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NONPOINT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY
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Implementing Agricultural Conservation Practices Improves Furbidity
Levels in Caney Boggy Creek
Waterbody Improved
High turbidity resulted in the impairment of Caney Boggy Creek
and placement on Oklahoma's Clean Water Act (CWA) section
303(d) list of impaired waters in 2008. Grazing and hay production contributed to the impairment.
Implementing conservation practice systems (CPs) to promote better quality grazing land decreased
sediment loading into the creek. As a result, the entire length of Caney Boggy Creek was removed
from Oklahoma's 2010 CWA section 303(d) list for turbidity impairment.
Problem
Caney Boggy Creek is a 26.5-mile-long stream in
Hughes, Coal and Pittsburg counties in southeastern
Oklahoma (Figure 1). Land use in the 65,000-acre
watershed is approximately 47 percent pasture and
grasslands for cattle and hay production and about 48
percent forested. Less than '1 percent is cropland for
corn, soybeans and wheat production.
Poor grassland management contributed to excess
sedimentation In Caney Boggy Creek. It was listed as
impaired for turbidity in 2008 when 20 percent of
samples collected at seasonal baseflow exceeded the
criterion of 50 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU).
A stream is considered impaired by turbidity if more
than 10 percent of the seasonal base flow water
samples exceed 50 NTU (based on 5 years of data
before the assessment year). On the basis of these
assessment results, Oklahoma added the entire length
of Caney Boggy Creek (OK410400060120_00) to the
2008 CWA section 303(d) list for nonattainment of
the fish and wildlife propagation designated use due
to turbidity and dissolved oxygen impairment. Caney
Boggy Creek was also listed in 2008 for impairments
to its primary body contact beneficial use based on
excessive Enteroccoccus bacteria concentrations.

Caney Boggy Watershed
Project Highlights
Landowners implemented CPs with assistance from
Oklahoma's Locally Led Cost Share Program (LLCP)
program and through the local U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and
Figure 1. Caney Boggy Creek is in Hughes, Coal and Pittsburgh
counties in southern Oklahoma.
general conservation technical assistance program.
From 2007 to 2010, landowners improved many
acres of pasture and rangeland, which reduced runoff
of sediment and other pollutants. CPs installed to
accomplish this improvement included 4,057.6 acres of
prescribed grazing, 189.3 acres of forage and biomass
planting, 607.3 acres of nutrient management, 2,522
acres of integrated pest management (IPM), 49.2
acres of brush management, four ponds, 332 acres of
upland wildlife habitat management, 1 acre of critical
area planting, 1,700 linear feet of cross-fencing, 188.6
acres of prescribed burning, 16,219.5 feet of firebreak
and 377.1 acres of waste recycling.
To reduce erosion of soil and the runoff of nutrients
from cropland, landowners also implemented pre-
scribed grazing on 142 acres and IPM on 405 acres.
Forage harvest management was implemented on 341
acres. These practices return degraded land to a more

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Caney Boggy Creek, Turbidity
20% exceedance
20% exceedance
6% exceedance
0% exceedance
0% exceedance
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Figure 2. Monitoring data indicate base flow turbidity
levels in Caney Boggy Creek have steadily declined.
Figure 3. Caney Boggy Creek partially attains its fish
and wildlife propagation designated use.
Conservation work continues in the watershed
through EQIP, general technical assistance and WHIP.
Since 2010, an additional 547 acres of cropland were
improved through forage harvest management; 242
acres were improved through IPM.
Additional CPs since 2010 on pasture and rangeland
include four grade stabilization structures, 40 acres
of forage and biomass planting, 7,508 linear feet of
cross-fencing, 148 acres of brush management, 2.3
acres of critical area planting, 404 acres of IPM,. 1,962
linear feet of livestock pipeline, 2.3 acres of nutrient
management, one pond, 8.9 acres of restoration and
management of rare and declining wildlife habitats,
1,040 acres of upland wildlife management, 12,385
acres of firebreak, 700 acres of prescribed burning and
761.3 acres of prescribed grazing.
Results
Through its statewide nonpoint source ambient
monitoring program, the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission (OCC) documented improved water
quality in Caney Boggy Creek due to landowners
implementing CPs. In the 2008 assessment, 20 percent
of seasonal base flow water samples exceeded the
turbidity criteria of 50 NTH. The exceedance rate was
reduced to 7 percent in 2010 and to 0 percent by 2014
(Figure 2). On the basis of these data, Caney Boggy
Creek was removed from the Oklahoma CWA section
303(d) list for turbidity in 2010, resulting In the partial
attainment of its fish and wildlife propagation desig-
nated use (Figure 3). Although dissolved oxygen and
bacteria concentrations have improved, they do not
yet meet the water quality standards required for full
support. Monitoring will continue to hopefully allow
for the documentation of additional success in the
Caney Boggy Watershed.
Partners and Funding
The Rotating Basin Monitoring Program is supported
in part by EPA's CWA section 319 funds at an average
annual statewide cost of $1 million. Monitoring costs
Include personnel, supplies and iab analysis for 18
parameters from samples collected every 5 weeks at
about 100 sites, for a total of 20 episodes per 5-year
cycle, instream habitat, fish and macroinvertebrate
samples are also collected. Approximately $500,000 in
EPA CWA section 319 supports statewide education,
outreach and monitoring efforts through the Blue
Thumb program. The OCC LLCP program provided
$6,112 in state funding for CPs in this watershed
through the Hughes, Coal and Pittsburgh county
conservation districts; landowners contributed $6,557
in match. NRCS invested approximately $50,000 for
implementation of CPs in the watershed through NRCS
EQIP and WHIP. In addition, landowners implemented
a significant number of CPs with their own funding
based on conservation plans supported by NRCS
genera! technical assistance and match for EQIP and
WHIP contracts.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
0** Office of Water
\ Washington, DC
I
EPA 841-F-16-0010
pro^° August 2016
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission

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