Section 319
NONPOINT SOORGE PROGRAM SOGGESS STORY
Best Management Practice Implementation Results in Improved Bacteria
Levels in Harper County's Clear Creek
Watprhnrlv Imnrnx/prl Oklahoma's Clear Creek was impaired ior Escherichia coli
y ^ (E. coli} bacteria due in part to practices associated with
cattle, hog, and crop production, prompting Oklahoma to add the creek to the state's
2006 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Implementing best
management practices (BMPs) to improve cropland and grazing land condition and to
improve wildlife habitat led to decreased runoff of bacteria into the creek. As a result. Clear
Creek was removed from Oklahoma's 2010 CWA section 303(d) list forE coli impairment.
Problem
The 30-mile-long Clear Creek flows through Harper
and Ellis counties in northwestern Oklahoma (Figure
1). The majority of the land in the 72,896-acre water-
shed is used for cattle and wheat production. Several
large hog operations are also found in the watershed.
Erosion of both cropland and grazing land, coupled
with improper management of animal wastes were
potentially the largest nonpoint source problems in
the watershed, contributing to high levels of fecal
bacteria in the stream. In the 2006 and 2008 water
quality assessments, £ coli bacteria levels exceeded
the state criterion, with a geometric mean of 261 and
202 colonies/100 milliliters (ml), respectively. The
primary body contact recreation use is considered
impaired if the geometric mean exceeds 126 colo-
nies/100 mL forE coli. As a result, Oklahoma added
Clear Creek (OK720500020070 _ 00) to the state's
2006 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
£ coli.
Project Highlights
Landowners implemented numerous BMPs with
support from Oklahoma's locally led cost-share
program and funds from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) general technical assistance programs, the
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP),
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and
Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). From 2004
to 2008, landowners implemented conservation till-
age methods (no-till, strip till, mulch till, direct seed, or
deep tillage) on 3,457 acres, with conservation cover/
cover crops on 374 acres of cropland and pastureland.
Prescribed grazing was implemented on 1,768 acres
and nutrient management plans were adopted for
* Monitoring Site
Clear Creek Wate rshed
Figure 1. The Clear Creek watershed is in northwestern Oklahoma.
165 acres, which helped reduce the concentration
of manure in heavy-use areas and reduced runoff of
soil and wastes by improving pasture condition. The
installation of several watering facilities and ponds
also helped improve pasture usage, reducing erodible
areas. Nearly 500 acres of upland wildlife habitat were
actively managed to improve its condition, and several
landowners planted field borders as well as range land
and pasture land plants to reduce soil erosion.
Landowners installed additional BMPs from 2009 to
2012 that have enhanced the initial improvements.
The 2008 CSP allowed incentives for good pasture
and range management in the watershed. BMPs
included adopting nutrient management plans for
another 558 acres, grazing management plans for
774 acres, additional water supplies for livestock,
supplemental planting of pasture and rangeland and
nearly 4,000 acres of residue and tillage management
(no-till, strip till, mulch till, direct seed, or deep tillage).
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In addition, the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission's (OCC) education program, Blue
Thumb, has been very active in this area. Staff from
the Ellis County Conservation District and the local
NRCS have participated in Blue Thumb training
sessions, and a local high school teacher and her
students have monitored a local stream monthly
for several years. They submitted reports on the
monitoring results to the local newspaper to inform
local citizens about the stream and its problems.
The Blue Thumb volunteers also educated younger
students about nonpoint source pollution using the
Enviroscape watershed model and a groundwater
model at least annually. Annual "mini-academy"
training is offered for students and teachers at Gage
High School, which allows further education of the
watershed residents. Active volunteer monitoring
and education is continuing in this area.
Results
The OCC's Rotating Basin Monitoring Program,
a statewide nonpoint source ambient monitoring
program, documented improved water quality in
Clear Creek due to landowners implementing BMPs
(Figure 2). The installed cropland, grazing land, and
nutrient management BMPs work to decrease ero-
sion and reduce bacteria loading. BMPs designed to
improve pasture and rangeland result in denser veg-
etation and fewer bare spots, which equates to less
potential runoff of soil, nutrients, and bacteria from
animal wastes into waterbodies. Monitoring data
showed that the geometric mean of E. coli in the
2010 assessment was 82 colonies/100 ml, below
the state standard of 126 colonies/100 ml (Figure
3). On the basis of these data, Oklahoma removed
Clear Creek from the 2010 CWA section 303(d) list
for £ coli impairment. The creek is in partial attain-
ment of the primary body contact recreation use.
Partners and Funding
The improvement in water quality in Clear Creek
was documented by the OCC's statewide nonpoint
source ambient monitoring program. The Rotating
Basin Monitoring Program, which now includes
a probabilistic component, is supported by CWA
section 319 funds at an average annual cost of
$1 million. Monitoring costs include personnel,
supplies, and lab analyses for 18 parameters from
samples collected every 5 weeks at about 100 sites
for a total of 20 episodes per 5-year cycle. In-stream
habitat, fish, and macroinvertebrate samples are
also collected. Statewide educational efforts
through Blue Thumb are also funded by CWA
section 319 at a cost of approximately $600,000
Figure 2. Oklahoma's Clear Creek after the
implementation of BMPs.
Clear Creek
2006 2008
Assessment Year
2010
Figure 3. Boxplots indicate the interquartile range
(25th-75th percentile) and median of the data for
assessment years 2006, 2008 and 2010. These
data indicate that bacteria levels in Clear Creek met
water quality standards by 2010.
annually. These costs include supplies for monthly
monitoring of 100 sites, as well as trainings and
other outreach activities.
The Oklahoma cost-share program provided
$21,699 in state funding for BMPs in this water-
shed through the Ellis County and Harper County
conservation districts, and landowners contributed
$35,338 through this program. The NRCS spent
approximately $2 million for implementation of
BMPs in the area from 2004 through 2008, with
another $1,275,000 spent from 2009 to 2012 for
additional BMPs.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001Q
April 2014
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4500 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov
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