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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