Section 319
NONPOINT SOORtt PROGRAM SOCCESS STORY
Implementing Agricultural Best Management Practices Reduces Fecal
Coliform Bacteria in Magees Creek
\A/ t h H' I H Fecal coliform (FC) bacteria in runoff from agricultural areas, wildlife
VVatGrDOQIGS IITIprOVGQ and other nonpoint sources caused Mississippi's Magees Creek
to fail to meet pathogen water quality standards for its primary recreation designated use. As a result,
the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) placed Magees Creek on the state's
1998 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for pathogens. With the support
of CWA section 319 grant funds and matching funds from partner agencies, MDEQ and its project
partners implemented agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on more than 3,355 acres in the
watershed. Water quality has improved; therefore, MDEQ removed Magees Creek (two segments) from
the state's list of impaired waters in 2012.
Problem
The Magees Creek watershed (Figure 1) covers
approximately 143,000 acres in Walthall, Marion
and Lawrence counties in southern Mississippi.
Magees Creek flows in a southwesterly direction
from its headwaters north of Darbun, Mississippi,
to the mouth at the Bogue Chitto River. The
current land uses in the watershed include pas-
ture (57 percent), forest (32 percent), cropland
(5 percent) and wetland (4 percent).
The FC bacteria water quality standard to protect
the primary contact recreation designated use of
Magees Creek requires that:
1. The maximum allowable level of FC bacteria not
exceed a geometric mean of 200 colonies (col)
per 100 milliliters (ml), based on a minimum of
five samples taken over a 30-day period (with no
less than 12 hours between individual samples).
2. The samples examined during a 30-day period
not exceed a colony count of 400 col/100 ml
more than 10 percent of the time.
Water quality monitoring in the 1990s indicated that
Magees Creek violated water quality standards for
FC bacteria. As a result, MDEQ added the creek to
the state's CWA section 303(d) list for pathogens
impairment in 1998.
In 2003 MDEQ developed an FC bacteria total
maximum daily load (TMDL) for Magees Creek. The
TMDL assessments identified a number of nonpoint
sources of FC bacteria in the Magees Creek water-
shed—failing septic systems, wildlife, land applica-
tion of hog and cattle manure, grazing animals, land
application of poultry litter, human activities and
Magees Creek Watershed
, . »Y . •/
Jr
^ylertown}/ Collins Creek-
Magees Creek
Figure 1. The Magees Creek watershed is in southern
Mississippi.
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urban development. According to theTMDL, to meet
the FC bacteria water quality standard, the FC bac-
teria loading to Magees Creek must be reduced by
45 percent. In the 2006 assessment cycle, Magees
Creek was divided into five separate segments, two
of which were classified as impaired for primary con-
tact recreation with a TMDL in place (two consecu-
tive segments downstream of Highway 98).
Project Highlights
MDEQ's Pearl River/South Independent Streams
Team selected Magees Creek as a priority
watershed in 2004 because of the high level of
stakeholder interest and the impaired status of
the waterbody. Restoration efforts were aimed at
meeting the FC bacteria water quality standards
and reducing soil loss on pastureland within the
watershed. In 2005 MDEQ awarded a CWA sec-
tion 319 subgrant to the Mississippi Soil and Water
Conservation Commission (MSWCC) to implement
BMPs in the Magees Creek watershed. MSWCC
worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and
the Walthall County Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD) to identify appropriate BMPs for
targeted areas in the watershed and to engage land-
owners to encourage them to implement BMPs.
Between 2005 and 2009, MSWCC worked with
local landowners to implement approximately
114 BMPs on more than 3,355 acres in the Magees
Creek watershed (see Figure 1). These agricultural
BMPs included implementing nutrient manage-
ment practices on approximately 2,800 acres of
land, planting pasture and hayland on 350 acres,
planting trees on approximately 177 acres, and
installing approximately 52,000 feet of fencing to
exclude livestock from
land adjacent to the
creek. Landowners
also installed sediment
control basins, grade
stabilization structures,
animal waste control
facilities (Figure 2) and
livestock troughs. These
efforts helped control
FC bacteria sources
in the watershed and
reduced sediment
loads in the creek by
7,841 tons per year.
Project partners conducted education and outreach
to local stakeholders to increase understanding of
restoration efforts to improve water quality in the
Magees Creek watershed. MSWCC and its partners
wrote articles for the local newspaper, conducted
field tours to demonstrate BMPs, installed road-
side signs to identify water quality improvement
projects, and scheduled regular meetings with
community members to educate them about
restoration efforts in the watershed.
Results
Bacteria levels in Magees Creek have declined
significantly (Table 1). The installation of agricultural
BMPs throughout the watershed has led to reduced
pathogen loads, as well as reductions in nutrient
and sediment loads in Magees Creek. Since 2008,
FC bacteria levels in Magees Creek have been in
compliance with the state's water quality standards.
(Over a 30-day period, the geometric mean must be
less than 200 col/100 ml, and exceedances above
400 col/100 ml must occur less than 10 percent of
the time.) Despite an increase in FC bacteria levels
in 2010 due to natural variation in rainfall, MDEQ
indicates that Magees Creek continues to meet the
FC bacteria criteria to support the creek's primary
recreation designated use. Based on these data,
MDEQ removed both segments of Magees Creek
(12.2 miles total) from the state's list of impaired
waters in 2012.
Table 1. FC Bacteria Monitoring Data for Magees
Creek
Sample dates
06/04/2008-06/25/2008
02/04/2009-02/25/2009
06/24/2009-07/20/2009
01/25/2010-02/10/2010
06/17/2010-07/13/2010
90fllpercentile
(col/100 ml)
69.0
81.5
82.5
278.0
328.0
Geometric mean
(col/100 ml)
50.62
59.51
50.20
165.95
187.24
Partners and Funding
Figure 2. Some landowners in the
Magees Creek watershed installed
animal waste control facilities.
The project was supported by approximately
$359,860 in U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency CWA section 319 funds and $160,560 in
matching funds from the partnering agencies.
Partners included MDEQ, MSWCC, NRCS and the
Walthall County SWCD.
<
3J
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-12-001T
July 2012
For additional information contact:
Natalie Guedon Segrest
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Natalie_Segrest@deq.state.ms.us • 601-961-5150
Steven Utroska
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Steven_Utroska@deq.state.ms.us • 601-961-5102
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