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Section 319
NPHPOINT S
5(7
CESS STORY
Implementing Best Management Practices Reduces Polluted Runoff
Waterbody Improved
When data showed that Medicine Creek was violating water qual-
ity standards for conductivity and total dissolved solids (TDS), the
South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SDDENR) added the creek to the
state's 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list. Data collected during a 2003-2005 assessment
showed that fecal coliform bacteria and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations also exceeded
the standards, prompting SDDENR to add those parameters to Medicine Creek's list of impairments in
2006. The American Creek Conservation District worked with landowners to implement best manage-
ment practices (BMPs) to reduce sediment, nutrient and bacterial loadings. Water quality has improved,
and the state's standards are now being met. As a result, in 2008 SDDENR removed Medicine Creek
from the state's impaired waters list for conductivity, TDS, TSS and fecal coliform.
Problem
The 390,072-acre Medicine Creek watershed is part
of the Missouri River Basin in south-central South
Dakota's Lyman and Jones counties (Figure 1). The
predominant land uses in the watershed include
cropland (about 31 percent) and rangeland and
pastureland (about 59 percent). The watershed
has 38 animal feeding operations. The Lower Brule
Indian Reservation is in the northeastern portion of
the watershed. Medicine Creek passes through part
of the reservation before it joins the Missouri River.
Data showed that high conductivity and TDS levels
caused Medicine Creek to fail to support its desig-
nated water uses, including warm water marginal
fish life propagation, limited contact recreation, fish
and wildlife propagation, and stock watering and
irrigation. As a result, SDDENR added an 83.4-mile
segment of the creek (from U.S. Highway 83 to the
creek's mouth) to the CWA section 303(d) list in
2002.
SDDENR developed a total maximum daily load
(TMDL) in 2005. Data collected during theTMDL
assessment indicated that two additional water
quality parameters, TSS and fecal coliform
bacteria, violated South Dakota's surface water
quality standards. The TMDL study pinpointed
nonpoint source agricultural land uses (cropland
and pastureland) and animal feeding operations
in the watershed as the major sources of TSS and
fecal coliform bacteria. Two municipal wastewater
Medicine Creek Watershed
Lower Brule
Indian Reservation
Lyman
Jones
437,851 acres
Figure 1. Medicine Creek drains portions of two
counties before it enters the Missouri River.
treatment facilities in the watershed (Presho and
Kennebec) discharge only periodically and are
considered minor sources. The tribal portion of the
Medicine Creek watershed was not included in the
TMDL study area.
To restore Medicine Creek, the TMDL study recom-
mended thatTSS loads be reduced by 20.1 percent
and fecal coliform loads be reduced by 18.3 per-
cent. The assessment data show that violations of
the conductivity and TDS standards might be attrib-
utable to natural conditions (the geologic makeup of
the basin) and that the violations occur exclusively
during low-flow conditions.

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Project Highlights
Between 2005 and 2010, the American Creek
Conservation District worked with landowners
to install BMPs throughout the Medicine Creek
watershed (Figure 2). The BMPs included animal
waste management systems (Figure 3), marginal
pastureland riparian buffers, cropland filter strips,
conversion of cropland to permanent grass cover,
grassed waterways (Figure 4), managed grazing,
and the repair or replacement of sediment dams.
To ensure the continued success of this project, the
American Creek Conservation District is monitoring
the installed practices and promoting the imple-
mentation of additional BMPs.
Results
Water quality monitoring data collected during
summer 2008 indicated that Medicine Creek met
standards for all of its listed parameters (Table 1).
Therefore, in 2008 SDDENR removed the 83 4-mile-
long segment of Medicine Creek from the state's
impaired waters list for its TSS, conductivity, TDS
and fecal coliform impairments.
Table 1. Water Quality Monitoring Data for
Medicine Creek, Summer 2008
Parameter1
Data Results
Water Quality
Standard
TSS (in mg/L)
60
263
Conductivity (in /jmhos/cm)
2884
4375
TDS (in mg/L)
2453
4375
Fecal coliform bacteria
(counts/100 mL)
582
2000
' mg/L: miiiigrams per iiter; /irnhos/cm micromhos per centimeter;
mL: milliliters
Figure 2. Landowners installed BMPs throughout the Medicine
Creek watershed.
Figure 3. Landowners
installed animal waste
systems like this pond,
which collects and holds
manure-laden runoff.
Partners and Funding

Figure 4. Grassed
waterways intercept and
filter runoff from cropland
in the watershed.
The success of the project is largely the result
of participation by numerous local, state and
federal agencies and organizations, includ-
ing the American Creek Conservation District;
South Dakota Conservation Commission; South
Dakota Department of Agriculture; South Dakota
Department of Environment and Natural Resources;
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks; Natural
Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
A total of $243,653 in CWA section 319 funds
supported this project. The State Conservation
Commission and landowners provided matching
funds and in-kind services. The Natural Resources
Conservation Service's Environmental Quality
Incentives Program provided additional federal
funds for BMP implementation.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841 -F-11 -0010
February 2011
For additional information contact:
Pete Jahraus
South Dakota Department of Environment and
Natural Resources
pete.jahraus@state.sd.us • 605-773-5623
Missouri River
Medicine Creek Streams
I I County Boundaries
	I Medicine Creek Watershed
[ennebec
Legend-Medicine Creek BMPs
A Ag Waste System
¦ Grazing Management
O Riparian Restoration/Protection
Qtylimit Boundaries - Revenue

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