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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Coordinated Resource Management Restores Fish and Aquatic Life Habitat
in Wyoming's Muddy and McKinney Creeks
Waterbodies Improved
Unstable stream channels and a loss of riparian function
in the upper Muddy Creek watershed threatened aquatic
life and cold-water fisheries in the early 1990s. As a result, in 1996, the Wyoming Department
of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) added one segment of Muddy Creek and one segment of
McKinney Creek to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
habitat degradation due to livestock grazing. The Little Snake River Conservation District (LSRCD)
led efforts to implement best management practices (BMPs) to address sediment resulting from
habitat degradation. Water quality has improved, prompting WDEQ to remove both segments from
the state's 2012 list of impaired waters.
Problem
Muddy Creek is in the Little Snake River Basin in
south-centrai Wyoming (Figure 1). Both Muddy
Creek and McKinney Creek (a Muddy Creek tribu-
tary) are protected by WDEQ for drinking water,
cold-water game and nongame fisheries, fish con-
sumption, aquatic life (other than fish), recreation,
wildlife, industry, agriculture and scenic value uses.
The Muddy Creek watershed produces naturally
high sediment loads because of its highly erodible
soils. In addition, historical livestock grazing prac-
tices resulted in damaged riparian areas and stream
banks, greatly increasing erosion and sediment
loading in the lower watershed during precipitation
events and periods of spring snowmelt. Biological
and physical data collected In the mid-1990s indi-
cated that excessive sedimentation was threatening
the cold-water fisheries and aquatic life uses along a
5.1 -mile section of McKinney Creek and an 11.4-mile
section of Muddy Creek. WDEQ subsequently
placed both creek segments on the CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters in 1996 as threatened
for their cold-water fish and aquatic life uses.
Project Highlights
In 1992, LSRCD, the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), local landowners, grazing permittees,
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), and
other stakeholders initiated a Coordinated Resource
Management (CRM) process in the Muddy Creek
watershed to address threats to water quality. As
part of the CRM, LSRCD managed several CWA
section 319 projects between 1993 and 2005 in the
Figure 1. I he upper Muddy Creek watershed.
upper Muddy Creek watershed. Project partners
implemented agricultural BMPs aimed at reducing
agricultural runoff, including upland water develop-
ment, cross fencing, revegetation, road improve-
ments, prescribed burning, brush management,
and improved grazing management. WGFD worked
with BLM, livestock grazing permittees and LSRCD
to implement new grazing strategies, such as the
use of herders in some allotments, deferred grazing,
and rest-rotation grazing. BLM, in cooperation with
Trout Unlimited, WGFD, LSRCD, a local school, and
the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
removed a culvert, installed 14 grade control
structures, reconstructed 0.75 mile of Muddy Creek
frMc K i ntT^y^pkl
Muddy Creek-Alamosa Gulch

Upper Muddy Creek
Watershed
Muddy and McKinney Creeks, Wyoming
Legend
12-Digit HydrologicUnit Boundary
Previously Impaired Segments

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Cross Section Data from 1987 and 2005 on Muddy Creek
Distance (ft)
20	30
7/23/87
11/10/05
Figure 2. Muddy Creek cross section data.
in the upper watershed, and planted thousands of
cuttings and bare-root woody riparian species to
help stabilize stream banks.
Results
Over the past two decades, various local, state and
federal agencies have produced reports, theses,
technical manuscripts and raw data relating to the
Muddy Creek watershed. In 2010, WDEQ hired
Timberline Aquatics, Inc., to review and summarize
this information and to produce a report including
trend analysis for the threatened reaches of Muddy
Creek and McKinney Creek. WDEQ used physical,
chemical and biological data summarized in the
report to conclude that the upper Muddy Creek
and McKinney Creek segments should no longer
be listed as threatened on the 2012 CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters.
The report indicated marked improvements in
macroinvertebrate communities. Multi-metric index
scores (representing combined scores of Taxa
Richness, EFT Taxa, Shannon Diversity, Hilsenhoff
Biotic Index, and Clinger Taxa) indicated that macro-
invertebrate communities at sampling sites improved
from a 1993 score of 36 to a 2004 score of 93.
In addition, the report showed improvements in
stream channel structure. For example, a compari
son of cross section data from Muddy Creek sites in
1987 and 2005 showed evidence of terrace forma-
tion, improved bank stability and channel deepen-
ing (Figure 2). Similar data from McKinney Creek
showed narrowing and deepening of the stream
channel. Channel stabilization has been enhanced
by the recovery of the riparian community, as

Figure 3. Photo-point monitoring
shows Muddy Creek in 1989
(top) and 2005 (bottom).
documented through exten-
sive photo-point monitoring
(Figure 3).
Moreover, basic water quality
parameters (pH, dissolved
oxygen, turbidity, total dis-
solved solids, and tempera-
ture) were found to be within
WDEQ's water quality stan-
dards, and values remained
relatively constant from 2008
to 2010. On the basis of these
data, WDEQ has removed
the two segments (16.5 miles
total) from the 2012 CWA
section 303(d) list of impaired
waters. The recovery of the
creeks' ability to support cold-
water fisheries has been fur-
ther demonstrated byWGFD's
reintroduction of native
Colorado River cutthroat trout
into the upper Muddy Creek
watershed.
Partners and Funding
When Wyoming's Upper Muddy Creek CRM Project
began, it was the largest watershed improve-
ment project in the state, encompassing nearly
300,000 acres of mixed federal, state and private
lands. In cooperation with CRM partners, LSRCD
led restoration efforts in the Muddy Creek water-
shed. LSRCD managed a total of $752,952 in CWA
section 319 grants, which supported four project
phases implemented between 1993 and 2005. In
addition, a total of $952,338 in non-federal match-
ing funds and $454,000 in other federal funding
supported the implementation of BMPs, project
effectiveness monitoring, and coordination of the
CRM and stakeholder involvement
Success in the Muddy Creek watershed is largely
attributed to coordination between more than
30 members representing private landowners;
federal, state and local agencies; environmental and
conservation organizations; industry and the public.
Major partners included the LSRCD, BLM, NRCS,
WGFD, Trout Unlimited, Wyoming Department of
Agriculture, WDEQ, Wyoming Water Development
Commission, Wyoming Natural Resource Trust Fund,
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited,
Wyoming Land Conservation Initiative, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and numerous private landowners.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-12-001SS
October 2012
for additional information contact:
Larry Hicks, Little Snake River Conservation District
307-383-7860 • lsrcd@yahoo.com
Jennifer Zygmunt, Wyoming Department
of Environmental Quality
307-777-6080 • jennifer.zygmunt@wyo.gov

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