Section 319
NDNPDINT SOUHE PROGRAM SUCCESS STDRY
Reducing Human and Animal Waste Discharge Restored Recreational Uses
Waterbodv Imoroved
from dairy farms carried animal waste into Louisiana's
Tangipahoa River, resulting in high bacteria counts and low
dissolved oxygen concentrations. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
(LDEQ) listed the upper and lower reaches of the Tangipahoa River on the state's 2000
Clean Water Act section 303(d) list of impaired waters for not meeting their designated
uses of primary and secondary contact recreation. Twenty years of public outreach and
strict enforcement significantly reduced fecal coliform counts, restoring the primary contact
recreational use of both segments of the river and removing them from Louisiana's 2008
303(d) impaired waters list for fecal coliform.
Problem
The Tangipahoa River flows for 79 miles through
Louisiana, from the Mississippi-Louisiana state
line to Lake Pontchartrain. LDEQ divided the river
into upper and lower reaches for water quality
management purposes. The upper reach of the
Tangipahoa River is 56 miles long and extends
from the state line to Interstate 12 (1-12). The lower
reach is 23 miles long and extends from 1-12 to
Lake Pontchartrain. LDEQ listed the upper segment
on the state's 2000 303(d) list of impaired waters
for not supporting its designated uses of primary
and secondary contact recreation, fish and wildlife
propagation, and an outstanding natural resource
due to high bacteria counts, sediment and mercury.
LDEQ also listed the lower segment in 2000 for
not supporting its designated uses of primary and
secondary contact recreation and fish and wildlife
propagation because of low dissolved oxygen and
high levels of ammonia-nitrogen, mercury, fecal
coliform and sediment. The nonpoint sources of
fecal coliform included dairies and residential on-
site treatment systems.
The water quality standards for primary contact rec-
reational uses require that no more than 25 percent
of the total samples collected on a monthly or near-
monthly basis may exceed a fecal coliform density
of 400/100 milliliters (mL). This primary contact
recreation criterion applies only during the defined
recreational period of May 1 through October 31.
During the non-recreational period of November 1
through April 30, the criteria for secondary contact
Legend
BNatalbany watershed
Tangipahoa Watershed
• Natalbany River Sites
fl Tangipahoa River Sites
A Tangipahoa Tributary Sites
N
Figure 1. Map of sampling stations along mainstem
of Tangipahoa River and associated tributaries.
recreation will apply. The water quality standards for
secondary contact recreational uses require that no
more than 25 percent of the total samples collected
on a monthly or near-monthly basis may exceed a
fecal coliform density of 2,000/100 mL. This second-
ary contact recreation criterion applies year round.
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Project Highlights
Results
The Tangipahoa River had already been the focus of
watershed management efforts for 20 years when
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals first
posted a health advisory in 1988 because of high
levels of fecal coliform bacteria. LDEQ sent notices
to the 250 dairies in the watershed notifying the
dairy operators to apply for a discharge permit or
work with U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's)
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture's
Office of Soil and Water Conservation to install
no-discharge animal waste management systems.
As a result, dairy operators constructed 318 animal
waste management systems in Florida Parishes
(Louisiana parishes that were part of Florida in the
19th century and lie in a band across the top of Lake
Pontchartrain).
Tangipahoa Parish worked with the Louisiana
Department of Health and Hospitals to pass a new
ordinance that requires inspections of home sew-
age systems for all new residences or changes of
residence before an electrical connection could be
made to the homes. This new requirement removed
more than one million gallons per day of raw sew-
age from the Tangipahoa River.
The agricultural community worked with regulatory
agencies to finalize the minimum standards and
specifications for zero-discharge waste systems
on dairies. The NRCS designed and installed
approximately 158 systems in the watershed. They
provided daily technical assistance throughout the
construction phase to ensure that systems met
standards and specifications. In addition, NRCS
helped approximately 105 dairy operators with
lagoon cleanouts by using Comprehensive Nutrient
Management Plans.
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF)
has implemented a water quality sampling program
along the Tangipahoa River (Figure 1). In addition,
LPBF staff members worked with and educated
sewer operators on the maintenance and operation
of their facilities to reduce the discharges to the river.
LDEQ's water quality data have continued to
indicate decreasing trends in fecal coliform bacteria
since 1984, when the average annual concentration
was 17,356 colonies/100 ml, and the maximum
concentrations were 92,000 colonies/100 mL in
both February and April. In 2007 the average annual
concentration was 240.2 colonies/100 mL, with the
maximum concentrations of 500 colonies/100 mL
in October and 230 colonies/100 mL in August with
the remaining months falling below 200 colo-
nies/100 mL. Moreover, in 2005 LBPF began collect-
ing weekly samples in the mainstem and tributaries
of the Tangipahoa River—these data show measur-
able water quality improvements.
Data show that the lower segment of Tangipahoa
River met standards for primary contact recreation
by 2002. Therefore, LDEQ removed the lower
segment from the 2002 303(d) list. The lower reach
improved faster than the upper reach because the
upper reach has a higher density of dairies.
Data collected from 2004 to 2007 indicate that the
upper reach of the Tangipahoa River is no longer
impaired by fecal coliform. LDEQ proposed remov-
ing the upper reach from Louisana's 2008 303(d)
list of impaired waters. Thanks to a long-term,
coordinated watershed management effort, the
entire Tangipahoa River now fully supports both its
primary and secondary contact recreational uses.
Partners and Funding
Partners include LDEQ, NRCS, LPBF, Tangipahoa
Parish, and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture
and Forestry (LDAF). In 1991 the Louisiana State
Legislature passed Act 12, which allows the state to
provide state cost-share funds to dairy operators in
the Florida Parishes. In April 1992 LDEQ and LDAF
entered into an agreement in which $237,807 of
state funds were used to construct no-discharge
animal waste management systems. An additional
$250,000 of state and USDA cost-share program
funding was provided for constructing waste man-
agement systems (1993-1998) and lagoon systems.
Clean Water Act section 319 funds ($237,500) were
used for educational programs and to provide dollars
for technicians to inspect the no-discharge systems
for proper installment and long-term maintenance.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-08-001Z
September 2008
For additional information contact:
Jan Boydstun
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
225-219-3606 • jan.boydstun@la.gov
Beverly Ethridge
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6
214-665-2151 • ethridge.beverly@epa.gov
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