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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Installing Upland and Stream Restoration Practices Reduces Sediment in
German Valley Branch
A/ t h H I H Agricultural runoff contributed high levels of sediment to
aierDOay ll nprOVeO Wisconsin's German Valley Branch, degrading the stream's aquatic
life habitat. The stream failed to meet the state's criteria to support the aquatic life designated use,
prompting Wisconsin to add it to the 1998 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired
waters for sedimentation and degraded habitat. Stakeholders implemented best management
practices (BMPs) to control upland sediment sources, restored riparian areas, and improved fish
habitat in the stream. These efforts improved water quality and restored the stream's aquatic life
designated use. As a result, Wisconsin removed the stream from its 2012 list of impaired waters.
Problem
German Valley Branch is a spring-fed stream that
flows seven miles through the townships of Perry
and Blue Mounds in Dane County to its confluence
with Gordon Creek. Approximately 50 percent
(3,294 acres) of the German Valley Branch water-
shed is composed of agricultural lands.
Over many years, sediment from cropland and
streambank erosion degraded the in-stream habitat
for aquatic life in German Valley Branch (Figure 1).
Fisheries and habitat surveys conducted in the mid-
1990s indicated that the stream was dominated by
fish species tolerant of disturbed habitat and that the
overall habitat condition was only "fair." The stream's
cold-water fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores
(based on several metrics used to assess the fish
community) ranged from zero (very poor) to 40 (fair),
and the macroinvertebrate IBI scores were as low as
2.4 (poor). Quantitative habitat surveys, which factor
in stream width, bank erosion, width-to-depth ratio,
riffle and/or pool ratio, percent soft sediment, and
fish cover, resulted in scores ranging from 25 (fair)
to 63 (good) before rehabilitation efforts. These
data indicated that the stream was not supporting
its aquatic life designated use. On the basis of the
data, the state added the 7-mile-long German Valley
Branch to its CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters in 1998 because of excessive sediment from
agricultural nonpoint source pollution.
In 2005 EPA approved a total maximum daily load
(TMDL) for German Valley Branch and 19 other
streams in the Sugar-Pecatonica River Basin. The
TMDL specifies an average annual sediment load
Figure 1. Before restoration, German Valley Branch was
deeply entrenched and had highly eroding banks.
capacity for German Valley Branch of 5,845 tons.
To address the sediment load, the Dane County
Land and Water Resources Department's Land
Conservation Division (LCD), coordinated several
stream restoration projects. The water quality objec-
tive was to reduce sediment loading by 90 percent.
Project Highlights
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, water-
shed landowners enrolled 525 acres in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP), which provides agricultural land-
owners with annual rental payments and cost-
share assistance in exchange for their taking
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Figure 2. Project partners worked with a local
farmer to install a fenced cattle crossing to limit
livestock access to the stream.
highly erodible, eligible farmland out of agricultural
use. Erosion from the CRP-enrolled lands declined,
thereby reducing the amount of sediment reaching
the stream. In addition, more water infiltrated into the
uplands, which translated into higher base flows (the
portion of stream flow that results from seepage of
water from the ground, not from runoff) in the stream.
This subsequently led to cooler stream water tem-
peratures, which also improved aquatic life habitat.
Dane County LCD continued restoration efforts
from 2004 to 2006, supported by the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources' (WDNR)
Targeted Runoff Management (TRM) Grant Program
and Dane County cost-share funds. The county
worked with eight landowners to implement three
TRM projects that rehabilitated the stream corridor
and improved fish habitat. The projects included
restoring streambanks, stabilizing critical areas,
adding wastewater treatment strips (vegetated buf-
fers) near livestock holding areas, installing water-
way systems (vegetated waterways that convey
excess runoff across fields), and installing livestock
exclusion fencing (Figures 2 and 3). Project partners
improved fish habitat in the stream by placing rock
and log weirs (channel-spanning rock structures
that protect streambanks by redirecting stream
flow), as well as lunker structures (cells of heavy
wooden planks and blocks installed along stream-
banks to improve aquatic life habitat and minimize
bank erosion). In total, watershed efforts restored
more than four miles of stream habitat, which
significantly improved water quality and habitat. In
addition, all landowners in the stream restoration
area provided public access easements to allow
people to fish and hike.
Figure 3. Project partners installed livestock
exclusion fencing and restored the stream channel
and its natural meanders.
Results
Restoration projects in the German Valley Branch
watershed stabilized streambanks and reduced
soil erosion into the stream. Cold-water fish IBI
and habitat data collected in 2007 and 2009 (after
project implementation) indicated improved aquatic
habitat. Quantitative habitat survey scores improved
following watershed restoration efforts, ranging
from a low of 65 (good) to a high of 78 (excellent).
Cold-water fish IBI scores also improved, with post-
project scores ranging from 50 (fair) to 70 (good).
Thanks to the riparian corridor and stream habitat
restoration work, water quality in German Valley
Branch now meets the more stringent criteria
required to support a Class II trout stream. As a
result, Wisconsin removed the 7-mile-long German
Valley Branch from its 2012 list of impaired waters.
Partners and Funding
WDNR, Dane County LCD, landowners and several
volunteer organizations worked to improve the
Green Valley Branch watershed. Dane County LCD
received and implemented three TRM grants—fund-
ed by state bond revenue and serving as matching
funds for the state's CWA section 319 grant—which
totaled over $400,000. Volunteer groups, including
the Blue Mounds Area Project, Trout Unlimited,
the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association and
the Deer Creek Sports and Conservation Club,
provided labor for the TRM projects. The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service also contributed funding for the
restoration work. EPA CWA section 319 grant fund-
ing helped to cover the cost of WDNR Nonpoint
Source Program staff.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-12-001AAA
December 2012
For additional information contact:
James Amrhein
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
608-275-3280 • james.amrhein@wisconsin.gov
Patrick Sutter, Dane County Land & Water Resources
Department, Land Conservation Division
608-224-3740 • sutter@countyofdane.com
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