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on 78 acres. To improve the condition of pasture
and rangeland, producers implemented prescribed
grazing on 2,595 acres and developed nutrient man-
agement plans for 2,825 acres. Producers planted
forage on 205 acres, practiced better forage harvest
management on 681 acres, did critical area planting
on 35 acres, and used integrated pest manage-
ment on 1,963 acres. Brush management occurred
on 752 acres, and prescribed burning took place
on 34 acres after installing 2,640 feet of firebreak.
One grade stabilization structure was established.
Landowners managed upland wildlife habitat on
267 acres.
In addition, the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission's (OCC) education program, Blue
Thumb, actively promoted restoration efforts in
the Salt Creek watershed starting in 2006. Active
volunteer monitoring and education efforts continue
in the area. Current watershed initiatives include
managing Eastern red cedar, controlling waste from
animal feeding operations and closing failing animal
waste lagoons.
Results
The OCC's Rotating Basin Monitoring Program,
a statewide nonpoint source ambient monitoring
program, documented improved water quality in Salt
Creek after restoration efforts. To meet state DO
criteria for warm-water aquatic communities, Salt
Creek samples must not fall below critical DO levels
(5.0 or 6.0 mg/L, depending on the season) more
than 10 percent of the time. Monitoring data exam-
ined for a 2006 water quality assessment showed
that 19 percent of Salt Creek samples fell below the
critical DO levels and failed to meet state DO criteria.
Water quality improved over time. Data collected
for the 2012 assessment show that all samples
remained above critical DO levels and met state DO
criteria (Figure 2). Similarly, data show that the E. coli
bacteria geometric mean fell from 158 CFU in 2010
to 79 CFU in 2012—well below the impairment level
of 126 CFU (Figure 3). On the basis of these data,
Oklahoma has recommended that Salt Creek be
removed from the 2012 CWA section 303(d) list for
both the DO and £ coli impairments.
Partners and Funding
The Rotating Basin Monitoring Program, which
included both fixed and probabilistic components,
is supported with U.S. Environmental Protection
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Salt Creek
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2006 2010 2012
Assessment Year
fleets DO criteria (No more than 10 percent of samples fall below critical DO leve
Figure 2. Data show that DO levels in Salt Creek
met state DO criteria in 2012.
Salt Creek
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= 132 mean
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2006 2010 2012
Assessment Year
* Meets Enterococcus bacteria criteria (geometric mean < 126 CPU]
Figure 3. Data show that Salt Creek met the E. coli
bacteria criteria in 2012. Boxplots indicate the
interquartile range (25th-75th percentile) and median
of the data.
Agency (EPA) CWA section 319 funds at an
average annual cost of $1 million. Monitoring costs
include personnel, supplies and lab analysis for
19 parameters from samples collected every five
weeks at about 100 sites. In-stream habitat, fish
and macroinvertebrate samples are also collected.
Approximately $600,000 in EPA CWA section 319
funding supports statewide education, outreach
and monitoring efforts through the Blue Thumb
program. Over the past decade, the Oklahoma cost-
share program provided $18,305 in state funding
for BMPs in this watershed through the Lincoln and
Creek County Conservation Districts. The NRCS has
spent approximately $178,000 to implement BMPs
in the watershed from 2006-2012. Landowners
provided a significant percentage of the cost toward
BMP implementation.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-12-001HH
August 2012
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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