Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Providing Technical Assistance and Better Managing Livestock Reduces
Bacteria Levels
Waterbodv Improved Excess bacteria from agricultural activities and failing sep-
tic systems impaired Trap Pond, one of Delaware's most
important recreational resources. As a result, Delaware added the pond to its 1996 Clean
Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Providing technical assistance and
implementing agricultural best management practices (BMPs) significantly reduced bacteria
levels. Water quality improved, prompting Delaware to remove Trap Pond from its list of
impaired waters in 2002.
Problem
Southern Delaware's Trap Pond is a tributary of
Broad Creek, which drains to the Nanticoke River,
which in turn flows into the Chesapeake Bay
(Figure 1). Saunders Branch is the primary tributary
to Trap Pond.
Surrounded by majestic stands of bald cypress
(Figure 2) in the center of one of Delaware's state
parks, Trap Pond supports abundant wildlife and
offers exceptional recreation opportunities. Trap
Pond State Park is home to the northernmost
natural stand of bald cypress in the United States;
one tree in the park is estimated to be more than
200 years old, is 127 feet tall, is almost 25 feet
around, and has a 62-foot branch spread. The area
also contains a 2,000-acre wetland, one of the larg-
est surviving freshwater wetlands in Delaware.
Trap Pond was created in the late 1700s to power
a sawmill. The area's bald cypress was coveted for
its rot-resistant wood and harvested extensively
throughout the 1700s. As a result, most of the bald
cypress around Trap Pond is second-growth. After
logging ceased, landowners enlarged the pond by
installing drainage tiles to dry out the surrounding
land for farming. In 1930, the federal government
bought Trap Pond and the farmland surrounding it
and brought in the Civilian Conservation Corps to
develop the area for recreation.
Water quality monitoring data collected in 1990 and
1991 showed bacteria counts as high as 700 colo-
ny-forming units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml). The
pond routinely exceeded Delaware's water quality
standard, 100 cfu per 100 ml. A further study found
Trap
Pond
Figure 1. Trap Pond is in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed in southern Delaware.
that Saunders Branch, the major tributary to Trap
Pond, had elevated bacteria and phosphorus levels.
Sanitary surveys revealed that the two probable
causes were direct discharges from failing septic
systems and manure from livestock that had direct
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Figure 2. Trap Pond is surrounded by stands of bald
cypress.
access to Saunders Branch or the drainage ditches
feeding it. Based on this information, Delaware
added the 88-acre Trap Pond to the 1996 CWA sec-
tion 303(d) list of impaired waters for bacteria.
Delaware completed a total maximum daily load
(TMDL) analysis for nutrients and dissolved oxygen
in tributaries and ponds of the Nanticoke River and
Broad Creek watersheds in 2000. Delaware devel-
oped a bacteria TMDL for the entire Chesapeake Bay
drainage, including the Nanticoke River watershed,
in 2006.
Project Highlights
The first phase of the restoration project, conducted
in the very early 1990s, involved notifying prop-
erty owners of their leaking septic systems. The
systems were quickly repaired or replaced, and
the affected areas of Saunders Branch responded
immediately with decreased bacteria levels.
The next phase addressed removing livestock
access to Saunders Branch and its drainages. A 1991
CWA section 319 grant funded the salary of a Sussex
County Conservation District conservation planner
working specifically in the Trap Pond watershed.
Although removing livestock access to drainage
areas in the watershed was a key project compo-
nent, the planner also provided technical assistance
to farmers who wanted help in implementing agri-
cultural BMPs and conducting nutrient management
planning throughout the Trap Pond watershed.
The conservation planner worked with two large
swine operations that were immediately adjacent
to Saunders Branch. The first operation covered
1,000 acres and produced 9,800 finish hogs annu-
ally; the second covered 100 acres and produced
1,200 finish hogs annually. The conservation planner
helped develop farm-wide conservation plans for
both farms.
Farmers installed BMPs on 29 poultry operations
in the Trap Pond watershed, including 23 manure
storage structures, 19 composters and 2 dead bird
incinerators. The Natural Resources Conservation
Service's (NRCS) Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program (CREP) and Conservation
Reserve Program supported planting of 2.4 acres
of wildlife habitat, 18 acres of hardwood trees
and 5.0 acres of grass buffers. Sussex County
Conservation District planners continue to work
with farmers throughout the watershed to provide
ongoing technical assistance to ensure improved
water quality.
Results
Table 1. Monitoring
Data for Trap Pond from
1992 through 1999
Implementing BMPs throughout
the watershed quickly reduced
bacteria levels in Trap Pond.
Monitoring data show that bac-
teria levels met the state water
quality standard of 100 cfu per
100 ml beginning in 1992. Water
quality data collected through
1999 show that bacteria levels in
Trap Pond remained well below
the state standards (Table 1). On
the basis of these data, Delaware
removed Trap Pond from the
2002 CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters for bacteria.
Partners and Funding
The Trap Pond project was a partnership involv-
ing the Sussex County Conservation District, the
Soil Conservation Service (now NRCS), and the
Delaware Nonpoint Source Program. Approximately
$84,000 in federal CWA section 319 funds sup-
ported the costs of a Sussex County Conservation
District planner working strictly in the Trap Pond
watershed. Additional funding was provided
through the NRCS' Environmental Quality Incentive
Program and CREP, and the state of Delaware's
Conservation Cost Share Program.
Year
Sampled
1992
1994
1995
1996
1998
1999
Geometric mean
(cni/lOOmL)
6
4
9
16
16
21
PR
I
o
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-11-001L
February 2011
For additional information contact:
Robert Palmer
Delaware Nonpoint Source Program
robert.palmer@state.de.us • 302-739-9922
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