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Section 319
NDNPDINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Implementing Best Management Practices Reduced Bacteria Levels
in Bitter Creek
Waterbodv Improved Bitter Creek was imPaired for Escherichia co//(E. co/i)
y ^ bacteria due in part to practices associated with crop and
cattle production, prompting Oklahoma to add the creek to the state's 2006 Clean Water
Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Implementing best management practices
(BMPs) to improve cropland, grazing land, and nutrient management led to decreased
levels of sediment and bacteria in the creek. As a result. Bitter Creek was removed from
Oklahoma's 2010 CWA section 303(d) list for E. co/i impairment.
Problem
The 23-mile-long Bitter Creek flows through Kay and
Grant counties in north central Oklahoma (Figure 1).
The majority of the land in the 40,409-acre watershed
is used for wheat and cattle production, although
corn and sorghum are also grown. Erosion of both
cropland and grazing land, coupled with improper
management of livestock wastes, were potentially
the largest nonpoint source problems in the water-
shed, contributing to high levels of fecal bacteria in
the stream. In the 2006 water quality assessment,
£ co/i bacteria levels exceeded the state criterion,
with a geometric mean of 171 colonies/100 mil-
liliters (ml). The primary body contact recreation
use is considered impaired if the geometric mean
exceeds 126 colonies/100 ml for £ co/i. As a result,
Oklahoma added the entire length of Bitter Creek
(OK621100000100 _ 00) to the state's 2006 CWA sec-
tion 303(d) list of impaired waters for £ co/i bacteria.
Project Highlights
Landowners implemented numerous BMPs with
support from Oklahoma's locally led cost-share
program and funds from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) general technical assistance programs,
the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP),
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and the
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The focus of
most BMPs in this watershed was erosion control,
as runoff of sediment might also carry fecal bacteria
into waterbodies. From 2006 to 2009, landowners
improved pasture and range quality by planting
supplemental forage on 494 acres, implementing
Monitoring Site
Bitter Creek Wa te rshed
Figure 1. The Bitter Creek watershed is in north central Oklahoma.
prescribed grazing on 679 acres and nutrient manage-
ment on 1,166 acres, and managing brush on 142
acres. Thirty-two ponds and six water tanks were
installed to provide alternative water supplies for live-
stock after adding cross-fences to optimize grazing
land usage. To reduce erosion from cropland, produc-
ers implemented conservation crop rotations, conser-
vation tillage methods (no-till, strip till, mulch till, and
deep till), cover crops, and residue management on
3,706 acres. Producers also planted field borders and
filter strips and installed grassed waterways, terraces,
diversions, and grade stabilization structures. In addi-
tion, upland wildlife habitat management occurred
on more than 1,000 acres, and 227 acres of wetland
habitat was properly managed.
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Landowners installed additional BMPs from 2010 to
2012 that have enhanced the initial improvements.
BMPs included adopting nutrient management plans
for 45 acres, grazing management plans for 633
acres, forage harvest management on 317 acres,
and weed/pest management on 484 acres. Range
and pasture planting occurred, along with supple-
mental vegetation plantings in critical, erosive areas.
Conservation crop rotations, cover crops, residue
management, and conservation tillage methods
have been implemented on 3,635 acres, and 18,439
feet of terraces, 18 acres of grassed waterways, and
four grade stabilization structures were installed to
reduce erosion. Fifty-one acres of wetland restora-
tion and 1,280 acres of upland wildlife habitat man-
agement have resulted in more natural, less-erosive
land cover in the watershed.
Results
The Oklahoma Conservation Commission's (OCC's)
Rotating Basin Monitoring Program, a statewide
nonpoint source ambient monitoring program,
documented improved water quality in Bitter Creek
due to landowners implementing BMPs (Figure 2).
The installed cropland, grazing land, and nutrient
management BMPs work to decrease erosion and
reduce bacteria loading. BMPs designed to improve
pasture and rangeland result in denser vegeta-
tion and fewer bare spots, which equates to less
potential runoff of soil, nutrients, and bacteria from
animal wastes into waterbodies. Monitoring data
showed that the geometric mean of E. co/i in the
2010 assessment was 93 colonies/100 ml, below
the state standard of 126 colonies/100 ml (Figure
3). As a result, Bitter Creek was removed from the
2010 CWA section 303(d) list for £ co/i bacteria
impairment and is in partial attainment of the
primary body contact recreation use.
Partners and Funding
The improvement in water quality in Bitter Creek
was documented by OCC's statewide nonpoint
source ambient monitoring program. The OCC's
Rotating Basin Monitoring Program is supported by
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CWA section
319 funding at an average annual cost of $1 million.
Monitoring costs include personnel, supplies, and
lab analyses for 18 parameters from samples col-
lected every 5 weeks at about 100 sites for a total
of 20 episodes per 5-year cycle. In-stream habitat,
fish, and macroinvertebrate samples are also col-
lected. Statewide educational efforts through Blue
Thumb are also funded by CWA section 319 at a
Figure 2. Water quality improved in Oklahoma's
Bitter Creek after landowners implemented BMPs.
Bitter Creek
1000-
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o
o
800
« 600
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o
£. 400 H
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UJ 200
Geometric
mean = 171
Geometric
mean = 163
Geometric
mean = 93
I I
2006 2008
Assessment Year
2010
Figure 3. Bacteria levels in Bitter Creek met bacteria
water quality standards by 2010. Boxplots indicate
the interquartile range (25th-75th percentile) and
median of the data for assessment years 2006,
2008, and 2010.
cost of approximately $600,000 annually. These
costs include supplies for monthly monitoring of
100 sites, as well as trainings and other outreach
activities. The Oklahoma cost-share program
provided $2,284 in state funding for BMPs in this
watershed through the Kay Conservation District,
and landowners contributed $2,276 through
this program. NRCS spent nearly $1.4 million for
implementation of BMPs in the area from 2006 to
2009. Another $2 million was expended from 2010
to 2012, and implementation is ongoing.
UJ
(9
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001BB
April 2014
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4500 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov
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