Q
Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Verfnwt
Improved Agricultural Management Restores Crystal Brook
Waterbody Improved
Nutrient runoff from agricultural sources degraded the biological
community in Vermont's Crystal Brook. As a result, Vermont placed
the stream on its 2006 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list for aquatic life use impairments due
to excessive sediment and nutrients. Improvements to the waste management system on an adjacent
farm brought the stream into compliance with Vermont's water quality standards. The state removed
the stream from its CWA section 303(d) list in 2012.
Problem
Crystal Brook (Figure 1) is a 3-mile-long stream in
north central Vermont that ultimately drains into
Lake Memphremagog, a large lake that straddles the
Vermont-Quebec border. The Vermont Department
of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC) classifies
the stream as a Class B water—a water that fully
supports aquatic biota and wildlife, high-quality
aquatic habitat, good aesthetic value, swimming and
recreation, irrigation and agricultural uses, and public
water supply uses with filtration and disinfection.
VTDEC monitored the macroinvertebrate com-
munity in the stream using several different met-
rics, including the EFT (short for the order names
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) index-—
a measure of the number and types of pollution-
sensitive aquatic insects inhabiting a waterbody.
Streams showing high EFT richness (i.e., a high
number of EPT taxa in a sample) are less likely to be
polluted than streams showing low EFT richness
in the same geographic region. VTDEC also used
the Vermont Biotic Index (Bl), which measures the
proportion of organic pollution-intolerant species
to tolerant species in a community (range: 0 to 10,
where 0 = excellent and 10 = poor), the percentage
of pollutant-tolerant worms of the taxonomic class
Oligochaeta in a macroinvertebrate sample, and
other indicators to assess the health of aquatic life
and water quality. High Bl and Oligochaeta values
characterize streams with poor water quality that are
dominated by pollution-tolerant species.
Biological monitoring in 2004 and 2006 found that a
short segment (0.3 mile) of the stream did not fully
meet Vermont's Class B water quality standards
for aquatic life. The segment had low EPT values
as well as high Bl and percent Oligochaeta values.
These findings put the segment in noncompliance
with Vermont Class B water quality standards for
Figure 1. Vermont's Crystal Brook.
aquatic life support. As a result, Vermont placed the
stream on its CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters in 2006.
To help identify the cause of the impairment,
VTDEC conducted a watershed assessment later
m 2006 and worked with local partners to monitor
phosphorus and nitrogen levels in the stream from
2006 through 2009. Although Vermont is still in the
process of adopting water quality standards for
nutrients in streams, the nutrient monitoring results
from that time helped VTDEC identify the source of
the problem as nutrient enrichment from agricultural
runoff from a farm adjacent to the stream.
Project Highlights
Following the watershed assessment and the first
year of nutrient monitoring, VTDEC coordinated
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Natural Resource Conservation Service and the
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, which worked with
a local farmer to address a leak in a manure storage
structure on his farm. In 2007 the farmer replaced

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the manure pit with a larger, sealed lagoon that
could accommodate the volume and type of animal
waste being generated. The farmer also installed a
new drainage system that captured runoff from the
silage area beginning in the summer of 2009. These
actions helped to significantly reduce nutrient load-
ing to the Crystal Brook.
Results
Biomonitoring results from 2009 and 2010 show
that water quality has improved as a result of the
agricultural waste management system changes.
The biomonitoring data from Crystal Brook
showed substantial increases in EPT richness
along with marked decreases in the Bl and percent
Oligochaeta between the 2004 and 2010 sample
dates (Figure 2 and Table 1). As a result, VTDEC
assigned Crystal Brook a rating of "excellent-very
good" in 2010, a rating that indicates that the
stream not only complies with Vermont's water
quality standards but also attains near-reference
conditions. On the basis of these data, Vermont
removed Crystal Brook from the CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters in 2012.
Although they are not a measure of water quality
standard compliance in Vermont streams, improve-
ments in phosphorus data provide further indication
of water quality improvements. Table 2 shows a
dramatic decrease in median phosphorus concen-
trations at a sampling site just below the project
site. The stream is scheduled for further biomoni-
toring in 2015.
Partners and Funding
The success outlined above is a reflection of
VTDEC's Monitoring Assessment and Planning
Process, which strategically deploys monitoring
and assessment efforts to identify the highest-
priority watershed projects on a five-year rotating
basis. VTDEC completed the biological monitoring,
guided the watershed assessment, and conducted
some of the water quality monitoring using state
resources and approximately $4,000 in CWA sec-
tion 319 CWA funds. The NorthWoods Stewardship
Center used $6,730 in CWA section 319 funds,
$5,500 in Supplemental Environmental Project
funds, and a LaRosa Analytical Services Partnership
grant to assist with the water quality monitor-
ing. Beck Pond, LLC, and the Memphremagog
Watershed Association contributed to the water
quality sampling efforts in 2008 and 2009 with
support from a CWA section 604b grant ($3,000), a
Memphremagog Conservation Inc. award ($8,393),
a LaRosa Analytical Services Partnership grant,
and local volunteers from the Memphremagog
Watershed Association. The agricultural BMP work
was funded with $182,992 from the USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service and $73,114 from
the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. The Orleans
County Conservation District and local farmers also
contributed to BMP design and construction.
30
EPT Richness
Biotic Index
20
10
0
9/4/1997 9/14/1999 9/16/2004 9/7/2006 9/16/2009 9/16/2010
Sampling Date
Figure 2. Changes in EPT richness and Biotic Index for
Crystal Brook (1997-2010).
Table 1. Crystal Brook Biomonitoring Results3
(2004-2010)
Sampling
Site
Date
Assessment
Rating
EPT
Index
Score
BI
(Biotic
Index)
Percent of
Individuals from
Oligochaeta

9/16/2004
Poor
5
7.21
14.3
Mile
0.3
9/7/2006
Poor
7
6.85
14.9
9/16/2009
Good-Fair
21
4.41
7.0

9/16/2010
Excellent-
Very Good
24
3.14
1.3
Class B Guideline
£16
£4.50
£12.0
8 Bold values indicate noncompliance.
Table 2. Crystal Brook Phosphorus Monitoring
Results (2006-2009)
Sampling
Site
Year
Median Phosphorus
Concentration (jug/L)
Range of Phosphorus
Concentration Values (|ig/L)
Mile 0.3
2006
127.7
29-655
2008
22.9
14-87
2009
21.6
11-214
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-12-001MM
September 2012
For additional information contact:
Eric Perkins, EPA Region 1
617-918-1602 • perkins.eric@epa.gov
Ben Copans, VT Department of Environmental Conservation
802-751-2610 • ben.copans@state.vt.us
Steve Fiske, VT Department of Environmental Conservation
802-249-5675 • steve.fiske@state.vt.us

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