NONPOINT SOIREE SICCESS STORY
Watershed Restoration Work Improved a Section of Indian Creek
fltPrhnrlipQ Imnrnx/prl NonP°int source pollution from agricultural and residential
* Vd'A-;| UL-'JIU-'D " " 'M1 uvyu sources caused increased bacteria and decreased dissolved
oxygen (DO) levels in the Devils Backbone section of Indian Creek. As a result, the Indiana
Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) added this waterbody to its 2002 Clean Water
Act (CWA) section 303(d) impaired waters list for pathogens and low DO. Implementing a variety
of best management practices (BMPs) in the greater Indian Creek watershed from 1996 to 2010
improved bacteria and DO levels in Devils Backbone. As a result, Indiana removed four segments of
the Devils Backbone section of Indian Creek from its 2014 CWA section 303(d) impaired waters list.
Problem
The Devils Backbone section of Indian Creek is a
17.02-mile reach in Harrison County, Indiana (adjusted
to 21 miles in 2012, see results section), just
upstream of Indian Creek's confluence with the Ohio
River (Figure 1). The stream is in the Indian Creek
12-digit watershed (HUC 051401040502). Although
the impaired segment's 12-digit watershed is largely
forested (represented by hash marks in the lower left
of Figure 1), upstream of this watershed the creek is
highly influenced by agriculture (particularly livestock
agriculture, but some row crops as well) and the cit-
ies of Corydon and Galena.
Indiana's water quality standards for pathogens
state that 30-day geometric means for Escherichia
coli must be less than or equal to 125 most probable
number (MPN) per 100 milliliters (ml), with maxi-
mum concentrations less than 235 MPN/100 ml.
Standards for DO require daily averages of at least
5 milligrams per liter (mg/L), and minimum concentra-
tions of 4 mg/L. Additionally, if one or more samples
are less than 4 mg/L, no more than 10 percent of
those samples may be less than 5 mg/L.
Water quality data collected by IDEM in 2000
indicated that these standards were not being
met. The 30-day geometric mean of weekly E. coli
samples collected from 7/12/2000 to 8/9/2000
was 163 MPN/100mL, with three of the five
samples above the single sample maximum of
235 MPN/100mL. For DO monitored six times
between 5/16/2000 and 8/9/2000, four out of the
six samples fell below the water quality standard of
5 mg/L, and three of the samples fell below 4 mg/L.
Due to these E. coli and DO levels, IDEM added the
17-mile Devils Backbone section of Indian Creek
(INN04A3 _ 00) to the CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters in 2002 for failing to attain aquatic
Indian Creek Watershed
HUCs 0514010403, 0514010404, 0514010405
Legend
* Monnoftnq SHOO
• NPDES Peimitlee
2014 303(4) Listed Watw
—Nutrients
2D02-303d List
•Pathogens
•Palhac
HUC 10
FLOYD COUNT
Figure 1. Devils Backbone is in the Lower Indian
Creek Watershed.
life use (because of low DO) and recreational use
(because of excess pathogens).
Project Highlights
From 1996 to 2006 The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
reforested 4.4 miles of the Indian Creek riparian
corridor under their statewide conservation strat-
egy. TNC also conserved 61 acres of land as an
addition to Harrison-Crawford State Forest, which
protected 0.6 miles of riparian corridor. TNC also
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worked with the Harrison County Regional Sewer
District (HCRSD), local water utilities and Harrison
County Health Department to mail a septic system
maintenance reminder to Harrison County residents,
including those in the Indian Creek watershed.
The Harrison County Commissioners tasked the
HCRSD with developing a watershed management
plan (WMP) for Indian Creek. This WMP, developed
from 2006 to 2008, helped to inform the location and
type of subsequently implemented BMPs.
