"\
Section 319
NDNPDINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Stakeholders Reduce Sediment Loads in Popular Missouri State Park
Waterbodies Improved
Off-road vehicle (ORV) use in a popular state park
contributed nonpoint source pollution to Missouri's Kelley
Branch and Rocky Fork. As a result, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR)
added these two waterbodies to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of
impaired waters in 1998 for habitat loss and sediment, respectively. Stakeholders reduced
sedimentation and restored Kelley Branch and Rocky Fork by reclaiming abandoned mine
lands, implementing management changes on state park land, and installing agricultural
best management practices (BMPs). Data collected in 2004 showed that the streams
complied with applicable water quality standards. As a result, MDNR removed both
streams from the state's list of impaired waters in 2010.
Problem
Kelley Branch begins in Finger Lakes State Park in
central Missouri (Figure 1). It empties into Rocky
Fork south of the park. The 1,128-acre state park
was once the site of a coal strip-mining operation.
Between June 1964 and October 1967, the Peabody
Coal Company removed more than 1.2 million tons
of coal from the Boone County site, known as
Mark Twain Mine, leaving barren piles of earth and
numerous large pits filled with water. Shortly after
mining operations ceased, Peabody replanted and
reseeded much of the mined acreage and stocked
the water-filled pits with fish. The rugged terrain
created by the mining was not altered. In 1974,
Peabody donated the land to the MDNR for devel-
opment as a state park. Using a U.S. Department of
the Interior grant, MDNR converted the land to use-
able recreational areas. The small, steep-sided hills
with many small ponds in between made the area a
favorite spot for ORV use. Many of the popular ORV
trails cross the stream channel of Kelley Branch,
causing erosion and sedimentation in Kelley Branch
and extending downstream into Rocky Fork.
Missouri water quality standards require that all
classified state waters provide habitat and water
quality suitable to protect aquatic life. Deposition
of sand and other fine materials in the bottom of
a stream can bury aquatic habitat and smother
aquatic organisms orfish eggs. In the late 1990s
the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)
found that the aquatic habitat in Kelley Branch was
negatively affected by sedimentation. The majority
of the stream was highly embedded with sand/fine
sediments (87.4 percent), with some fine-to-coarse
gravel present. Available fish cover (rocks and
Legend
^^i TMDL stream segments
fH Finger Lakes State Park
12-digitHUC 103001020706
Columbia municipal boundary
Columbia
Figure 1. Missouri's Kelley Branch and Rocky Fork.
woody debris) was virtually non-existent because
sediment had filled in the pools. Excess sedimenta-
tion and habitat degradation caused the streams to
violate Missouri's narrative criteria for the protection
of the warm water aquatic life designated use. As
a result, MDNR added a 1-mile segment of Kelley
Branch (waterbody ID 1016) and a 0.5-mile segment
-------
of Rocky Fork (waterbody ID 1014) to the state's
1998 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters
for habitat loss and sediment, respectively. Total
maximum daily loads (TMDLs) were approved for
both streams in December 2003.
Results
Project Highlights
Finger Lakes State Park is popular for its trails and
motocross-track recreation areas. To address the
water quality problem, MDNR's Division of State
Parks amended the park's conceptual plan to restore
and protect the stream and its riparian borders.
Beginning in 2002, MDNR established new trails with
lower erosion potential, added barriers to prevent
access to the stream channel (using guardrails donat-
ed by the Missouri Department of Transportation,
fences, and natural materials such as rocks and
logs), constructed three hardened stream crossings
(using gravel to minimize erosion) and one bridge
in a high-traffic area, added signs to direct traffic to
designated trails and stream crossings, developed
educational literature for ORV riders, and committed
to stricter enforcement of park policies prohibiting
ORVs from being ridden in the stream. MDNR closed
90 acres of the park to ORVs and rerouted many
trails. MDNR also completed erosion repair work,
helped to restore vegetation, and replaced an ORV
area with a 2.25-mile mountain bike trail.
While ORV activities contributed the majority of
sediment, agricultural lands contributed some addi-
tional sediment to Kelley Branch and Rocky Fork.
Between 2002 and 2007, MDNR's Soil and Water
Conservation Program, through the Boone County
Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD),
worked with landowners to implement BMPs such
as permanent vegetative cover, terrace systems,
and water impoundment practices. These practices
are estimated to have prevented 6,338 tons of soil
from eroding. In 2007 MDNR's Land Reclamation
Program completed a multi-year, 40-acre mine
reclamation project in the Rocky Fork area, which
should further reduce sedimentation.
To demonstrate aquatic habitat and designated
use improvement, MDNR completed a sediment
and macroinvertebrate study of the two streams in
2004. An unimpaired portion of upper Rocky Fork
was used as the reference-quality reach for the
study. Reduction in sedimentation also translated
into visual improvements to the stream substrate
and reduction in narrative criteria violations. The
available biological data suggested improved condi-
tions or no biological impairment due to sediment.
Table 1 illustrates that the biotic indices for impaired
reaches of upper Kelley Branch, lower Kelley
Branch, and lower Rocky Fork have been restored
to levels similar to those of the upper Rocky Fork
reference reach (i.e., these waters have improved
to levels that support the warm water aquatic life
use). On the basis of these data, Kelley Branch
and Rocky Fork were determined to be in compli-
ance with applicable water quality standards and
removed from the state's list of impaired waters in
2010. MDNR conducted a follow-up visual survey
in October 2010 that indicated additional improve-
ment in aquatic habitat due to measures taken at
the park.
Partners and Funding
CWA section 319 grant-funded staff and state-
supported activities were instrumental in conduct-
ing water quality monitoring and assessment, as
well as TMDL development, TMDL implementation,
and coordination and outreach. Major funding for
improvements within the park was provided by the
state through a one-tenth-of-one-percent Parks and
Soils Sales Tax passed by Missourians to support
state parks and soil and water conservation efforts.
The SWCD provided 75 percent cost share for agri-
cultural BMPs ($78,333). The U.S. Office of Surface
Mining Enforcement and Reclamation provided
funding for the 40-acre mine reclamation project in
the Rocky Fork area ($934,000).
Table 1. Sediment and Biological Data for Kelley Branch and Rocky Fork
Biotic
Index
Score
Reference
Reach-Upper
Rocky Fork:
Coarse Flow
5.11
Reference
Reach-Upper
Rocky Fork
6.66
Upper Kelley
Branch:
Coarse Flow
5.97
Upper Kelley
Branch: Non-
flow
7.13
Lower Kelley
Branch:
Coarse Flow
6.33
Lower Kelley
Branch: Non-
flow
6.82
Lower Rocky
Fork: Coarse
Flow
5.61
Lower Rocky
Fork: Non-
flow
6.72
0
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001GG
May 2014
For additional information contact:
Greg Anderson
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
573-751-7144 • greg.anderson@dnr.mo.gov
------- |