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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Watershed-wide Implementation of Management Practices Restores River
Fecal coliform (FC) bacteria from agricultural runoff and leaking
VVaiGrDOQy I iprOVGQ septic systems impaired shellfish harvesting and primary contact
recreation uses in the Chehalis River watershed. As a result, the Washington Department of
Ecology (Ecology) added 93 segments of the Chehalis River to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA)
section 303(d) list of impaired waters between 1996 and 2004. To address the problems, farmers
installed numerous agricultural best management practices (BMPs), and local governments
increased efforts to identify and upgrade septic systems. FC levels decreased across the
watershed. Ecology removed two segments from Washington's impaired waters list in 2008.
Data show that another 76 segments are consistently meeting FC water quality standards;
Ecology expects to propose removing those segments from the impaired waters list in 2012.
Problem
The Chehalis River drains approximately
2,660 square miles on the coast of Washington
and empties into Grays Harbor, an important
shellfish area (Figure 1). More than 80 percent of
the watershed is forested with another 10 percent
dedicated to agriculture. Developed and agricultural
areas are concentrated in areas close to waterways.
The applicable water quality standard (primary
contact recreation use) requires that FC not
exceed a geometric mean of 100 colonies
(col) per 100 milliliters (ml), and that no more
than 10 percent of all samples be greater than
200 col/100 ml. Water quality monitoring in 1990s
indicated that numerous segments in the upper and
lower Chehalis River Basin violated water quality
standards for FC. As a result, Ecology added a total
of 93 segments in the upper and lower Chehalis
River to the state's CWA section 303(d) list for
bacteria impairment in 1996, 1998 and 2004.
Ecology developed total maximum daily loads
(TMDLs) for FC for Grays Harbor/Chehalis River
in 2002 and for the upper Chehalis River in 2004.
The TMDL assessments found that most of the
Chehalis River's FC load originates in the upper
watershed and that the FC sources in the upper
watershed are nearly all nonpoint in origin.
Primary FC sources of concern are animal waste
from livestock operations and livestock stream
access, agricultural and stormwater runoff and
untreated human sewage from failing residential
and commercial septic systems. Existing FC permit
limits for sewage treatment plant discharges met
Figure 1. The Chehalis River drains approximately
2,660 square miles in Washington. Colors represent
different subbasins within the Chehalis River
watershed.
TMDL requirements. To prioritize projects, local
partners and Ecology developed a comprehensive
water quality implementation plan in 2004.
Project Highlights
Beginning in 1998, statewide law required that
all dairy farmers develop and implement nutrient
management plans. In 2004 partners developed
a TMDL implementation plan to help focus BMP
implementation efforts. Since then, agricultural
landowners have implemented drainage
management on more than 100 acres, improved
livestock waste storage and transfer systems,
planted/fenced 56 miles of shoreline, and installed
livestock exclusion/control fencing and alternative
water systems (including 2,500 feet of livestock
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pipeline and three livestock watering troughs). They
implemented prescribed grazing on almost 200 acres
and created management plans for nutrients
(covering 6,700 acres) and pests (1,061 acres).
Forest landowners improved stability of forest roads
(16,241 feet), seeded and mulched 15 acres of critical
area, installed 135 feet of streambank and shoreline
protection, and improved 371 acres of stream
habitat. Stakeholders also improved wetland habitat
by installing fencing (10,849 feet), restoring wetland
areas (1,137 acres) and implementing 600 acres of
wetland wildlife habitat management. More than
4,800 acres of land have been placed into perpetual
conservation easements in the upper basin. The
Chehalis Confederated Tribes installed numerous
riparian planting and fencing projects on reservation
land and in partnership with many nontribal public
and private landowners. Recent grants have enabled
the Chehalis Basin Partnership to expand its water
quality sampling program and increase its focus on
community outreach and education.
Local agencies have worked to reduce sewage-
related pollution. Thurston and Lewis County Health
Departments offered septic system maintenance
trainings and offered low-interest loans for repair
or replacement. Local governments upgraded
seven treatment plants and built two new plants
in Centralia and Chehalis to ensure continued
compliance with permit limits.
Results
Bacteria levels have declined significantly. Most
shellfish beds are now open for harvesting in Grays
Harbor; harvest will remain prohibited as a routine
precaution in areas close to the cities' sewage
treatment plants. Of the 93 segments listed as
impaired for bacteria by 2004, data indicate that
at least 78 segments (covering 128.8 miles) now
meet water quality standards. Data collected at a
few sites through Ecology's Ambient Monitoring
Program showed that two impaired segments met
standards in 2004 and 2005, prompting Ecology to
remove them from the impaired waters list in 2008.
A watershed-wide sampling study in 2006-2009
showed that FC levels in another 76 segments
fell well below the water quality standard of
100 col/100 mL (with an average of 24 samples
collected at each of the 94 sampling sites). Further,
all sites met the extraordinary FC standard,
which requires a geometric mean of less than
50 col/100 mL (half of the applicable water quality
standard) with no more than 10 percent of samples
greater than 100 col/100 mL. On the basis of the
data, Ecology expects to propose removing the
76 segments from the 2012 impaired waters list for
bacteria.
Follow-up monitoring has not been completed
for the 15 additional impaired segments. Based
on water quality improvements throughout the
watershed, Ecology believes those impaired
segments likely also meet standards. However,
because of a lack of recent data, those 15 segments
will remain listed as impaired.
Partners and Funding
Farmers worked with the Thurston, Grays Harbor,
Mason and Lewis County conservation districts
(CDs) to implement BMPs. Other partners include
the Washington State Department of Agriculture;
Thurston, Grays Harbor and Lewis County Health
Departments; Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis
Indian Nation; city of Centralia Port of Centralia;
Chehalis Land Trust; Chehalis River Council; Capital
Land Trust; Chehalis Basin Partnership; Chehalis
Basin Education Consortium; local schools;
watershed residents; U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency; and Ecology.
Between 1996 and 2008, project partners received
almost $96 million to improve and protect water
quality in the Chehalis River Basin. Nonpoint source
project funding included $675,000 in CWA section
319 grants; $2.2 million in Centennial Clean Water
Fund (CCWF) grants to Thurston, Mason and Lewis
County CDs; $500,000 in Local Toxics Control
Account grants for stormwater improvements;
$400,000 in Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account
grants for habitat improvement and vegetation
control; and $502,000 in special appropriations
administered by the state's Shoreland
Environmental Assistance Program. Landowners
and project sponsors contributed an additional
$1 million toward those projects in cost-share
funds. Although the FC pollution was primarily
nonpoint source-related, significantly more funding
was channeled to point source controls to support
the high cost of maintaining and replacing sewage
treatment plants. Funding for treatment plants
included $75.5 million in state revolving fund loans
and $16 million in Washington's CCWF grants.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPAEPA841-F-11-001BB
June 2011
For additional information contact:
Dave Rountry
Water Quality Program
Washington Department of Ecology,
Southwest Regional Office
360-407-6276 • drou461@ecy.wa.gov
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