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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Implementing Agricultural Best Management Practices Increas
Dissolved Oxygen Levels in Williamson Swamp Creek
A/ t h H I H Polluted runoff from pasture-grazing cattle and cropland
VVaterDOay imprOVea activities contributed sediment to Georgia's Williamson
Swamp Creek. The additional sediment increased the sediment oxygen demand, leading
to dissolved oxygen (DO) levels too low to meet the criteria that support the creek's fishing
designated use. As a result, in 2002 the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GEPD) added
a 9-mile segment of the creek to its Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters
for DO impairment. Farmers installed a number of agricultural best management practices
(BMPs) to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff from pasturelands adjoining the creek's impaired
segments. Water quality improved, prompting GEPD to remove the 9-mile segment from the
state's list of impaired waters in 2010 for DO impairment.
Problem
Williamson Swamp Creek is a 52.4-mile-long
tributary to the Ogeechee River in the Coastal Plain
Red Uplands ecoregion of Georgia, an area that
includes mostly well-drained soils with a brown or
reddish brown loamy or sandy surface layer and red
subsoils (Figure 1). The 165,624-acre Williamson
Swamp Creek watershed includes primarily pas-
tureland, cropland, and hay fields (40 percent), as
well as forest and woodland on the steeper slopes
(38 percent).
Monitoring conducted in 2002 showed that a 9-mile
segment of the creek, flowing through Washington
and Jefferson counties (north of the confluence
with the Ogeechee River in south central Georgia),
sometimes failed to meet the DO criteria to support
the fishing designated use for warm-water fish
species. The DO criteria require that a waterbody
maintain a minimum daily average of 5.0 milligrams
per liter (mg/L) and no less than 4.0 mg/L DO at
all times (Figure 2). On the basis of these data, the
state added the 9-mile segment of the creek to its
2002 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
DO impairment.
A total maximum daily load (TMDL) study for DO
levels in the Ogeechee River Basin, which includes
Williamson Swamp Creek, was developed by the
GEPD and approved by EPA in 2007. The TMDL
identified the primary contributors to DO impair-
ment as land-disturbing activities (specifically
Georgia
Williamson Swamp
Creek Watershed
Figure 1. The 165,624-acre Williamson Swamp
Creek watershed is in eastern Georgia.
polluted runoff from pasture-grazing cattle and
cropland activities), natural contributions of oxygen-
demanding organic materials (wetland and swamps
with organically rich bottom sediments, and direct
leaf litter fall onto water surfaces and adjacent
floodplains from overhanging trees and vegetation).
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Williamson Swamp Creek
Dissolved Oxygen Levels (2002 and 2007)
Daily average DO criteria: 5.0 mg/L
Figure 2. Data recorded in 2002 showed that DO levels failed to
meet the water quality standard twice. Data recorded after project
implementation showed no violations.
Project Highlights
Using a combination of funding support from
CWA section 319 and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Environmental Quality
Incentive Program (EQIP), the Pine Country
Resource Conservation & Development Council
(RC&D) worked with local landowners to promote
and install agricultural BMPs not only to reduce
sediment and nutrient runoff into Williamson
Swamp Creek but also to improve the landowners'
operations.
Between 2004 and 2006, partners installed the
following BMPs to reduce runoff from agricultural
areas: 10 projects to install heavy-use area protec-
tion foundations and support structures in livestock
areas where a large number of cattle gather for
watering and feeding; 18 pasture and hayland plant-
ing projects (Figure 3); and one project to install
alternative livestock watering sources (including
wells and ponds) and water pipelines and livestock
exclusion fencing to limit livestock's access to
streams (Figure 4). In addition, partners implement-
ed critical streambank area protection measures
to reduce sediment loading into the creek. These
water quality control measures provided livestock
health benefits and improved area aesthetics.
Local agriculture agency partners, including the
local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) office in Washington and Jefferson coun-
ties, advised landowners on the technical design
Figure 3. Landowners
installed pasture
and hayland planting
projects to reduce
soil erosion, filter
runoff and increase
infiltration.
Figure 4. Project
partners installed
livestock exclusion
fences to prevent
cattle from accessing
the creek.
and specifications of BMPs and provided oversight
and expertise during the installation process.
Landowners participated voluntarily, providing
some of the labor and funds for the BMPs.
Results
Water quality monitoring conducted in 2007
showed that all 20 DO samples collected from the
9-mile segment of Williamson Swamp Creek met
the applicable state DO criteria—a minimum daily
average of 5.0 mg/L and no less than 4.0 mg/L at
all times for waters supporting warm-water fish
species (see Figure 2). Based on these data, in 2010
the state removed the 9-mile segment of the creek
from its list of impaired waters for DO impairment.
Partners and Funding
Williamson Swamp Creek restoration efforts were
supported by more than $159,000 in CWA section
319 funding, as well as approximately $107,500
from local producers to fulfill the 40 percent
required match for CWA section 319 grants. EQIP
funds in Washington County (through which a
portion of Williamson Swamp Creek flows) totaled
more than $837,400 between 2002 and 2007. Key
partners in this effort included the Washington and
Jefferson County Soil Conservation District, Pine
Country RC&D, and USDA NRCS agents, all of which
provided technical expertise and labor assistance.
Landowners in the Ogeechee River Basin contrib-
uted in-kind labor hours and some matching funds.
UJ
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-13-001F
January 2013
For additional information contact:
Jeff Linzer II
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
404-675-1643 • Jeffrey_Linzer@dnr.state.ga.us
Donna K. Shurling
Pine Country RC&D Council
912-529-6652 • dshurling@hotmail.com
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