Project partners in the Indian Creek watershed
used U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) financial
and technical assistance (through the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program [EQIP]) to implement
numerous conservation practices between 2003
and 2010. A few of the practices installed with
EQIP funding included 591.9 acres of cover crops,
2.5 acres of critical area planting, 145,100 feet of
fencing, 1111.6 acres in no-till farming, 2,177 acres
of prescribed grazing, 1,363.9 acres covered under
a nutrient management plan, and 3,155.1 acres of
pasture/hay planting. Additional practices installed
from 2003 to 2010 using USDA Farm Service Agency
(FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) funds
included 160.2 acres of permanent introduced grass
and legumes, 116.6 acres of tree plantings (stream
habitat improvement and management or riparian
buffer), 46.6 acres of filter strips and 101.91 acres of
riparian buffers.
five times from May-July 2010. At no time did the DO
fall below the minimum criterion of 5 mg/L.
On the basis of these data, IDEM removed four
segments totaling over 21 miles (INN0452 _ 04,
INN0452 _ 05, INN0452 _ 06 and INN0452 _ 07) of
the Devils Backbone section of Indian Creek from
the 2014 CWA section 303(d) impaired water list for
DO and pathogen impairment. The removal of these
impairments for four segments rather than the one
originally listed segment was due to the resegment-
ing of the waterbody in 2012. (Note: The total length
of these 2014 segments is longer than the originally
listed 17 miles because the 2012 resegmentation
was performed using higher resolution data from the
National Hydrography Dataset.)
Partners and Funding
The restoration of Devils Backbone was supported by
numerous state and federal partners. IDEM provided
$99,930 in CWA section 205(j) grant funding to the
HCRSD to create the WMP. The NRCS provided
$687,567 in financial and technical assistance for
conservation practice implementation with EQIP
funding. The FSA provided $55,094 in CRP funding.
TNC provided $210,000 in funding for stream restora-
tion and outreach. Lastly, the Harrison County Soil
and Water Conservation District provided $950,000
through the county-funded cost-share program for
agricultural BMPs.
Additionally, Harrison County allo-
cated $950,000 between 2002 and
2010 toward agricultural BMPs in the
county, including 121 livestock watering
facilities and 6,780 acres of cover crops.
Harrison County also received funding
from the Clean Water Indiana state fund
and installed 67 acres of pasture/hay
planting in the Indian Creek watershed.
Results
IDEM monitored £ coli weekly from
May 17, 2010 through June 14, 2010.
Results indicated that water quality
standards had been met, with a geomet-
ric mean of 29.24 MPN/100 ml, and no
samples exceeding the single sample
maximum of 235 MPN/100 ml (Table 1).
IDEM measured DO in the watershed
Table 1. Pathogens and dissolved oxygen levels in the
Devils Backbone segment of Indian Creek, 2000 and 2010
Date
Site Number
E. coli1
(MPN/100 mL)
Pre-project E. coli data
7/12/2000
7/19/2000
7/26/2000
8/2/2000
8/9/2000
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
Geomean:
243
708
40
20
833
162.88
Post-project E. coli data
5/17/2010
5/24/2010
6/1/2010
6/7/2010
6/14/2010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
Geomean:
35.5
142.1
20.9
12
16.9
29.24
Date
Site Number
Pre-project dissolved oxyg
5/16/2000
7/12/2000
7/19/2000
7/26/2000
8/2/2000
8/9/2000
OBS100-0001
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
OBS100-0006
DO'
(mg/L)
en data
9.87
7.83
3.98
4
2.52
3.06
Post-project dissolved oxygen data
5/17/2010
6/1/2010
6/7/2010
6/14/2010
7/28/2010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
OBS100-0010
9.16
8.72
7.63
7.16
7.46
1 Values in red indicate exceedances of state water quality criteria.
ss
HI
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-15-001RR
September 2015
For additional information contact:
Joe Schmees
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
jschmees@idem.IN.gov • 317-308-3194
Angle Brown
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
abrown@idem.in.gov • 317-308-3206
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