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Section 319
NDNPDINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Best Management Practice Implementation Results in Decreased Bacteria
Levels in Bois d'Arc Creek
Waterbody Improved
Bois d'Arc Creek was impaired for Escherichia coli (E. co/i)
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 sediment and
bacteria in the creek. As a result, Bois d'Arc Creek has been removed from Oklahoma's 2012
CWA section 303(d) list for £. co/i bacteria impairment
Problem
The 37-mile-long Bois d'Arc Creek flows through
Kay County in north central Oklahoma (Figure 1).
The majority of the land in the 63,239-acre area
is used for wheat and cattle production, although
some corn and soybeans are also grown. Erosion
of both cropland and grazing land, coupled with
improper management of cattle wastes were poten-
tially the largest nonpoint source problems in the
watershed, contributing to high bacteria levels in
the stream. In the 2006 water quality assessment,
E. co/i bacteria levels exceeded the state criterion,
with a geometric mean of 248 colonies (col) per
100 milliliters (ml). The primary body contact
recreation use is considered impaired if the geo-
metric mean exceeds 126 col/100 ml for E. co/i. On
the basis of these assessment results, Oklahoma
added the entire length of Bois d'Arc Creek
(OK62100030010 _ 00) to the state's 2006 CWA
section 303(d) list for £ coli bacteria impairment.
Project Highlights
* Monitoring Site
• Boisd'ArcCreekWatershed
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 Reserve Program (CRP), and
the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). From
2006 to 2011, landowners planted supplemental
vegetation on more than 300 acres of rangeland,
pasture, and critically erosive areas to improve pas-
ture and range quality in the watershed. Landowners
Figure 1. The Bois d'Arc watershed is in north central Oklahoma.
implemented prescribed grazing on 1,734 acres and
nutrient management on 2,268 acres and con-
structed seven ponds for alternative livestock water
sources. To reduce erosion from cropland, produc-
ers implemented conservation crop rotations and
cover crops on 1,250 acres and conservation tillage
methods—including no-till, strip till, direct seed,
deep tillage, and residue management—on 6,814
acres. More than 37,000 feet of terraces were con-
structed, along with 50 acres of grassed waterways,
to reduce cropland erosion. Upland wildlife habitat
management occurred on 2,827 acres.
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The Oklahoma Conservation Commission's (OCC's)
education program, Blue Thumb, held a volunteer
training event in Kay County in 2010 and has a group
of committed volunteers that help educate local
citizens about nonpoint source pollution in the area.
Implementation of additional BMPs in 2012 has
enhanced the initial improvements. These include
conservation crop rotations and conservation tillage
methods on 3,240 acres, range/pasture/hay planting
on 38 acres, installation of fencing, terraces, and two
grassed waterways, and construction of four ponds.
Results
The OCC's Rotating Basin Monitoring Program,
a statewide nonpoint source ambient monitoring
program, documented improved water quality in
Bois d'Arc Creek due to landowner implementation
of BMPs (Figure 2). The installed cropland, graz-
ing land, and nutrient management BMPs work
to decrease erosion and reduce bacteria loading.
BMPs designed to improve pasture and rangeland
result in denser vegetation and fewer bare spots,
which equates to less potential runoff of soil, nutri-
ents, and bacteria from animal wastes into water-
bodies. Monitoring data showed that the geometric
mean of £ coli in the 2012 assessment was 120
col/100 ml, below the state standard of 126 col/100
ml (Figure 3). Accordingly, Bois d'Arc Creek has
been removed from the 2012 CWA section 303(d)
list for £ coli impairment and is in partial attainment
of the primary body contact recreation use.
Partners and Funding
The improvement in water quality in Bois d'Arc
Creek was documented by the 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 collected 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 collected. Statewide educational efforts
through Blue Thumb are also funded by CWA
section 319 at a 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
$22,295 in state funding for BMPs in this watershed
Figure 2. Oklahoma's Bois d'Arc Creek after restoration.
Bois d'Arc Creek
600 -\
E
? 400
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o
u
~ 200
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Geometric mean = 248 Geometric mean = 120
T
T
2006 2012
Assessment Year
Figure 3. Boxplots indicate the interquartile range
(25th-75th percentile) and median of the data for
assessment years 2006 and 2012. These data
indicate that bacteria levels in Bois d'Arc Creek met
water quality standards by 2012.
through the Kay County Conservation District,
and landowners contributed $22,317 through this
program. NRCS spent approximately $2.1 million
for implementation of BMPs in the area from 2006
through 2011 and spent an additional $118,000 on
BMP implementation in 2012.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001P
April 2014
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4500 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov
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