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Section 319
NDNPDINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Best Management Practice Implementation Results in Improved Bacteria
Levels in Big Creek
\A/ h H I H Big Creek was impaired for Esc/?e/7C/?/a co//(E co//) bacteria
vvaterooay improvea due jn pgrt to practices associated with catt|e, crop_ and
poultry production, prompting Oklahoma to add the creek to the state's 2008 Clean Water
Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Implementing best management practices
(BMPs) to improve cropland, grazing land, and nutrient management reduced the runoff
of bacteria into the creek. As a result. Big Creek has been removed from Oklahoma's 2012
CWA section 303(d) list for E. coli bacteria impairment.
Problem
Big Creek flows 35 miles through Nowata and Craig
counties in northeastern Oklahoma, draining an
area of 108,357 acres (Figure 1). The majority of
the land in the watershed is used for cattle produc-
tion, although some wheat, corn, and soybeans
and more than 1.5 million chickens a year are also
grown. Erosion of both cropland and grazing land,
coupled with improper management of cattle and
poultry wastes, was potentially the largest nonpoint
source problem in the watershed, contributing to
high levels of fecal bacteria in the stream. In the
2008 water quality assessment, E. coli bacteria
levels exceeded the state criterion, with a geomet-
ric mean of 160 colonies/100 milliliters (ml). The
primary body contact recreation use is considered
impaired if the geometric mean exceeds 126 colo-
nies/100 ml for E. coli.
Project Highlights
Monitoring Site
Big Creek Watershed
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) conservation technical assistance
programs, the Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP), and the Wetlands Reserve Program
(WRP). From 2008 to 2011, landowners imple-
mented prescribed grazing on 16,190 acres, nutrient
management on 187 acres, and forage harvest man-
agement practices on 31 acres. 9,247 linear feet of
fencing was installed to improve pasture and range
quality and to establish 448 acres of access limited
Figure 1. The Big Creek watershed is in northeastern Oklahoma.
areas. Four grade stabilization structures, one diver-
sion, and one grassed waterway helped to reduce
erosion from pastures and rangeland. Seventeen
ponds provided alternative water sources for live-
stock. Landowners planted vegetation on 26 critical
area acres, trees on 41 acres, and supplemental
forage/biomass on 70 acres. Proper management
of 576 acres of wetland wildlife habitat and 2,223
acres of upland wildlife habitat occurred in the
watershed during this time, which provided greater
potential for filtering of sediment and wastes.
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Landowners have continued to install additional
BMPs that have enhanced the initial improvements.
BMPs implemented in 2012 included 4,311 acres
of prescribed grazing, 79 acres of forage harvest
management, 348 acres of conservation crop rota-
tions and residue/tillage management, construction
of three ponds, 16,737 linear feet of fencing, and
2,711 acres of upland wildlife habitat management.
Results
The Oklahoma Conservation Commission's Rotating
Basin Monitoring Program, a statewide nonpoint
source ambient monitoring program, documented
improved water quality in Big Creek due to landown-
ers implementing BMPs. 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 vegetation 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 £ coli in the 2012 assessment was
90 colonies/100 ml, below the state standard of
126 colonies/100 ml (Figure 2). On the basis of
these data, Big Creek (WBID OK121510030010 _ 00)
was removed from Oklahoma's 2012 CWA section
303(d) list for £ coli bacteria impairment and is
in partial attainment of the primary body contact
recreation use (Figure 3).
Partners and Funding
The improvement in water quality in Big Creek
was documented by the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission's statewide nonpoint source ambient
monitoring program. The Rotating Basin Monitoring
Program is supported by EPA's 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 supported by CWA section 319 at
a cost of approximately $600,000 annually. These
costs include supplies for monthly monitoring of
Big Creek
1000-
2008
Assessment Year
Figure 2. Data show a decrease in £ coli counts between 2008
and 2012. Boxplots indicate the interquartile range (25th-75th
percentile) and median of the data for assessment years 2008
and 2012.
Figure 3. Oklahoma's Big Creek after restoration.
100 sites, as well as trainings and other outreach
activities. The Oklahoma cost-share program
provided $10,073 in state funding for BMPs in this
watershed through the Nowata County and Craig
county conservation districts, and landowners
contributed $6,012 through this program. NRCS
spent approximately $1,863,150 for implementation
of BMPs in the area from 2008 through 2011.
UJ
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001Z
April 2014
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4500 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov
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