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Implementing Conservation Practices and Conducting Watershed Outreach
Improves Water Quality in the Upper Leon River and Pecan Creek
Waterbodies Improved
High levels of bacteria prompted the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to add the Leon River (in 1996)
and Pecan Creek (in 2006) to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for not
supporting the primary contact recreation use. The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
(TSSWCB) provided CWA section 319 grant funding to develop a watershed protection plan (WPP) to
address the bacteria impairments in the Leon River watershed. Stakeholders within the watershed
voluntarily implemented best management practices (BMPs) and conducted public outreach and
education. Through these efforts water quality was improved and Pecan Creek and a portion of the
Leon River (below Proctor Lake) were removed from the state's list of impaired waters in 2010 and
2012, respectively.
Problem
The 1,375-square-mile Leon River watershed in
central Texas is bounded by Proctor Lake upstream
and Belton Lake downstream (Figure 1). The Leon
River is 190 miles long, and drains portions of
Comanche, Erath, Hamilton, and Coryell counties.
The watershed is largely rural, with most of the land
suited for grazing by cattle and goats; a few animal
feeding operations are also present. Pecan Creek,
a tributary of the Leon River, shares the land use
features of the larger watershed.
Water quality data collected in the Leon River from
1990 to 1995 showed that fecal coliform levels
exceeded the bacteria water quality standard for
contact recreation. As a result, TCEQ added the
river to the 1996 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters for not supporting its primary contact
recreation use.
In 2000, the bacteria water quality standard
changed to an Escherichia co//-based bacteria stan-
dard. The new standard requires thatE co//levels
not exceed a geometric mean of 126 colony-forming
units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (100 mL) of water.
Data collected from 1998 to 2005 showed that the
geometric mean for E. coli exceeded the contact
recreation standard in Pecan Creek, a tributary of
the Leon River. As a result, TCEQ added Pecan
Creek to the 2006 CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters for not supporting its primary
contact recreation use.
Figure 1. The Leon River watershed is in central Texas. Numbers
represent subwatersheds within the Leon River watershed.
Restored waters are within subwatersheds 10 and 80 (indicated
by green circles).
Project Highlights
In September 2002, the TCEQ initiated a total maxi-
mum daily load (TMDL) study for the Leon River.
Local stakeholders expressed interest in taking an
active role in developing management strategies
to reduce bacteria loadings in the watershed and
sought to initiate the development of a WPP. The
TSSWCB provided CWA section 319 funding to the
Brazos River Authority (BRA) to facilitate the devel-
opment of a WPP for the Leon River.
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The stakeholder group that led the development
of the WPP consisted of representatives from
Commissioner's courts (i.e., county governments),
agricultural producers, wildlife interests, soil and
water conservation districts (SWCDs), the dairy
industry, cities and various other interests in the
watershed. A technical advisory group was also
formed to provide expertise to the stakeholder
group. This group consisted of representatives from
federal, state and local agencies; universities; and
other entities.
Throughout the planning process, stakeholders
were identified and encouraged to holistically
address the pollution sources and water quality
threats to surface water resources within the water-
shed. Several outreach and education programs
were implemented in the city of Hamilton to inform
local stakeholders of BMPs.
TheTSSWCB, partnering with the Upper Leon
SWCD and the Hamilton-Coryell SWCD, certified
and implemented 13 water quality management
plans (WQMP) in the impaired watersheds. The
Upper Leon SWCD in Comanche and Erath counties
implemented eight WQMPs on 1,857 acres. The
Hamilton-Coryell SWCD implemented five WQMPs
on 1,097 acres near Pecan Creek. Several animal
feeding operations were included in these WQMPs.
These plans included alternative water sources, pre-
scribed grazing, cross-fencing, grassed waterways,
nutrient management and grass planting. In addi-
tion, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) worked
with landowners in both subwatersheds to imple-
ment conservation practices on over 2,800 acres
using Environmental Quality Incentives Program
funding and another 1,840 acres using Agricultural
Water Enhancement Program funding. The conser-
vation practices implemented included prescribed
grazing, grass and range planting, nutrient manage-
ment, residue management, conservation cover,
water wells, water troughs and ponds.
Results
Water quality monitoring data show that the long-
term E. coli geometric means meet the state water
quality standard for contact recreation in a portion
of the Leon River (121.83 cfu/100 mL for assessment
data collected from 2003-2010) and all of Pecan
Creek (123.81 cfu/100 mL for assessment data
collected from 2001-2008) (Figure 2). Consequently,
the entire length (11.9 miles) of Pecan Creek (seg-
ment 1221C _ 01) was removed from the state's list
of impaired waters in 2010. In addition, a 3.9-mile
segment in the upper portion of Leon River (seg-
Pecan Creek E. Coli Levels
Figure 2. £ coli data collected for Pecan Creek (2002-2008)
shows only periodic elevated bacteria levels. The geometric
mean of these data (i.e., 123.81 cfu/100 mL) indicates that the
creek meets state water quality standards.
ment 1221 _ 07, from the confluence of Walnut Creek
upstream to Lake Proctor) was removed from the
impaired waters list in 2012. These waterbodies cur-
rently support all of their designated uses.
The success can be attributed to increased stake-
holder awareness due to the watershed planning
process and to conservation practices being imple-
mented along or near the waterbodies. Continued
water quality improvements have been achieved since
the implementation of additional BMPs following the
delisting of Pecan Creek. Water quality monitoring
continues to track and measure interim progress to
implement the WPP and ensure this restoration effort
remains a success.
Partners and Funding
Over $433,550 in U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency CWA section 319 funds (provided by the
TSSWCB), combined with more than $353,680 in
non-federal matching funds from TSSWCB and the
Brazos River Authority, supported developing the
WPP, collecting and analyzing water samples, develop-
ing pollutant loading models, facilitating stakeholder
involvement in the watershed planning process and
crafting the watershed protection plan.
The Hamilton-Coryell and Upper Leon SWCDs worked
with landowners to voluntarily implement conserva-
tion practices to reduce the impact of livestock on
grazing land. The TSSWCB and the NRCS worked
through the SWCDs to provide approximately $60,700
in state funding, $14,900 in CWA section 319 funding,
and $143,245 in federal Farm Bill funding to landown-
ers as financial incentives to implement BMPs and pro-
vide technical assistance in the Leon River watershed.
I
3
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001III
October 2014
For additional information contact:
Brian Koch
Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
979-532-9496 • bkoch@tsswcb.texas.gov
Tim Cawthon
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-0845 • tim.cawthon@tceq.texas.gov
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