Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Repairing Failing Septic Systems and Installing Best Management
Practices Restore Rubes Creek
Waterbody Improved
! "
Leaking septic tanks in residential areas and polluted
runoff from impervious surfaces caused abnormally high
fecal coliform (FC) bacteria levels in Georgia's Rubes Creek. As a result, the Georgia
Environmental Protection Division (GEPD) placed a 7-mile segment of the creek on its Clean
Water Act (CWA) section 305(b)/303(d) list of impaired waters in 2003. Using CWA section
319 and third-party grant funding, stakeholders installed a number of best management
practices (BMPs), including septic system repairs, on properties adjoining the creek's
impaired segment. Water quality improved, prompting GEPD to remove the 7-mile segment
from the state's 2010 CWA section 305(b)/303(d) list of impaired waters for FC bacteria.
Problem
Rubes Creek flows through Cherokee and Cobb
counties in northwest Georgia's Coosa River water-
shed (Figure 1). Rubes Creek is in the Blue Ridge
ecoregion. One of the most floristically diverse
areas in the eastern United States, the southern
Blue Ridge is home to Appalachian oak forests;
shrub, grass and heath balds; and hemlocks, cove
hardwoods and oak-pine communities.
Rubes Creek is designated for fishing use (i.e.,
secondary contact recreational use). To support
that designated use, the FC geometric means
in Rubes Creek must remain below 200 colony-
forming units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml) of
water in the summer (May to October) and below
1,000 cfu/100 ml in the winter (November to
April). A single-sample maximum criterion of
4,000 cfu/100 ml for the winter months also applies.
Water quality data collected in Rubes Creek from
1993 to 2003 showed that four of five FC summer-
time geometric means exceeded the state's bacteria
water quality criteria for fishing use (Table 1). As a
result, GEPD added a 7-mile segment to the 2003
CWA section 305(b)/303(d) list of impaired water for
high FC bacteria levels. GEPD identified urban run-
off, animal waste, sanitary sewer leaks, and failing
septic systems as likely bacteria sources.
A total maximum daily load (TMDL) study for
pathogens in 58 stream segments in the Coosa
River watershed, which includes Rubes Creek, was
Rubes Creek Watershed
Legend
Impaired Segment
Streams
— Streets
County Boundary
— Rubes Creek Watershed
JfCTfiJhal irjl'
nim'ilqii>-i4- iV-i
Figure 1. Rubes Creek is in northwest Georgia.
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Table 1. Rubes Creek seasonal monitoring
data3 (1995-2009)
Figure 2. Watershed partners worked with a residential landowner
to repair a failing septic system (left: before, right: after).
established by the GEPD and approved by EPA in
2004. GEPD cited runoff from failing septic systems
as the primary source of EC bacteria and urban
runoff as a secondary source. The TMDL noted
that bacteria levels would need to be reduced by
50 percent to allow Rubes Creek to meet the water
quality criterion necessary to support the fishing
designated use.
Project Highlights
Using a combination of CWA section 319 funding
and additional funds obtained through Cherokee
County, The Nature Conservancy, the Wildlife
Fund, and the City of Canton, the Limestone Valley
Resource Conservation & Development Council
(RC&D) worked with local stakeholders to promote
and install BMPs that would reduce pathogen runoff
into Rubes Creek. Partners used 2006 CWA section
319 funds to repair a failing septic system that was
contributing high levels of bacteria to the stream
(Figure 2). CWA section 319 funds also supported
the installation of approximately 250 feet of grassed
swales (vegetated channels designed to treat
and attenuate stormwater runoff), which helped
reduce bacteria loading into the creek from agricul-
tural lands. Stakeholders participated voluntarily,
providing partial labor and funds for the BMPs. The
agricultural BMPs were installed in 2009, and they
continue to help meet the load reduction allocations
established by the TMDL.
Results
In the most recent (2008-2009) FC bacteria sam-
pling of the 7-mile segment of Rubes Creek, state
scientists found that all four FC bacteria geometric
means complied with the state-established water
Date
Sept 1995
Nov1995
Oct 1999
Apr 2001
June 2001
Feb 2003
May 2003
Aug 2003
Winter 2008
Summer 2008
Winter 2009
Summer 2009
FC Bacteria Geometric Mean (cfu/100 ml)
482 (S)
111 (W)
108 (S)
101 (W)
281 (S)
138 (W)
245 (S)
342 (S)
103(W)
149 (S)
92 (W)
153 (S)
Bold values indicate exceedances of the applicable
seasonal standard:
• S = summer (May-Oct):
Must be less than 200 cfu/100 ml geometric mean
• W = winter (Nov-Apr):
Must be less than 1,000 cfu/100 ml geometric mean
quality criteria for both summer and winter (see
Table 1). The FC data indicate that the stream now
supports its fishing designated use, prompting the
GEPD to remove the segment from the state's 2010
CWA section 305(b)/303(d) list of impaired water for
FC bacteria.
Partners and Funding
Rubes Creek has benefitted from $2,760 of CWA
section 319 funding. Homeowners provided the
remaining 40 percent of BMP costs for a total
of $4,600 directed toward BMP construction.
An additional $6,000 in federal CWA section
319 funds was provided for additional BMPs,
implemented after monitoring was completed,
to ensure continued protection of the creek.
Between 2004 and 2008, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture provided more than $124,900 in Natural
Resources Conservation Service Environmental
Quality Incentive Program funds and $30,000 in
Farm Service Agency funds to farmers in Cherokee
County. Key partners in this effort include the
Upper Etowah River Alliance, the Limestone Valley
RC&D, and the Cherokee County Environmental
Health Department. Agents of these generous
partners provided technical expertise and labor.
Landowners in the Coosa River watershed contrib-
uted in-kind labor hours and some matching funds.
UJ
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-13-001G
January 2013
For additional information contact:
Jeff Linzer II
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
404-675-1643 • Jeffrey_Linzer@dnr.state.ga.us
Diane Minick
Limestone Valley RC&D
706-625-7044 • dianeminick@msn.com
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