Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Implementing Agricultural Best Management Practices Restores Aquatic
Life Use
WatPrhndv Imnrnvpd Uncontrolled runoff from non-irrigated crop production had
impaired the aquatic life designated use of Dutchman Creek,
causing the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) to add the creek to the
1998 Clean Water Act section 303(d) list of impaired waters for nutrients and siltation.
Stakeholders implemented a successful U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-funded
outreach and education program in the Dutchman Creek watershed that promoted no-till
agricultural practices and prompted landowners to convert more than 400 acres of envi-
ronmentally sensitive land back into forest. These changes improved water quality and
restored the creek's aquatic life use, allowing Illinois to remove the creek from its 2008
303(d) list of impaired waters.
Problem
Data collected as far back as 1994 show that
Dutchman Creek was not supporting des-
ignated uses for aquatic life, in part due to
nutrients and siltation. These data also sug-
gest that non-irrigated crop production was
a likely source of these impairments. As a
result, Illinois EPA placed a five-mile segment
of Dutchman Creek on the 1998 section 303(d)
list of impaired waters.
Project Highlights
The Dutchman Creek watershed encompasses
slightly more than 100 square miles of Johnson
County's 348 square miles (Figure 1). Illinois
EPA used section 319 funds to implement
three nonpoint source pollution control proj-
ects that, while not targeted specifically to
the Dutchman Creek watershed, benefitted
the creek. The first project, funded by a 1994
section 319 grant, provided an education and
outreach program to promote no-till farming
practices to operators in Johnson County. This
grant allowed the Johnson County Soil and
Water Conservation District to buy a no-till drill
that producers could rent (Figure 2). During
the two-year project, operators in the county
planted 2,784 acres using this drill. The second
project, funded by a 1996 section 319 grant,
Johnson County
Countywide No-Till
Phase I Forest
* Phase II Forest
Figure 1. Map of Dutchman Creek watershed, showing
locations of projects implemented between 1994 and
2004.
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Results
Figure 2. A farmer plants a crop using a no-till drill.
provided cost share for producers to convert
environmentally sensitive land (highly erosive,
riparian stream corridor, or prior converted
wetlands) within the Cache River watershed
back into forest. This project converted 300,1
acres back to forest in the Dutchman Creek
watershed. The last project, funded by a 2000
section 319 grant, was a second phase of the
Cache River project. This project converted
124.5 acres back to forest in the Dutchman
Creek watershed. These two forest planting
projects had documented estimated load
reductions of 2,620 tons of sediment, 5,000
pounds of nitrogen, and 2,500 pounds of
phosphorus per year in the Dutchman Creek
watershed.
Data from 2004 show that Dutchman Creek's
aquatic life use is no longer impaired. The fish
Index of Biotic Integrity showed a rating of
50, and the macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic
Integrity rating was 59.7. Both of these indices
are well above the Illinois threshold of > 41,
where aquatic life is no longer considered
impacted. Therefore, Illinois EPA determined
that Dutchman Creek fully supports its aquatic
life designated use and removed the creek
from the 2008 section 303(d) list of impaired
waters.
Partners and Funding
The Shawnee Resource Conservation and
Development Area administered the two
Cache River forestation projects. Excluding
administration costs, a total of $26,799 in
section 319 funds and $28,615 in state and
local funds was spent in the Dutchman Creek
watershed to implement the 424.6 acres of
tree planting.
The Johnson County Soil and Water
Conservation District administered the coun-
ty's no-till drill project. Countywide, the project
used $13,176 in section 319 funds and $8,784
in state and local funds for education and to
purchase a drill for operators' use. The district
has continued the program and now has four
no-till drills available for producers to rent.
I
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-08-001HH
January 2009
For additional information contact:
Jan Carpenter
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
217-782-3362
Jan.Carpenter@illinois.gov
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