Section 319
               NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
                                                 Vtra
 Implementing Management Practices Reduces Nitrate in Virginias

 Muddy Creek
\A/  t    h  H   I           H  Nutrients from agriculture and failing septic systems contributed to
VVdierDOQy improved  Vj0|atjons Of tne nitrate-nitrogen drinking water use water quality
 standard in Virginia's Muddy Creek. As a result, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
 added a 2.17-mile segment of the creek to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of
 impaired waters in 1998. Project partners worked with landowners to implement numerous residential
 and agricultural best management practices (BMPs), which overtime brought nitrogen levels in the
 creek into compliance with the water quality standards. As a result, VA DEQ removed this segment of
 Muddy Creek from the state's  list of impaired waters for nitrate-nitrogen in 2010.
 Problem
 Muddy Creek is in Rockingham County, approxi-
 mately 15 miles northwest of Harrisonburg, Virginia
 (Figure 1). Muddy Creek drains into Lower Dry
 River, a headwater tributary of the South Fork of the
 Shenandoah River in the Chesapeake Bay water-
 shed. Land uses in the 20,025-acre watershed are
 predominantly agriculture and forestry.

 Lower Muddy Creek is designated for public
 drinking water use because it is less than 5 miles
 upstream of the water treatment plant intakes for
 two local municipalities. DEQ added the lower
 2.17 miles of Muddy Creek to the state's 1998
 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
 violating the state's water quality standard for
 nitrate-nitrogen. The creek was listed again in
 2004 based on monitoring that showed that three
 of 53 samples violated the public drinking water
 use water quality standard, 10 milligrams per liter
 (mg/L) nitrate-nitrogen. The creek was also listed
 as impaired for nitrate-nitrogen during the 2006
 and 2008 assessment cycles. In 1996 all of Muddy
 Creek (a 10.36-mile-long segment extending from
 the headwaters to its confluence with Dry River)
 had been listed as impaired for violating bacteria
 water quality standards for recreation and for failing
 to support its aquatic life designated use.

 In 2000 DEQ completed a total maximum daily
 load (TMDL) study for nitrate in Muddy Creek. The
 TMDL identified the load reductions that would be
 necessary for the creek to comply with water qual-
 ity standards. The study identified the key sources
 of nitrogen as failing septic systems, straight pipes,
 and runoff from pasture and  cropland areas.
                             Muddy Creek
                               Watershed
Figure 1. Muddy Creek is in northwestern Virginia.
Project Highlights
In 2001 the Virginia Department of Conservation
and Recreation (OCR) completed a TMDL imple-
mentation plan with the help of local landown-
ers and watershed partners. After more than an
estimated 1,100 hours of community input and
assistance, OCR released a plan that outlined the
BMPs that would be needed to achieve the TMDL,
along with associated costs and a project timeline.
Following completion of this plan, OCR provided
the Shenandoah Valley Soil and Water Conservation
District (SVSWCD) with CWA section 319 grant
funds to help watershed landowners implement the
recommended BMPs.

In the early 2000s, SVSWCD staff worked with prop-
erty owners to implement BMPs, including installing

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Figure 2. Livestock exclusion
fencing was voluntarily
implemented in the Muddy Creek
watershed.
                    5,514 feet of livestock
                    exclusion fencing, planting
                    14 acres of riparian buffers,
                    establishing  permanent veg-
                    etative cover on 108 acres
                    of cropland, establishing
                    no-till forage production on
                    26 acres and cover crops
                    on 4,030 acres, and build-
                    ing 14 animal waste control
                    facilities and eight loafing
                    lot management systems.
                    SVSWVD staff also worked
                    with  homeowners to pump
                    out 41 septic systems and
repair or replace 18 systems (four of which were
replaced with alternative waste treatment systems).

The Shenandoah Resource  Conservation and
Development Council (RC&D)  developed a flexible
fencing program using private, non-government
grant funds to assist farmers (including those within
the Muddy Creek watershed) with streamside
livestock exclusion fencing  (Figure 2).

Numerous farmers worked  with OCR staff to
develop and implement nutrient management plans
on more than 3,200 acres. Many of the farmers
also worked with OCR to conduct pre-sidedress
soil nitrate testing in cornfields, which determines
whether the soil has adequate nitrogen for the
growing season. OCR estimates that this test-
ing allowed farmers to reduce nitrogen inputs on
200 acres of farmland in Muddy Creek. Efforts are
currently under way to further increase precision
in nitrogen application on corn through a cornstalk
nitrogen testing program.
             Results
             DEQ monitors Virginia's impaired streams through
             the agency's ambient monitoring program. Between
             2003 and 2006, data showed no violations (out
             of 31 samples) of the nitrate-nitrogen standard.
             Beginning in 2007,  DEQ transitioned from monitoring
             nitrate-nitrogen as  a single parameter to monitoring
             nitrate + nitrite nitrogen (combined) because of bud-
             getary constraints. During 2007-2008, the combined
             nitrate + nitrite nitrogen monitoring data showed no
             violations of 15 samples (Figure 3). Based on these
             data, DEQ removed the 2.17-mile-long segment of
             Muddy Creek from the state's 2010 list of impaired
             waters for its nitrate-nitrogen impairment. The creek
             remains listed as impaired for bacteria and aquatic
             life use non-support.
                                                                                          Date
                                                                Figure 3. Average nitrate levels in Muddy Creek have
                                                                steadily declined and have consistently met water quality
                                                                standards (10 mg/L nitrate-nitrogen) since 2003.
                                                                Partners and Funding
                                                                The success of this conservation initiative in the
                                                                Muddy Creek watershed was largely attributed to
                                                                partnerships between the local community and the
                                                                conservation organizations that serve the water-
                                                                shed. Key partners include SVSWCD, OCR,  DEQ,
                                                                Shenandoah RC&D, Virginia Cooperative Extension,
                                                                Rockingham County Farm Bureau, the Virginia
                                                                Department of Health, and the Natural Resources
                                                                Conservation Service (NRCS). These partners hosted
                                                                farm tours,  developed and distributed outreach
                                                                materials promoting agricultural and residential
                                                                BMPs, and  provided technical assistance to anyone
                                                                in the watershed wanting to implement conservation
                                                                practices. In addition, the watershed's Old Order
                                                                Mennonite  community played a significant role in
                                                                the success by voluntarily implementing BMPs.

                                                                Between 2001 and 2008, U.S. Environmental
                                                                Protection Agency CWA section 319 funds sup-
                                                                ported two full-time SVSWCD staff positions to
                                                                provide technical assistance for installing agricultur-
                                                                al and residential BMPs. As a result, the SVSWCD
                                                                administered $286,965 in CWA section 319 funds
                                                                for agricultural BMPs and $55,855 for residential
                                                                BMPs within the watershed. Virginia's Agricultural
                                                                Cost Share Program provided $472,405 between
                                                                2000 and 2011 for agricultural BMP implementa-
                                                                tion in the watershed. Cost share funds were also
                                                                provided through the NRCS Conservation Reserve
                                                                Enhancement Program  and Environmental  Quality
                                                                Incentives Program.
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                  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                  Office of Water
                  Washington, DC


                  EPA841-F-12-0010
                  June 2012
                                                   For additional information contact:
                                                   Megan O'Gorek, Residential TMDL Coordinator
                                                   Shenandoah Valley Soil and Water Conservation District
                                                   540-433-2853, ext. 4
                                                   Nesha McRae, TMDL/Watershed Field Coordinator
                                                   Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
                                                   540-332-9238

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