Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Cooperative Watershed Management Reduces Bacteria in Kansas Big Creek
Improved
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NonP°int source pollution from livestock activities had
degraded water quality in the Big Creek watershed, prompting
the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to add three segments of the creek
to the state's 1998 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for bacteria.
In cooperation with the local Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy's (WRAPS)
Upper Neosho Project, project partners in Coffey County implemented several livestock and
agricultural best management practices (BMPs) throughout the watershed. Bacteria levels
dropped, and Big Creek and its tributaries now meet the bacteria criterion for primary contact
recreation. As a result, KDHE removed three segments (approximately 56.6 stream miles) in the
Upper Neosho watershed from Kansas' 2012 list of impaired waters for bacteria.
Problem
The headwaters of Big Creek (north and south
branches) originate in the southwestern corner
of Coffey County and parts of Greenwood and
Woodson counties in southeastern Kansas. The Big
Creek watershed drains approximately 132.5 square
miles and is part of the Upper Neosho watershed
(Figure 1). Big Creekflows into the Neosho River
near the city of LeRoy; the Neosho eventually flows
into the Grand Lake in northeast Oklahoma.
Most of the land use in the Big Creek watershed
is grassland (72 percent), much of which is used
for livestock grazing. Livestock contribute bacteria
to the water source by introducing fecal matter.
Cropland accounts for 25 percent of the land use in
the watershed; it is found primarily along the main
stem and impaired tributaries and in the lower por-
tion of the watershed.
During 1992 and 1996, KDHE collected bacteria
samples every two months. Of the eight samples
taken during the primary recreation season, April
through October, three exceeded the state criterion
for primary contact recreation of 200 fecal coli-
form colony forming units (CFU) per 100 milliliters
(ml). As a result, KDHE added three segments of
Big Creek to the 1998 CWA section 303(d) list for
bacteria impairment—the main stem of Big Creek
(6.5 miles), Big Creek North Branch (26.7 miles) and
Big Creek South Branch (23.3 miles) (see Figure 1 for
location of impairments). In 2003, Kansas updated
its bacteria standard and specified £ co/i as the
indicator bacteria and the frequency of sampling as
Upper Neosho River Watershed
Legend
Delisted Stream Segments (3)
.4, Monitoring Site SC615
Cropland BMPs
%% Livestocks BMPs
Figure 1. Big Creek is in the Upper Neosho River
watershed in southeastern Kansas. Using a cooperative
approach, stakeholders implemented numerous
agricultural BMPs throughout the watershed.
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five samples over a 30-day period. The law does not
provide single-sample maximum criteria for streams.
The specific £ coli bacteria criterion for Big Creek is
a geometric mean of 427 CFU/100 ml.
In 2002, EPA approved KDHE's total maximum daily
load (TMDL) for Big Creek, which addressed the
bacteria impairment. The TMDL identified fecal
pollution as the primary suspected contributor
of bacteria in the creek and recommended that
pollution-reduction activities be directed at small,
unpermitted livestock operations and rural home-
steads and farmsteads along the river.
Project Highlights
Since 2002, the Coffey County Conservation
District, Woodson County Conservation District,
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), Kansas Department
of Agriculture's Division of Conservation (KDA-DOC),
and Upper Neosho River WRAPS have worked
with local landowners to implement agricultural
BMPs throughout the watershed. The cropland
and livestock BMPs have included implement-
ing 32,332 acres of prescribed grazing; planting
325 acres of pasture and hay land; repairing/restor-
ing 20 agricultural ponds, which serve as alternative
watering sources for livestock; planting 228 acres
of filter strips (dense grass sod strips that serve
as a border around cropland, which can help filter
sediment, nutrients and other pollutants in agricul-
tural runoff); adding 25 acres of critical area plant-
ing to reduce runoff into the creeks; and installing
91,407 linear feet of livestock fencing, 24 watering
facility units and 6,397 linear feet of pipeline to
facilitate alternative livestock watering systems. (See
Figure 1 for BMP locations throughout the water-
shed.) In addition, project partners repaired and reha-
bilitated 30 failing onsite wastewater systems, which
had contributed bacteria loading to the creeks.
Results
KDHE conducted intensive monitoring (five samples
in a 30-day period) four times over the primary
recreation season (April through October) in 2007
and again in 2011 at the monitoring station along
Big Creek near LeRoy. The number of samples col-
lected allowed KDHE to calculate eight geometric
means, all of which met the £ coli bacteria criterion
of 427 CFU per 100 ml maximum geometric mean
(Figure 2).
Big Creek 30-Day E. coli Geometric Means
3nn -
o
o»
& ?nn
&
100-
0
• Geometric Mean — WQS
• *
* « • .
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Date
Figure 2. Data show that £ coli levels in Big Creek meet the water
quality criterion of 427 CFU/100 ml maximum geometric mean.
These data indicate that the main stem of Big
Creek, Big Creek North Branch and Big Creek South
Branch now meet the state's water quality criterion
for bacteria and therefore support their primary
recreation designated uses. As a result, in 2012
KDHE removed the three segments (approximately
56.6 stream miles) from Kansas' list of impaired
waters for bacteria.
Partners and Funding
The success of this project can be attributed to
several local, state and federal partners, including
Coffey County Conservation District, Woodson
County Conservation District, KDA-DOC, Kansas
State University, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), EPA Region 7, Kansas Rural Center,
Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams, NRCS
and participating landowners.
The project was supported by EPA CWA sec-
tion 319 funds, including a 2003 Upper Neosho
WRAPS Development grant ($30,000), a 2004
Upper Neosho WRAPS Assessment and
Planning grant ($90,000), two Upper Neosho
WRAPS Implementation grants in 2009 and 2010
($126,188), a Kansas Rural Center grant, and a
2009 KDA-DOC Water Quality Buffer Partnership
grant. The Kansas Department of Agriculture's
Division of Conservation, NRCS and local landown-
ers provided additional support.
UJ
(9
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-12-001WW
November 2012
For additional information contact:
Ann D'Alfonso
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
785-296-3015
AD'Alfonso@kd heks.gov
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