Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCCESS STORY
Reducing Livestock-Induced Pollution in Emma Creek
Waterbody Improved
Agricultural runoff resulted in impaired biological conditions and
failure to attain ammonia standards in a tributary of Indiana's
Emma Creek. As a result, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) listed the
Emma Creek tributary on the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list in 2002. Numerous partners
implemented best management practices (BMPs) throughout the Emma Creek watershed, resulting
in decreased pollutant runoff. This has resulted in improved water quality in Emma Creek.
Problem
Emma Creek is a tributary to the Little Elkhart River,
which flows through southeastern Lagrange County
in northeastern Indiana. The 22,000-acre Emma
Creek watershed includes 38.2 stream miles. Of
these stream miles, 15.5 drain to Emma Lake. From
the outlet of Emma Lake, Emma Creek flows another
3.8 miles to its confluence with the Little Elkhart
River (Figure 1).
A tributary of Emma Creek was monitored by
IDEM's Probabilistic Monitoring program in 2000.
Analysis of fish community data showed an Index
of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score of 14, which was well
below the IBI score of >36 that is necessary to be
considered supportive of biological integrity. In
addition, habitat and chemistry data collected by
IDEM in 2000 revealed that siltation, excess nutri-
ents and low dissolved oxygen (particularly during
the summer months) contributed to impaired biotic
communities in the Emma Creek tributary. In addi-
tion, water sample analysis showed an ammonia
level of 4.60 milligrams per liter (mg/L), much higher
than the 2.1445 mg/L allowed by the water quality
standard for the associated temperature and pH
results measured concurrently at the site. These
results prompted IDEM to add a 2.32-mile segment
(Assessment Unit [AU] INJ01E1 _ T1301) to the 2002
CWA section 303(d) list for impaired biotic communi-
ties (IBC) and ammonia. Suspected pollutant sources
included barnyard runoff, failing septic systems, and
livestock accessing streams (and directly depositing
waste and causing stream erosion).
Project Highlights
The Lagrange County Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD) developed a watershed manage-
ment plan (WMP) for the Little Elkhart River in 2007,
using water quality data collected from June 2005
Emma Creek Watershed
(HUC 040500011201)
Legend
• 2011 Biological Monitoring Site
C Paired Watershed Monitoring Sites
2002 303(d) Listed Impaired Wat
•*"• Waterbodies
— Highways
I I HUC 12
HUC 14
CZ104050001140010
CJ 04050001140020
Figure 1. The Emma Creek watershed, in northeastern Indiana,
was the subject of a paired watershed study.
through December 2006 to guide the efforts. As
part of the WMP implementation, the SWCD con-
ducted a paired watershed study on the upper and
lower Emma Creek subwatersheds from 2009 to
2011 (see Figure 1). In the paired study, the partners
implemented BMPs in the upper watershed, which
was the treatment watershed. The lower watershed
was the control watershed. As part of this project,
landowners installed BMPs in the Little Elkhart
River watershed between 2009 and 2010, includ-
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ing 12 comprehensive nutrient management plans,
two manure management plans, six heavy use area
plans, four alternative watering facilities, three water
access structures, three stream crossings, two pipe
crossings, one livestock stream crossing, two critical
area plantings (1.65 acres total), one waste storage
facilities, 3.5 acres of filter strips, one waste manage-
ment diversion and 20,493 feet of fencing (1,400 feet
of which were installed upstream of the impaired
segment). In a separate effort, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) worked with landown-
ers to install 24 acres of pasture and hay planting
throughout the watershed between 2000 and 2009.
Key to this restoration effort was the participation of
members of the Amish community, who comprise
about 75 percent of the agrarian population of the
Emma Creek watershed. Participation in cost-share
programs by this community has been traditionally
low. Outreach and education proved to be a success-
ful strategy in convincing the community to change
their management practices to protect water quality,
including installing some BMPs without financial
assistance.
Results
Thanks to the BMPs implemented in the treatment
watershed, water in the Emma Creek Tributary is
improving. Data collected along the impaired seg-
ment (Site 1 on Figure 1) show that pollutant levels
decreased in 2009-2010 as compared to 2007-2008
(Table 1). Data collected by the SWCD at the mouth
of Emma Creek showed similar improvements in
water quality, indicating that the benefits realized
by the BMPs implemented in the upper watershed
carry down through the treatment watershed and
into the Little Elkhart River. Net load reductions in
the Emma Creek 12-digit watershed were 42 percent
for £ co//, 20 percent for nitrates, 58 percent for total
suspended solids, 63 percent for total phosphorus,
and 89 percent for ammonia. With the exception of
£ co//, all of these parameters are associated with
watershed-based improvements eventually leading to
healthier biological communities.
In 2011 IDEM returned to the 2.32-mile-long impaired
stream reach (Emma Creek Tributary) to monitor for
change in the fish community. The IBI score remained
at 14, indicating that no significant change in biologi-
cal condition has yet occurred. These data are being
interpreted as evidence of a time lag between BMP
implementation and habitat recovery.
Table 1. A comparison of means for selected
nonpoint source pollution-related parameters at two
sites on Emma Creek, before (2007-2008) and after
(2009-2010) BMP implementation
Parameter1
Turbidity (ntu)
TSS
Nitrate
Total Phosphorus
Biological Oxygen
Demand
Ammonia
£ co//(cfu/100 ml)
Site 1 (Tributary of
Emma Creek)
2007-2008 2009-2010
13
23.4
1.1
0.497
1.31
0.15
1,147
8.8
17.2
1.1
0.287
0.72
0.11
750
Site 13 (Mouth of
Emma Creek)
2007-2008 2009-2010
74
107
3.1
2.01
2.05
0.11
17,109
56
27
2.8
0.57
1.15
0.09
16,483
1 All units are mg/L unless otherwise noted.
Although the SWCD data appear to show that
ammonia levels are meeting water quality standards,
an ammonia delisting can't occur until a third-party
data program to measure the quality of the data is in
place. Therefore, the impaired segment will remain
listed as impaired for both IBC and ammonia. In 2014,
Indiana revised its segmentation methodology. The
existing, 2.3-mile-long impaired segment has been
incorporated into an 8.69-mile-long segment (AU
INJ01C1 _ T1005: Emma Lake Inlet) that begins at the
inlet of Emma Lake (not including the lake itself) and
includes the upstream portion of Emma Creek and
the unnamed tributary.
Partners and Funding
Water quality improvements are the result of collabo-
ration between the Lagrange County SWCD, IDEM,
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Great
Lakes Commission and NRCS. The Lagrange County
SWCD sponsored the creation of the WMP, and coor-
dinated the implementation of the paired watershed
study. IDEM funded the WMP and BMP implementa-
tion with $1,748,604 of CWA section 319 funding.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources and
Great Lakes Commission both funded watershed
land treatment practices and the implementation of
the WMP, with contributions of $75,000 from the for-
mer, and $515,000 from the latter, respectively. NRCS
provided $5,328 in funding through the Agricultural
Water Enhancement Program and was instrumental
in providing engineering design and support. Lastly,
watershed landowners independently paid $30,000
to install BMPs without cost share.
ss
HI
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-15-001DD
July 2015
For additional information contact:
Laura Crane, IDEM
lcrane@idem.IN.gov •
Angela Brown, IDEM
abrown@idem.IN.gov
317-308-3186
317-308-3206
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