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Water Quality Improved after Implementing Best Management
Practices in the Upper Robinson River Watershed
Waterbody I mproved Sources °f bacteria primarily from livestock, failing septic systems,
pet waste arid wildlife contributed to three segments of Virginia's
Robinson River violating the state water quality standards for bacteria. As a result, the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ.) added these segments (a total of 7.15 miles) to
Virginia's 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for failing to attain the
river's primary contact recreation designated use. Improved water quality in the 2005-2010 and
2007-2012 assessment periods coincided with the installation of agricultural and residential best
management practices (BMPs) in the watershed. As a result, Virginia removed three segments from
the impaired waters list: two segments (3.42 miles and 0.73 miles long, respectively) in 2012 and a
third segment (3 miles long) in 2014.
Problem
The Upper Robinson River watershed is in Madison
County, Virginia (Figure 1). The 30,892-acre watershed
includes forest land (84 percent), pasture/hayland (15
percent), cropland (1 percent), and residential land
(1 percent). The Upper Robinson River drains into
the Rapidan River, which joins Rappahannock River, a
tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
The impaired segments-3.42 miles (VAN-E14R_
ROB01A06), 0.73 miles (VAN-E14R_ROB01B06),
and 3 miles (VAN-E14R_ROB01C00) - were initially
listed as impaired for fecal coliform in 2002 on the
Commonwealth of Virginia's Section 303(d) List of
Impaired Waters. The segments were subsequently
listed in 2006 for not supporting the state's new
Escherichia coli water quality standard for recreation/
swimming designated uses. The impaired segments
begin at the confluence of Rose River and continue
downstream to the lower portion of the Upper
Robinson River watershed.
Virginia's bacteria standard requires that no more
than 10 percent of samples taken during an assess-
ment period (based on a minimum of 12 samples)
may have E. coli levels exceeding 235 colony-forming
units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (mL) of water. The water
quality samples collected from 2003 to 2004 at
monitoring station 3-ROB017.24 (for segments VAN-
E14R_ROB01A06 and VAN-E14R_ROB01B06) showed
Monitoring Station
River/Stream
US Highway
5^ 6th Order Hydrologic Uni
Upper Robinson River IP
Figure 1. Robinson River is in north-central Virginia.
violations of the bacteria water quality standard 15
percent of the "time. The samples collected at station
3-ROB024.06 (for segment VAN-E'14R_ROB01C00)
showed violations of the water quality standard 40
percent of the "time.
DEQ developed bacteria totai maximum daily loads
(TMDLs) in 2005 for impaired segments In the Upper
Robinson River, Lower Robinson River and Little
Dark Run watersheds. The Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR) developed a TMDL.
implementation plan in 2011 to address implemen-
tation of the bacteria TMDLs in these watersheds.

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The plan included input from federal, state and local
government agencies, watershed stakeholders and
residents.
Robinson River
E. coli
Project Highlights
Implementing agricultural and residential BMPs
was administered by the Culpeper Soil and Water
Conservation District (CSWCD) in conjunction with
other federal, state and local agencies. Partners
contacted landowners to encourage them to install
agricultural and residential BMPs in the watershed.
They conducted one-on-one meetings with individual
farmers, residents and stakeholders and explained
the benefit of water quality improvement on livestock
health, in particular, and on the watershed environ-
ment, in general.
The outreach efforts have resulted in a variety of
BMP installations. Based on data retrieved from DCR's
BMP Tracking Database (2003-2012), landowners
have installed agricultural and residential BMPs in the
Upper Robinson River watershed. The agricultural
practices include installing approximately 23,530 linear
feet (4.5 miles) of livestock stream exclusion fencing,
2,418 acres of small grain and mixed cover crop, and
352 acres of harvestable cover crop. The residential
practices include 22 septic system pumpouts and two
alternate waste treatment system installations.
Results
Agricultural BMPs helped reduce bacteria loadings
from manure deposited from grazing livestock on
pasture and surface water runoff from cropland.
Progress in reducing the bacteria loadings and water
quality improvements in the impaired segments was
evident by the decreasing violation rates seen in the
bacteria levels at monitoring stations at river miles
17.24 and 24.06 (Figure 2). DEQ personnel collected
bacteria samples from various water quality monitor-
ing stations under the ambient water quality monitor-
ing program.
Of 32 water samples collected from January 2005
through December 2010 at monitoring station
3-ROB017.24 (segments VAN-E14R_ROB01A06 and
VAN-E14R_ROB01B06), only two samples (6 percent)
exceeded the E. coli standard. Also, out of 10 samples
collected during January 2007 through December
2012 at monitoring station 3-ROB024.06 (segment

N = Number of samples
Monitoring sites:
3-ROB017.24
3-ROB024.06
40% N=15
10% N=
l l
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Assessment Period
Figure 2. Bacteria violation rate (%) at two monitoring
stations in the Upper Robinson River watershed.
VAN-E14R_ROB01C00), only one sample (10 percent)
exceeded the E. coli standard. The decreasing viola-
tion rates show significant improvement in water
quality conditions for all three impaired segments
listed above. As a result, Virginia DEQ removed three
segments (a total of 7.15 miles) from the impaired
waters list: two segments (3.42 miles and 0.73 miles
long, respectively) in 2012 and a third segment (3 miles
long) in 2014.
Partners and Funding
The water quality improvement and delisting of three
impaired segments in the Upper Robinson River
watershed has primarily resulted from the outreach
and financial and technical assistance administered by
CSWCD, and several state and federal agencies includ-
ing DCR, DEQ and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Funding for the agricultural and residential BMP cost
share was provided through the state Water Quality
Improvement Fund and Virginia Natural Resources
Conservation Fund ($67,478), the USDA Farm Service
Agency's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
($3,685), and the Chesapeake Bay Livestock Exclusion
Initiative ($65,223). CSWCD received technical assis-
tance funding from state general funds at an average
of $50,000-$100,000 per year for all operations.
Virginia also provided $1,696 in the form of tax credits
issued to farmers implementing BMPs. No designated
CWA section 319(h) funds were provided directly to
CSWCD for the Upper Robinson River. The Virginia
319(h) program funded the TMDL Implementation
Coordinator and other nonpoint source TMDL staff
that worked with CSWCD during this time and pro-
vided technical services for TMDL implementation.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-17-001E
July 2017
For additional information contact:
Greg Wichelns
Culpeper SWCD
540-825-8591 • Gregw@culpeperSWCD.org
David Evans
Department of Environmental Quality
703-583-3835 • David.Evans@deq.virginia.gov

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