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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STURY
Implementing Agricultural Best Management Practices Improved Stock Creek
Waterbody Improved
Runoff from agricultural areas in the Stock Creek watershed
contributed silt that degraded water quality and biological integrity,
and prevented the creek from supporting its fish and aquatic life designated use. As a result, the
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) added the entire Stock Creek
watershed to Tennessee's 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list because of impairments
caused by siltation, habitat alterations and pathogens. Best management practices (BMPs)
implemented in the watershed improved water quality. Data show that a 3.77-mile segment of Stock
Creek now supports its fish and aquatic life designated use, prompting TDEC to remove the segment
from the state's 2010 CWA section 303(d) list for its siltation and physical substrate habitat alteration
impairments.
Problem
Stock Creek is a tributary to the Little River in the
Watts Bar Lake watershed and is in Knox County,
south of Knoxville, Tennessee (Figure 1). The Stock
Creek watershed retains a largely rural character
with almost two-thirds of the watershed comprised
of rolling pasture and forest. The pastoral setting
and low population density has attracted recent
new residential and commercial development
among the farms and forested areas.
Although the Stock Creek watershed is mostly
pasture and forest, it has experienced water quality
problems due to agricultural practices (pasture
grazing), channelization and failing septic systems.
A 1998 macroinvertebrate survey of Stock Creek
yielded a biological reconnaissance (biorecon)
index score of poor. Biorecon is one tool used to
recognize stream impairment as judged by species
richness measures, emphasizing the presence or
absence of indicator organisms without regard to
relative abundance. The biorecon index is scored
on a scale from 1 to 15. A score of less than 5 is
considered very poor. A score over 10 is considered
good.
In 2000, TDEC established a Semi-Quantitative
Single Habitat Assessment (SQSH) to monitor bio-
logical integrity in Stock Creek. SQSH scores must
be at least 32/42 to pass as unimpaired. The SQSH
score for Stock Creek in 2000 was 26. As a result of
these data, TDEC placed the entire watershed on
the CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters in
2002 because of siltation and habitat alteration.
• BMP Sites
fjjj County Boundary
— Stock Creek 1000 Segment
— Not Assessed
Not Supporting
Knox County
Blount County
Note: 1 dot may represent more than 1 BMP
Figure 1. The Stock Creek watershed is in eastern Tennessee.
Landowners implemented more than 60 BMPs at sites (represented
by red dots) around the watershed.
To allow more targeted watershed restoration
efforts, TDEC divided the Stock Creek watershed
segment into three separate segments in 2004. A
3.77-mile segment of Stock Creek (TN06010201066-
1000), which flows from a tributary known as
Grandview Branch to the mouth at Little River, was
included on the state's CWA section 303(d) list
beginning in 2004. The listed impairments included
a loss of biological integrity caused by siltation,
physical substrate habitat alteration and elevated
Escherichia coli levels.
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Project Highlights
Table 1. BMPs installed in the Stock Creek
watershed
To address water quality impairments in the Stock
Creek watershed, stakeholders installed more
than 60 agricultural BMPs between 1999 and 2012
(Table 1). BMPs included installation of heavy-use
areas, critical area planting, pipeline and grassed
waterways, and exclusion fencing and alternative
watering facilities to prevent livestock from entering
streams and trampling streambanks (Figure 2).
As part of the Knox County Adopt-A-Watershed
Program, Ecology classes at South Doyle High
School monitored the biological, physical and
chemical aspects of Stock Creek in fall and spring
of 2007 and 2008. In addition, the Stock Creek Task
Force (SCTF)—a consortium of agencies, universi-
ties and utilities that joined forces in 2001 to protect
and improve Stock Creek—have worked to educate
students, the agricultural community and residents
of the Stock Creek watershed about septic repair
and water quality issues.
Results
The BMPs implemented along Stock Creek have
helped reduce siltation, which has allowed the
biological integrity of the stream to steadily improve.
A biorecon assessment by the Tennessee Valley
Authority conducted in 2004 yielded a perfect score
of 15. However, to confirm this improvement, the
TDEC conducted a second SQSH survey in 2007,
which showed a score of 34, above the score of
32 needed to pass. As a result of these data, TDEC
removed the siltation and habitat alteration impair-
ments from the 3.77-mile segment of Stock Creek
on the state's 2010 CWA section 303(d) list. The
segment remains listed as impaired by£ co/i.
Partners and Funding
Many federal and state agencies, local organiza-
tions and individual landowners worked together
to improve water quality in the Stock Creek water-
shed. Key partners included the Knox County
Soil Conservation District, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), the Tennessee Department of
Agriculture's Nonpoint Source Program, TDEC,
Tennessee Valley Authority, Ijams Nature Center,
the Water Quality Forum, SCTF, Knox County Adopt-
A-Watershed Program, the South Doyle Middle and
High schools, and local farmers.
Practice
Alternative Watering System Spring Source
Critical Area Planting
Fence
Floodwater Diversion
Grade Stabilization Structure
Grassed Waterway
Heavy Use Area
Pasture and Hay Planting
Pipeline
Riparian Herbaceous Cover
Roof Runoff Structure
Spring Development
Stock Trails and Walkways
Stream Crossing
Watering Facility
Well
Total Units
7 systems
15 acres
17,41 5 feet
1 diversion
1 structure
21 acres
11 areas
25 acres
7500 feet
80 feet
175 feet
1 spring
205 feet
1 crossing
10 systems
1 well
Funding sources for
Stock Creek water-
shed improvements
included the CWA
section 319 program,
the state's Agricultural
Resources
Conservation Fund
(created through
Tennessee's real
estate transfer tax),
NRCS Farm Bill fund-
ing programs and
matching funds from
landowners. A CWA
section 319 grant of
$20,000 was awarded to the Ijams Nature Center
for the Stock Creek Watershed Restoration Plan.
Funding for BMPs included CWA section 319 grant
pool funds ($30,550 in cost share, $21,833 of which
was contributed by landowners), the Agricultural
Resources Conservation Fund (provided $17,036 in
cost share), and landowners ($23,140).
Figure 2. A farmer installed fencing
to prevent livestock from accessing
this Stock Creek tributary.
UJ
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-15-0010
February 2015
For additional information contact:
Sam Marshall
Tennessee Department of Agriculture
615-837-5306 • Sam.Marshall@tn.gov
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