Section 319
               NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS  STORY
 Addressing Illegal Dumping Reduces Bacteria in Tres Palacios Creek
Watprbodv Imnrovpd   Bacteria leaching from illegal dumpsites caused Tres Palacios
                   1       "     Creek in Texas to violate the state's bacteria water quality
 standards. As a result, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) placed Tres
 Palacios Creek Above Tidal (segment 1502) on the state's 1996 Clean Water Act (CWA)
 section 303(d) list of impaired waters for not meeting the contact recreation criteria for
 bacteria. TCEQ and the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) launched dumpsite cleanup
 efforts and conducted an education and enforcement campaign. Bacteria levels declined
 and  now meet water quality standards, prompting TCEQ to remove this segment from the
 state's list of impaired  waters for bacteria in 2010.
 Problem
 Tres Palacios Creek flows through Wharton and
 Matagorda counties in south-central Texas and
 eventually empties into Tres Palacios Bay (Figure 1).
 The watershed encompasses an area of approxi-
 mately 322 square miles extending from the city of
 El Campo to the city of Palacios.

 Tres Palacios Above Tidal (segment 1502) is approx-
 imately 47 miles long. It begins as an intermittent
 stream with flow that coincides with rain events
 and effluent from the City of El Campo's waste-
 water treatment plant. As it flows into Matagorda
 County, segment 1502 becomes a more perennial
 stream used for contact recreation (swimming,
 water skiing and fishing).

 In the mid-1990s, monitoring data showed that
 bacteria levels in segment 1502 violated the state's
 water quality standards. As a result, in 1996 TCEQ
 added this segment to the state's CWA section
 303(d) list of impaired waters for not attaining its
 contact recreation use criteria because of elevated
 bacteria levels.

 A 1999 LCRA bacteria monitoring study on Tres
 Palacios Creek indicated that bacteria were
 introduced into the creek through runoff, rather
 than from constant sources such as leaky or failing
 septic systems. In 2002 public concern about
 illegal dumpsites in the Tres Palacios watershed
 focused attention on those areas as a possible
 source of the bacteria problems. Illegal dumpsites
 can harbor the bacteria found in medical waste,
 dead animals, used diapers, domestic sewage
 waste and pet feces.
 — Stream Segments
 — Tres Palacios Creek
    res Palacios Watershed
Figure 1. The Tres Palacios Creek watershed is in south-
central Texas.
Project Highlights
In 2003 LCRA received CWA section 319 funds
to develop an anti-dumping public education and
enforcement campaign. LCRA established an
illegal dumping hotline through a partnership with
Matagorda County Crime Stoppers. LCRA also
installed "No Dumping" signs at 37 bridge cross-
ings, placed billboards with the hotline number and

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Figure 2. An illegal dumpsite in Tres
Palacios Creek.
                      anti-dumping slogans in
                      24 locations, and aired a
                      30-second radio spot on
                      12 radio stations.

                      The enforcement portion
                      of the project included
                      installing security cameras
                      at common dumpsites
                      and conducting mul-
                      tiple investigations of
                      illegal dumping activities.
                      Throughout the project
                      period, the Matagorda
                      Health Department inves-
                      tigated 49 illegal dump-
                      ing sites after receiving
                      phone calls to the illegal
                      dumping hotline (Figure 2).
                      The Department con-
ducted some minor cleanups at those dumpsites
in response. An article in the August 2003 issue
of Matagorda County's Tribune News provided an
overview of the illegal dumping campaign and high-
lighted the public support for the enforcement cam-
paign conducted by the  Bay City Police Department
and Matagorda County Sheriff's Department.

In May 2005, TCEQ provided additional  CWA sec-
tion 319 funds to LCRA to expand the anti-dumping
program up the Colorado River Basin to McCullough
County, northwest of Austin. New project tasks
included conducting an aerial survey of dumpsites
along the Colorado River and several tributaries,
developing an interactive DVD with  maps showing
dump locations, creating additional  public service
announcements, and holding public cleanup events.

During 2006 and 2007, the Gulf of Mexico
Foundation coordinated  three streamside cleanup
events—one in Wharton County (March 2007) and
two in Matagorda County (March 2006 and February
2007). More than 400 volunteers participated in
the events, removing more than 1,000 pounds of
illegally dumped trash along Tres Palacios Creek.
             Results
            The anti-dumping public education campaign, local
            cleanup events, and investigations of illegal dump-
            ing sites by the Matagorda Health Department and
            local law enforcement helped to increase aware-
            ness and reduce illegal dumping. The campaign not
            only had a positive effect in Matagorda County but
            also reached thousands of people in several other
            counties across the state.
                                                                                          E.Coli
                                                                                                    126 - f. Co//Geomean Standard \-
                                                                                           Date
Figure 3. E. co/i grab samples taken between 2003 and 2010 at
TCEQ station 12517 on segment 1502. One outlier sample taken
on 6/16/2004 (9,208 cfu/100 ml) was removed from the graph
because of its large value.
                                                               Monitoring data indicate that the campaign has
                                                               helped to reduce bacteria in Tres Palacios Creek.
                                                               The periodic high levels in bacteria typically seen
                                                               in the wet winter months have declined steadily
                                                               over the years, particularly beginning in 2006 as
                                                               cleanup events took place. Since 2009, the creek
                                                               has consistently met the applicable water quality
                                                               standard of 126 colonies of Escherichia coli (E. co/i)
                                                               bacteria per  100 milliliters (ml) of water (Figure 3).
                                                               As a result, TCEQ removed segment 1502 from the
                                                               state's 2010  CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
                                                               waters for bacteria.
                                                               Partners and Funding
Funding for this project involved multiple in-kind
sources and the cooperation of many partners.
TCEQ provided approximately $60,000 in U.S.
Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA) CWA
section 319 funds to LCRA to support the project
beginning in 2003. LCRA and its partners provided
$40,000 in matching funds. The Capital Area
Council of Governments (CAPCOG) and LCRA
provided another $79,000 in additional funding
to support the project activities. TCEQ provided
additional CWA section 319 funds to LCRA in
2005 to expand the anti-dumping program.
Key project partners included the Matagorda
Health Department, Matagorda County Sheriff's
Department, Bay City Police Department, Gulf of
Mexico Foundation, LCRA, TCEQ and CAPCOG.
                  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                  Office of Water
                  Washington, DC

                  EPA841-F-12-001M
                  May 2012
                                                   For additional information contact:
                                                   Jack Higginbotham
                                                   Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
                                                   Jack.Higginbotham@tceq.texas.gov • 512-239-6699
                                                   Tim Cawthon, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
                                                   Tim.Cawthon@tceq.texas.gov • 512-239-0845

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