Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Adding Best Management Practices Reduces Bacteria in the Buttahatchee
Waterbody Improved
Nonpoint sources of fecal coliform (FC) bacteria, including animal
waste from livestock and wildlife, as well as failing septic systems,
caused the Buttahatchee River to violate the state's FC bacteria water quality standards. As a result, the
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) placed a 29-mile segment of the Buttahatchee
River on the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 1998 for not supporting
its secondary contact recreation designated use because of FC bacteria. Using CWA section 319 and
matching funds from partnering agencies, project partners installed 59 best management practices
(BMPs) on 4,702 acres within the watershed. Bacteria levels declined and now meet water quality
standards, prompting MDEQ to remove this segment from the state's list of impaired waters in 2012.
Problem
The Buttahatchee River is a major waterbody in
the Tombigbee River Basin. From its headwaters in
Winston and Marion counties in Alabama, the river
flows southwesterly approximately 59 miles to the
Mississippi state line. It then continues another
35 miles to its confluence with the Tombigbee River
at the boundary of Lowndes and Clay counties
in Mississippi (Figure 1). The Buttahatchee River
watershed covers approximately 77,581 acres and
is composed of approximately 7 percent cropland,
14 percent pastureland and 79 percent timberland.
In the mid-1990s, monitoring data showed exceed-
ances of the state's bacteria water quality standard.
The seasonally adjusted standard requires that from
May to October, when water contact recreation
activities are expected to occur, the maximum
allowable level of FC bacteria concentration may not
exceed a geometric mean of 200 colony forming
units (CFU) per 100 milliliters (ml) of water; plus, no
more than 10 percent of the samples examined dur-
ing any month may exceed 400 CFU/100 ml. From
November to April, when water contact recreation
activities are not expected to occur, the maximum
allowable level of FC bacteria concentration may
not exceed a geometric mean of 2,000 CFU/100 ml,
and no more than 10 percent of the samples
examined during any month may exceed
4,000 CFU/100 ml. Because 1990s data showed
water quality exceedances, MDEQ added a 29-mile-
long segment (MS 019M) of the Buttahatchee River
to Mississippi's 1998 CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters as only partially supporting its
secondary contact recreation designated use due to
impairment caused by FC bacteria.
fll
Monroe
MS019M
Figure 1. The Buttahatchee River watershed includes portions of
Alabama and Mississippi. Restoration efforts reduced FC bacteria
levels and led to the delisting of a 29-mile segment (MS 019M).
In 1999 MDEQ's Water Quality Division devel-
oped a total maximum daily load (TMDL) to bring
Buttahatchee River segment MS 019M into compli-
ance with state bacteria water quality standards.
Using low-altitude photography, the state identified
failing septic tanks and animals in the streams
as likely sources of FC bacteria loading into the
Buttahatchee River. On the basis of this information,
the TMDL established goals of reducing FC bacteria
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Figure 2. Landowners installed fencing to keep
livestock out of streams.
loading from failing septic tanks and cattle in streams
by 50 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
Project Highlights
In 2004 project partners finalized the Buttahatchee
River Watershed Implementation Plan, which
provided a framework to guide restoration
efforts. Between 2004 and 2006, the Mississippi
Department of Health (MSDH) generated a map of
failing septic systems in the watershed and worked
with MDEQ to distribute educational pamphlets on
septic system maintenance/repair to the local com-
munity throughout the watershed. These efforts
encouraged landowners to address failing septic
systems, thereby reducing FC bacteria loadings to
the Buttahatchee River.
From 2005 to 2007, project partners installed
59 agricultural BMPs at participating sites through-
out the Buttahatchee watershed, covering approxi-
mately 4,702 acres. The BMPs included pasture
and hay land planting on 1,266 acres; heavy-use
area protection (stabilization of areas frequently
and intensively used by people, animals or vehicles
to control runoff) on 224 acres; prescribed grazing
on 1,198 acres; nutrient management practices on
1,932 acres; installation of 24,449 feet of livestock
exclusion fencing (Figure 2); and installation of three
tanks/troughs for livestock watering on 28 acres.
Several partners played key roles in the BMP imple-
mentation efforts. MDEQ distributed CWA section
319 funding for BMP implementation in targeted
areas throughout the watershed and managed
those projects. The U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
Buttahatchee River Bacteria Levels (2007-2010)
"Contact" Secondary Contact Bacteria Criteria-90'h Percentile
"Contact" Secondary Contact Bacteria Criteria-Geometric Mean
Dec 2007*
Oct2008
Feb2009*
Aug2009
Apr 2010*
Figure 3. Data collected from 2007 to 2010 shows that the
Buttahatchee River consistently meets the secondary contact
recreation use FC bacteria water quality standard year-round.
provided the BMP standards and helped with final
inspections of BMPs. The Lowndes and Monroe
County Soil and Water Conservation Districts
worked with landowners to implement BMPs.
Results
Watershed restoration efforts reduced the FC bacte-
ria loads entering the Buttahatchee River. Based on
post-BMP implementation water quality monitoring
data (collected between 2007 and 2010), bacteria lev-
els now meet Mississippi's water quality standards
(Figure 3). In addition, EPA pollutant reduction mod-
els run after 2007 indicated that installed BMPs had
reduced sediment loading into Buttahatchee River
segment MS 019M by 19,462 tons. On the basis of
these data, MDEQ has determined that segment MS
019M now meets water quality standards to support
the secondary contact recreation designated use
and therefore has removed the 29-mile segment
from the state's list of impaired waters (in 2012).
Partners and Funding
Support for this project came from $178,077 in
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CWA sec-
tion 319 funds and $122,784 in matching funds
from the partnering agencies. Partners include
MDEQ, Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation
Commission, NRCS, and the Lowndes and Monroe
County Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
I
3
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-12-001VV
November 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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