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Implementing Best Management Practices Reduces Fecal Coliform
Bacteria Levels in Scape Ore Swamp
Waterbody Improved fsricultural activities and malfunctioning septic systems
1 1	led to elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria in South
Carolina's Scape Ore Swamp. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental
Control (SCDHEC) added the waterbody to South Carolina's Clean Water Act (CWA) section
303(d) list of impaired waters in 2002 for bacteria. Stakeholders implemented agricultural
best management practices (BMPs) throughout the watershed, leading to water quality
improvements. As a result. Scape Ore Swamp met water quality standards in 2012, and the
waterbody is no longer impaired for bacteria and now fully supports the contact recreation
designated use in the state's 2012 Integrated Report.
Problem
The Scape Ore Swamp main stem flows 11.8 miles in
a southeasterly direction and eventually discharges
into Rocky Bluff Swamp, a tributary of the Black River.
The topography of the 95-square-mile watershed is
gently rolling with slopes ranging from 1 to 6 percent.
Majortributaries to the Scape Ore Swamp (Waterbody
ID PD-355) include Timber Creek, Black Creek, Cedar
Creek, and Beaverdam Creek. Major land uses in the
watershed are agriculture and forestry.
A variety of agricultural activities, such as fields left
barren after plowing, grazing livestock accessing
Scape Ore Swamp, and land application of poultry
litter, as well as malfunctioning septic tanks in the
watershed, contributed nonpoint source pollution
to Scape Ore Swamp. Pre-project water quality
monitoring indicated that the waterbody's primary
contact recreation designated use was threatened by
excessive concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria.
SCDHEC sampling at impaired monitoring station
PD-355 (located at the Route 108 bridge in Lee
County) indicated that Scape Ore Swamp failed to
meet South Carolina's state water quality standard,
which requires that no more than 10 percent of total
samples exceed 400 colony-forming units (cfu) per
100 milliliters (mL). In the 2002 CWA section 303(d)
listing cycle, 33 percent of samples exceeded this
amount. Accordingly, Scape Ore Swamp at station
PD-355 (Figure 1) was added to South Carolina's
CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters. A total
maximum daily load (TMDL) for fecal coliform bacte-
ria was approved in 2005.
Scape Ore Swamp
Watershed
0
	1	i	
50
	I	
100 Miles
_l
Figure 1. The Scape Ore Swamp watershed is in
northeastern South Carolina.
Project Highlights
The Santee-Wateree Resource Conservation and
Development Council, Lee and Kershaw Soil and
Water Conservation District, U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation

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Service (NRCS), and SCDHEC collaborated to imple-
ment the Scape Ore Swamp TMDL watershed plan.
A variety of BMPs were installed in the watershed
using CWA section 319 grant funds. The BMPs
included one alternative water source, 4.5 acres of
filter strip, 31,000 feet of heavy-use area protection,
943.4 acres of nutrient management, two on-site
wastewater treatment systems, 188.4 acres of
prescribed grazing, 1,100 feet of streambank and
shoreline protection, nine waste storage structures,
and the development of nutrient management plans
for 2,200 acres (Figure 2).

Figure 2. One of the waste storage structures
(stacking sheds) installed as part of the CWA section
319 grant. The landowner worked with NRCS to
construct a shed using EQIP funds, but needed a
larger facility than EQIP allowed. In the end, EQIP
funded the initial half of this structure, and CWA
section 319 funded the second half at a later date
(with the landowner cost-sharing on both),
During the project period, NRCS Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds supported
the installation of an additional suite of BMPs that
included 30,000 square feet of heavy-use area pro-
tection, 1,460 acres of nutrient management, four
wells, 462 acres of pasture planting, 13,084 feet
of pipeline, 1,511 acres of cover crop planting,
22,679 feet of fencing, 186 acres of prescribed
grazing, 10 waste storage facilities, 27 watering
facilities, 11,361 feet of field border, 13.6 acres of
tree planting, 7.4 acres of critical area treatment,
5 acres of grassed waterways, four alum treatments
of poultry litter, 1 acre of riparian forest buffer, and
14 acres of contoured buffer strips
Results
Post-project monitoring at impaired site PD-355 con-
tinued during and after implementation of the TMDL.
Water quality monitoring data assessed in 2012
indicated that only 4 percent of the samples exceed-
ed 400 cfu/100 mi_, meeting South Carolina's water
quality standard for bacteria (which requires that that
no more than 10 percent of the samples exceed 400
cfu/100 mL). On the basis of these data, SCDHEC
determined site PD-355 is no longer impaired for
bacteria and identified Scape Ore Swamp as fully
supporting its primary contact recreation designated
use in the state's 2012 integrated Report. Table 1
lists the results of water quality assessments for the
2002-2012 CWA section 303(d) listing cycles, further
illustrating post-project water quality improvements.
In total, implementation efforts reduced pollutant
loadings of nitrogen (by 249,691.80 pounds), phos-
phorus (by 44,412 pounds), sediment (by 65.10 tons),
and fecal coliform bacteria (by 1.1700E+14 cfu).
Table 1. South Carolina Department of Health
and Environmental Control Water Quality
Assessments for CWA Section 303(d) Listing
Cycles 2002-2012: Fecal Coliform Bacteria at
Station PD-355 (Scape Ore Swamp).
Year
Percent of samples exceeding
400 cfu/100 mL1
2002
33%
2004
32%
2006
22%
2008
16%
2010
12%
2012
4%
' Values that fall under 10% exceedance (in bold) meet the water
quality standard.
Partners and Funding
Key funding sources included $300,000 in CWA sec-
tion 319 funding and grant oversight from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and SCDHEC.
The Santee-Wateree Resource Conservation and
Development Council provided overall project
management. The Lee Soil and Water Conservation
District and NRCS, the Kershaw Soil and Water
Conservation District and NRCS, and South Carolina
Department of Natural Resources supported
TMDL development and implementation, project
management and assistance, and dissemination of
information related to fecal coliform bacteria loading
into Scape Ore Swamp as part of $52,878 provided
through in-kind services. For the implementation of
BMPs, private landowners provided $196,844 worth
of cost-share in cash and in-kind services. NRCS
provided $785,483 in 50 percent cost-share EQIP
funding, technical design, and oversight beyond
CWA section 319 project participation.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-14-001MM
July 2014
For additional Information contact:
Delaney Faircloth
South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control
803-898-1904 • fairclds@dhec.sc.gov

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