Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Cooperative Watershed Management Reduces Bacteria Levels in Mill Creek
WaterbodieS Improved NonP°int source pollution from grazing land and small
r >v animal feeding operations affected water quality in the
Creek watershed, prompting the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to
add the river and most of its tributaries to the state's 1998 Clean Water Act (CWA) section
303(d) list of impaired waters for bacteria. Project partners implemented several livestock
best management practices (BMPs) throughout the watershed. Watershed monitoring data
collected between 2000 and 2009 showed that the waterbodies designated for primary
contact recreation use in the Mill Creek watershed met the current bacteria criteria. On the
basis of these data, KDHE removed five stream segments (totaling 73.7 miles) in the
Creek watershed from the 2010 list of impaired waters for the bacteria impairment.
Problem
The headwaters of Mill Creek originate in the upper
northeast corner of Morris County in northeastern
Kansas. The river flows northeast, draining numer-
ous tributaries before it merges with the Kansas
River near the city of Maple Hill (Figure 1). KDHE has
designated the Mill Creek main stem, the east and
west branches of Mill Creek, and Illinois Creek as
"Exceptional State Waters," defined as any surface
waters or surface water segments of remarkable
quality or of significant ecological or recreational
value. In addition, many streams in the Mill Creek
watershed have been designated as "Special
Aquatic Life Use (SALU)" waters. SALU waters are
defined as surface waters that contain combina-
tions of habitat types and indigenous biota not com-
monly found in the state or as surface waters that
contain representative populations of threatened or
endangered species. The state affords Exceptional
State Waters and SALU waters the highest level of
water quality protection.
The Mill Creek watershed is composed primarily
of grazing land/grassland (84 percent); cultivated
crops cover the Mill Creek flood plain. The live-
stock grazing density, 38 animal units per square
mile, is uniform and moderate throughout the
subwatersheds. In 1997 livestock inventories esti-
mated approximately 46,600 cattle and 12,500 hogs
within Wabaunsee County. The county is also
ranked eighth in the state for the number of sheep
(3,000 head).
— Delisted Stream Segments
A Monitoring Sites
Figure 1. Mill Creek is in the Kansas River watershed in
northwestern Kansas. As a result of restoration efforts, five
waterbodies in the Mill Creek watershed were removed from the
2010 impaired waters list for bacteria.
Between 1990 and 1997, data collected at the Maple
Hill monitoring station (SC521 on Figure 1) showed
that fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) levels exceeded
the state's water quality standard (200 colony form-
ing units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml)) in 13 out of
29 samples. Similar trends at the Mill Creek West
Branch monitoring station (SC506) also indicated
FCB exceedances in that portion of the watershed.
-------
On the basis of these data, in 1998 KDHE listed Mill
Creek and most of its tributaries in the watershed as
impaired for failing to meet FCB criteria to support
the primary recreation designated use.
A watershed-wide total maximum daily load (TMDL)
for bacteria was established in 2000 to direct
efforts to reduce bacteria levels in the watershed.
The TMDL identified small, unpermitted livestock
operations and rural homesteads and farmsteads
along the river as suspected nonpoint sources of
the FCB impairment.
Project Highlights
Since 2003 the Wabaunsee County Conservation
District and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
have worked with local landowners to implement
rangeland and livestock BMPs throughout the
watershed to address the bacteria impairment.
The BMPs included 32,333 acres of prescribed
grazing and 6,054 acres of nutrient management
on farms within the watershed. Partners also
implemented BMPs to limit livestock access to
waterbodies by repairing or restoring 28 agricul-
tural ponds and installing 272 acres of livestock
exclusion; 91,407 linear feet of livestock fencing;
32 water supply units (alternative livestock water-
ing sources); and 6,397 linear feet of pipeline for
alternative livestock watering systems. In addition,
partners planted 228 acres of filters strips (areas of
grass or other permanent vegetation) and 66 acres
of riparian buffers to protect nearby streams from
agricultural runoff. They also repaired or replaced
30 failing onsite wastewater treatment systems.
Results
The state's bacteria standards underwent changes
in 2003. Escherichia coli replaced fecal coliform
as the indicator bacteria, and impairment was
determined by a geometric mean greater than
427 cfu/100 ml based on five samples taken over
a 30-day period. Routine watershed monitoring for
£ coli conducted in Mill Creek since 2003 indicated
that bacteria levels had decreased to below the
new primary contact recreation criterion. In 2008
KDHE conducted intensive bacteria monitoring in
Mill Creek watershed during the primary recreation
season (April to October). The 2008 monitoring
data confirmed that bacteria levels had decreased
and were meeting state water quality standards
Mill Creek Watershed E. coli Bacteria Geometric Means (2003-2012)
10,000
1,000
100
^•e
------- |