NONPOINT SOIREE SICCESS STOIY
Addressing Agricultural and Residential Bacteria Sources Improves
Water Quality in the Leon and South Leon Rivers
,A/ r i I High levels of bacteria prompted the Texas Commission on
Waterbodes improved c . ln ,T™ + D- /• iQQCi
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to add the Leon River (in 1996)
and South Leon River (in 2006) to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters
for not supporting the primary contact recreation use. The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation
Board (TSSWCB) provided CWA section 319(h) grant funding to develop a watershed protection plan
(WPP) to address the bacteria impairments in the Leon River watershed. Watershed stakeholders
voluntarily implemented best management practices (BMPs) and conducted public outreach and
education. Through these efforts, water quality improved and the South Leon River (assessment
unit [AU] 1221B_01) and three assessment units of the Leon River below Proctor Lake (AU 1221_01,
1221_04, and 1221_05) were removed from the state's list of impaired waters in 2014.
Problem
The 1,375-square-mile Leon River watershed in central
Texas is bounded by Proctor Lake upstream and Belton
Lake downstream (Figure 1). The Leon River is 190
miles long, and drains portions of Comanche, Erath,
Hamilton, and Coryell counties. The watershed is
largely rural, with most of the land suited for grazing
by cattle and goats; a few animal feeding opera-
tions are also present. These agricultural operations,
wildlife, feral hogs and on-site sewage facilities (OSSFs)
have the potential to be sources of bacteria loadings.
South Leon River, a tributary of the Leon River, shares
the land use features of the larger watershed.
Data collected in the Leon River (1990-1995) showed
that fecal coliform levels exceeded the bacteria water
quality standard (WQS) for contact recreation. As a
result, TCEQ added the river to the 1996 CWA sec-
tion 303(d) list for not supporting its primary contact
recreation use. In 2000 the bacteria WQS changed to
an Escherichia co//-based standard requiring that E. coli
levels not exceed a geometric mean of 126 colony-
forming units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml) of water.
Data collected from 1998 to 2005 showed that the
geometric mean for E. coli exceeded the standard in
South Leon River. As a result, TCEQ added South Leon
River to the 2006 CWA section 303(d) list for not sup-
porting its primary contact recreation use.
Leon River Seg
1221 _01
1221 _04
1221 _05
South Leon River Seg
1221BJI1
Rivers
USStateHighways
US State Secondary Highways
Leon River and Streams
Lakes
I I City
Counties
I I Leon River HUCs
I I Leon RiverWS
Figure 1. The Leon River watershed is in central Texas.
Project Highlights
Water quality impairments in the Leon River and some
of its tributaries prompted TCEQ to begin develop-
ing a bacteria total maximum daily load in 2002.
Local stakeholders, wanting to take an active role in
developing management strategies to reduce bacteria
loadings, sought to initiate the development of a WPP.
The TSSWCB provided CWA section 319(h) funding to
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Measured [.Coli
gr ~ I i 1
South Leon River f. Coli Levels
*
Standard: 126
» *«»» A * *cfu/100mL
**V*J * 1* ,
'2005 10/10/2006 2/22/2008 7/6/2009 11/18/2010 V1/2012 8/14/2013
Sample Date
in Hamilton County. Implementation continued after
2012, and additional counties in the watershed have
received funding to fix failing OSSFs.
Figure 2. Bacteria levels in the South Leon River have dropped.
the Brazos River Authority to facilitate the develop-
ment of a WPP for the Leon River. The stakeholder
group leading the WPP development included repre-
sentatives from Commissioner's courts (i.e., county
governments), agricultural producers, wildlife inter-
ests, soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs), the
dairy industry, cities and various other interests in the
watershed. A technical advisory group, composed of
representatives from federal, state and local agencies;
universities; and other entities provided expertise to
the stakeholder group.
Management measures identified in the WPP were
implemented by stakeholders. Several outreach and
education programs were implemented to inform local
stakeholders of available resources.
The TSSWCB, partnering with the Upper Leon, Mills
County and the Hamilton-Coryell SWCDs, certified
and implemented 13 water quality management plans
on 4,058 acres in the impaired watersheds. These
plans included alternative water sources, prescribed
grazing, cross-fencing, grassed waterways, nutrient
management and grass planting. In addition, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) worked with landowners
to implement conservation practices (e.g., prescribed
grazing, grass and range planting, nutrient manage-
ment, residue management, conservation cover, water
wells, water troughs, ponds) using Environmental
Quality Incentives Program and Agricultural Water
Enhancement Program funding on over 388,600 acres
in the Leon River watershed and over 47,600 acres in
the South Leon River watershed. From May through
November 2012, TSSWCB partnered with Hamilton
County and Texas A&M AgriLife to help repair or
replace 10 failing OSSFs along or near the Leon River
Results
Monitoring data show that waters meet the state
WQS for contact recreation in several portions of
the Leon River (101.82 cfu/100 mL in AU 1221JD1;
67.82 cfu/100 mL in AU 1221JD4; 99.23 cfu/100
mL in AU 1221JD5 for 2005-2012 assessment data)
and all of South Leon River (116.93 cfu/100 mL for
2005-2012 assessment data)(Figure 2). Consequently,
the entire length (17 miles) of the South Leon River
(AU 1221BJD1) was removed from the state's list of
impaired waters in 2014. In addition, three AUs of the
Leon River (1221JD1, 1221JD4, and 1221JD5) were
removed from the impaired waters list in 2014 (see
Figure 1). These waterbodies currently support all their
designated uses.
The success can be attributed to conservation practice
implementation, repaired or replaced failing OSSFs,
and increased stakeholder awareness due to the
watershed planning process. Water quality monitor-
ing continues to track and measure interim progress
to implement the Leon River WPP and ensure the
restoration effort remains a success.
Partners and Funding
Over $433,550 in CWA section 319(h) funds (provided
by the TSSWCB), combined with more than $353,680
in nonfederal matching funds from TSSWCB and the
Brazos River Authority, supported developing the
WPP, collecting and analyzing water samples, develop-
ing pollutant loading models, facilitating stakeholder
involvement in the watershed planning process and
crafting the WPP.
The Hamilton-Coryell and Upper Leon SWCDs worked
with landowners to voluntarily implement conserva-
tion practices to reduce the impact of livestock on
grazing land. The TSSWCB and the NRCS worked
through the SWCDs to provide approximately $47,200
in state funding and $1,924,000 in federal Farm Bill
funding to landowners as financial incentives to imple-
ment BMPs and provide technical assistance. More
than $60,000 in CWA section 319(h) funds matched
with over $8,500 in state and local funds were used to
repair or replace failing OSSFs.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-16-001I
May 2016
For additional information contact:
Brian Koch, Texas State Soil & Water Conservation Board
979-532-9496 • bkoch@tsswcb.texas.gov
Megan Wilson, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-1165 • Megan.Wilson@tceq.texas.gov
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