Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Removing Agricultural and Residential Bacteria Sources Improves
Upper Marshyhope Creek
Waterbndv Imnrnved NonP°int source pollution, including direct discharges from
' ' ' ' ' ^ -• •- failing septic systems and nutrient pollution in agricultural
runoff contributed to elevated bacteria counts in upper Marshyhope Creek. As a result, the
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) added a
19.7-mile segment of Marshyhope Creek to the state's 1996 Clean Water Act (CWA) section
303(d) list of impaired waters for bacteria. Stakeholders implemented agricultural best
management practices (BMPs) and worked with the local agricultural community to develop
nutrient management plans, which led to water quality improvements. Upper Marshyhope
Creek now meets state standards for bacteria, prompting DNREC to remove the creek from
the state's list of impaired waters in 2008.
Problem
The Delaware portion of the Marshyhope Creek
watershed (upper Marshyhope Creek) lies within
Kent and Sussex counties on the western edge of
Delaware (Figure 1). The creek flows southwest
into Maryland before eventually discharging into
the Nanticoke River, which in turn empties into the
Chesapeake Bay (Figure 2). The drainage area of
the Marshyhope Creek watershed within Delaware
is approximately 250 square kilometers. Nonpoint
source pollution from agricultural areas and from
failing and unmaintained septic systems led to
elevated bacteria counts in upper Marshyhope
Creek.
DNREC maintains a General Assessment
Monitoring Network (GAMN) of 181 stations
throughout Delaware. GAMN stations are consid-
ered long-term stations whose data are used to
make long-term status and trend assessments
of water quality conditions. The monitoring
frequency before 2006 was four to six times
peryear; after 2006, the monitoring frequency
increased to 12 times per year for a suite of
physical and chemical parameters. The data from
upper Marshyhope Creek, which include data
from two distinct GAMN sample collection sta-
tions, showed that water samples were routinely
exceeding Delaware's water quality standard for
bacteria, which requires that the bacteria geo-
metric mean remain below 100 colonies (col) per
Figure 1. The Marshyhope Creek watershed is in
southwestern Delaware and eastern Maryland.
100 milliliters (ml) for a period of 5 years. These
data showed that the waterbody was failing to sup-
port its primary contact recreation designated use.
Consequently, DNREC placed a 19.7-mile segment
of Marshyhope Creek (DE-200-001; headwaters to
state line) on the state's 1996 CWA section 303(d)
list of impaired waters for bacteria. A total maxi-
mum daily load (TMDL) was developed for bacteria
and approved in 2006.
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Figure 2. Marshyhope Creek flows through Eldorado,
Maryland, before emptying into the Nanticoke River.
Project Highlights
The Sussex County Conservation District (SCO)
provided technical assistance to the local farming
community to help them develop nutrient manage-
ment plans and provided cost-share funding to help
implement agricultural BMPs. The SCO partnered
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's)
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
to develop conservation plans and Environmental
Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) contracts. The
DNREC Nonpoint Source Program provided CWA
section 319 funding to support five SCO planners.
With the assistance of the SCO planners, 13 poultry
farm operators in the Marshyhope Creek watershed
installed 11 manure storage sheds, six dead bird
composters, one dead bird incinerator, and 42 heavy-
use-area protection pads (pads made from concrete
or other artificial materials that help to manage
animal waste, sediment, and nutrient runoff). In addi-
tion, one dairy farm operator installed a liquid animal
waste system and a heavy-use-area protection pad.
A horse farm operator and a goat farm operator
installed additional manure sheds on their properties
as well. The SCO planners worked with area farmers
to install annual winter cover crops to protect barren
fields from winter runoff and erosion. Farmers plant
an estimated 1,100 acres of cover crops annually in
the Marshyhope Creek watershed.
Delaware's Department of Agriculture (DDA) offers
animal operation owners a nutrient relocation cost-
share program that provides financial reimburse-
ment to farmers, brokers, and trucking businesses
for the cost of transporting litter from a Delaware
farm to an alternative-use project or another farm for
land application. Funding for this program is partially
provided by Nonpoint Source Program grants paid
for by CWA section 319 funds, Chesapeake Bay
Program grants, and funds from poultry integrators
active in Delaware. On average, 750 tons of poultry
manure is transported out of the Marshyhope Creek
watershed annually. USDA's Delaware Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), a voluntary
land retirement program that helps agricultural
producers protect environmentally sensitive land,
was established in Delaware in 1999 to improve
water quality. The DNREC Nonpoint Source Program
directed CWA section 319 funds to support a
full-time Delaware CREP coordinator to assist with
developing and implementing CREP in the upper
Marshyhope Creek watershed and other areas
throughout the state. The CREP coordinator worked
with landowners to enroll 172 acres of hardwood
trees in the land retirement program, plant 51 acres
of vegetation for wildlife support, install 117 acres
of grassed filter strips, and restore 6.5 acres of wet-
lands in the upper Marshyhope Creek watershed.
Results
DNREC collected monitoring data on upper
Marshyhope Creek between April 2003 and
April 2008. The geometric mean of the 167
samples collected over the 5-year period was
89 col/100 ml—well below Delaware's freshwater
bacteria water quality standard, 100 col/100 ml. As
a result, DNREC removed the 19.7-mile segment of
Marshyhope Creek (DE-200-001) from the state's
list of impaired waters in 2008. The creek now fully
supports its primary contact recreation designated
use; continued monitoring will ensure that it contin-
ues to meet water quality standards.
Partners and Funding
The success in Delaware's Marshyhope Creek water-
shed was the result of a partnership involving the
SCO, NRCS, the USDA's Farm Service Agency, DDA,
and the DNREC Nonpoint Source Program. Project
funding was provided through DNREC, USDA's
EQIP and CREP, and Delaware's Conservation Cost
Share Program. Where not specifically tracked for
the watershed, estimates for BMP implementation
are based on average per-unit costs. Projects were
supported by $906,446 in EQIP and state cost-
share funds, $112,185 in CREP funding, $49,500 in
cost-share funds from DNREC's Annual Cover Crop
Program, and $3,240 in cost-share funds from DDA's
Annual Nutrient Relocation Program.
UJ
O
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-14-001M
April 2014
For additional information contact:
Robert Palmer
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control
302-739-9922 • robert.palmer@state.de.us
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