Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Multi-Agency Effort Cleans Up Clear Creek
\A/3t6rbody ImprOVGd Runoff from agricultural areas and waste from leaking septic
systems sent pollution to Clear Creek, causing the stream
to not meet several of Iowa's water quality standards. As a result, the Iowa Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) added a 7-mile segment of Clear Creek to the state's Clean Water
Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2004. Watershed partners implemented
agricultural best management practices (BMPs) and coordinated construction of a
wastewater treatment facility to replace leaking septic systems. Water quality improved,
prompting DNR to remove Clear Creek from Iowa's list of impaired waters in 2010.
Problem
The 66,000-acre Clear Creek watershed in east-
central Iowa includes Clear Creek (Figure 1), and
the North Branch and Deer Creek subwatersheds.
Agriculture is the primary land use within the water-
shed. In 2003, the Clear Creek Watershed Advisory
Board, a subcommittee of the Johnson County Soil
and Water Conservation District, led an assessment
and watershed planning effort in the Clear Creek
watershed. During the assessment in September
2003, volunteers conducting a "snapshot" monitor-
ing event through the DNR IOWATER volunteer
monitoring program discovered high levels of
bacteria and visible floating wastewater debris in
Clear Creek. The suspected sources of the bacteria
and debris were rural households with inadequate
septic systems in a nearby unsewered community.
Other key pollutants of concern were sediment and
phosphorus delivery from agricultural lands and
animal feeding operations.
The water quality conditions in this segment
of Clear Creek, as documented by subsequent
volunteer monitors and by Iowa DNR staff, violated
several of Iowa's narrative water quality stan-
dards, including: "Such waters shall be free from
materials attributable to wastewater discharges
or agricultural practices producing objectionable
color, odor or other aesthetically objectionable
conditions." These standards protect the general
uses of Iowa's surface waters. In 2004, DNR added
Clear Creek to the state's CWA section 303(d) list
of impaired waters because it did not fully support
its general uses.
Figure 1. Clear Creek flows through east-central Iowa.
Project Highlights
In 2006, a group of partners launched the Clear
Creek Watershed Project, which focused on reducing
sediment loading in the North Branch subwatershed.
Using CWA section 319 funds and other fund-
ing sources, 30 landowners installed numerous
practices. They restored five acres of wetlands,
developed nutrient management plans for 615 acres,
implemented pasture and hay land plans on 34 acres,
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Figure 2. A landowner installed
three water and sediment
control basins to control gully
erosion (background) and a
100-foot native grass filter strip
(foreground).
planted 94 acres of grassed
waterways, added three grade
stabilization structures, and
installed 134 water and sedi-
ment control basins (Figure 2).
They also planted 15,275 feet
of filter strips (Figure 3), imple-
mented 28 acres of conserva-
tion cover (i.e., establishing
and maintaining permanent
vegetative cover to reduce soil
erosion and sedimentation),
converted 340 acres to no-till
planting, created 18 acres
of contour buffers, and built
5,400 feet of fencing for
livestock.
In addition, project partners
addressed leaking septic
systems. The board of the
Clear Creek Watershed
Project teamed up with the
Iowa County Soil and Water
Conservation District and suc-
cessfully obtained a $500,000
state Watershed Improvement
Review Board (WIRE) grant,
which sponsored the Conroy
Sewer Service construction
project. The WIRE grant,
coupled with U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Rural
Development Block Grant loans and a state
Community Development Block Grant, enabled the
group to address the water quality impairment rela-
tively swiftly, constructing a new wastewater treat-
ment system for the unincorporated community of
Conroy in December 2008. The new wastewater
treatment facility replaced many leaking or failing
septic systems. This sponsorship demonstrated
the value of multi-agency collaboration in the Clear
Creek watershed, as the soil and water conserva-
tion district (the only partner eligible to receive the
WIRB grant) procured funding that directly contrib-
uted to achieving watershed restoration goals.
Figure 3. A landowner planted
100-foot filter strips on each
side of Deer Creek and installed
fencing to keep cows out of the
creek during the fall-to-spring
stalk grazing season.
Results
practices used by landowners in the Clear Creek
watershed prevented an estimated 8,397 tons of
sediment per year from reaching Clear Creek—a
nearly 40 percent reduction. The DNR also esti-
mates that landowners reduced phosphorus deliv-
ery by 10,081 pounds per year. In 2009 DNR staff
conducted a field check, finding that Clear Creek
showed improved water quality conditions with no
evidence of untreated or poorly treated wastewater
in the stream. The DNR determined that Clear Creek
no longer violates Iowa's narrative water quality
standards and now fully supports its general uses.
As a result, DNR removed the 7-mile segment of
Clear Creek from the state's list of impaired waters
list in 2010.
Partners and Funding
The Clear Creek Watershed Project established
a sediment loading reduction target goal of
30 percent. Using Iowa's sediment delivery
calculator, DNR determined that the conservation
Many partners contributed to the multifaceted water
quality project, including the DNR, Iowa Department
of Agriculture and Land Stewardship-Division of
Soil Conservation, Iowa WIRB, Iowa Department of
Economic Development, USDA Rural Development,
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and
USDA Farm Services Agency.
Several funding sources supported the instal-
lation of practices to control soil erosion and
phosphorus delivery: the EPA CWA section
319 program ($250,000), Iowa Department of
Agriculture and Land Stewardship-Division of Soil
Conservation's Water Protection Fund ($196,560),
USDA Environmental Quality Incentive Program
($166,775), USDA Conservation Reserve Program
($60,940) and the Iowa Financial Incentive Program
($75,000). Landowners contributed another
$182,460 toward practices in the project.
Additional funding sources supported the effort to
remediate pollution from areas of the community
not serviced by sewers. The sources included WIRB
funds ($500,000), a USDA Rural Development Block
Grant loan ($500,000), a Community Development
Block Grant ($200,000) and funds from the
Poweshiek Rural Water Association ($30,707). In
addition, the local project sponsors received a
state Iowa Infrastructure Investment Initiative grant
($47,000).
Having an existing project with a plan of action,
assessment and water quality information was
instrumental in obtaining the WIRB funds and other
funds that followed.
UJ
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-12-001PP
September 2012
For additional information contact:
Rachel Glaza
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
515-281-8158
Rachel.glaza@dnr.iowa.gov
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