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361 NONPOINT source success stury

Controlling Nonpoint Sources from Agricultural and Residential
Runoff Restores Records Pond
WcSterbody Improved ^un°ff from agricultural and residential areas caused high bacteria
levels in Delaware's Records Pond, As a result, the Delaware
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) added the pond to the 1996
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for bacteria. Watershed stakeholders
provided technical assistance and installed agricultural best management practices (BMPs) in the
pond's watershed, causing bacteria levels to decline. As a result, DNREC removed Records Pond
from the state's 2008 list of impaired waters for bacteria.
Problem
Records Pond is near the town of Laurel in southern
Delaware. It was created in 1900 with the completion
of the Records Pond Dam. Records Pond, also known
as Laurel Lake, is an impoundment of Broad Creek
(Figure 1). Although Records Pond is just over 90 acres,
it is one of the larger lakes in Delaware. Almost at sea
level and with a maximum depth of 10 feet, the pond is
relatively shallow. It is owned and managed by DNREC
Division of Fish and Wildlife. The James Branch flows
from Trap Pond and feeds the headwaters of Records
Pond. It travels through a dedicated Nature Preserve
past native bald cypress, including a champion tree
that is 127 feet tall and almost 25 feet around. Records
Pond provides abundant fish, wildlife and recreation
opportunities. Primary sources of nonpoint source
pollution in the watershed likely include runoff from
agricultural activities (e.g., fertilizer and manure appli-
cation), concentrated areas of animal production, and
failing septic systems.
Monitoring data collected in the late 1990s indicated
that Records Pond failed to meet the state's entero-
coccus bacteria numeric criterion, which requires
that the annual geometric mean be less than 100
colony-forming units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (mL). The
pond did not support its freshwater primary contact
designated use, prompting the state to add the pond
to Delaware's 1998 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters for bacteria, in 2006 the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency developed a total maximum daily
load (TMDL) to address the nutrients and bacteria
loading throughout the Broad Creek watershed, which
includes Records Pond. To achieve TMDL targets and
Figure 1. Records Pond is in the Broad Creek watershed in
southern Delaware.
meet water quality standards in the pond, the TMDL
required a 30 percent reduction in nitrogen and a
50 percent reduction in phosphorus loadings.
Project Highlights
The Sussex Conservation District (SCD) offered techni-
cal assistance to the farming community by providing
nutrient management planning and cost-share funding
for agricultural BMPs. The SCD and Kent Conservation
District (KCD) also partnered with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's (USDA's) Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) to develop conservation
plans and Environmental Quality Incentive Program
(EQIP) contracts. Watershed partners worked with
Records) Pond
Major Basin
I I Piedmont
I I Delaware Bay
BO Chesapeake Bay
I II Inland Bays
Broad Creek Watershed',
j Creek lndian
i River
Nanticoke
River
Pocomoke River

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landowners to enroll 3,750 acres of cover crops over
5 years and implement nutrient management plans
on approximately 85 percent of available lands. In
addition, several BMPswere installed on poultry
operations within the watershed, including 48 manure
storage structures, 44 poultry carcass composters,
one dairy animal waste facility, and one dead bird
incinerator.
The SCD nutrient management planners continue to
work with farmers throughout the watershed, provid-
ing ongoing technical assistance to ensure improved
water quality. Delaware's USDA Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program (CREP) was established in 1999
to protect and enhance environmentally sensitive land
and waters in the coastal plain geographic areas of the
Delaware Bay Chesapeake Bay and Inland Bay water-
sheds by establishing voluntary land retirement agree-
ments with agricultural producers. To assist in CREP
program development and implementation, in 1999
Delaware's Nonpoint Source Program committed CWA
section 319 funds to create a full-time Delaware CREP
Program Coordinator position. The CREP Program
Coordinator helped install 127 acres of riparian forest
buffers and 10 acres of hardwood trees In the Records
Pond watershed. The installation of numerous urban
practices between 2003 and 2012 has also contributed
to the delisting of Records Pond (Table 1).
Table 1. Urban BMPs installed in the Records Pond
watershed (2003-2012)
Urban BMPs
Acres treated
Bioretention areas
20
Bioswales
52
Dry detention ponds
42
Dry extended detention ponds
186
Erosion and sediment control
75
Filter strips
4
Septic tank advanced treatment
systems
1
Septic tank pump-outs
7
Urban infiltration practices
14
Wet ponds and wetlands
710
Figure 2. Canoeing is a popular recreational activity on
Records Pond.
Results
Bacteria levels in the pond have decreased in response
to the more than 10 years of water quality protection
and restoration efforts in the Records Pond watershed
(Figure 2). DNREC collected monitoring data at STORET
Station 307011 in Records Pond between September
2002 and August 2007. The geometric mean of the
28 samples collected over the 5-year period was 27.2
cfu/100 mL. This was weli beiow Delaware's fresh
water bacteria water quality standard, 100 cfu/100
mL, so DNREC removed the 91.9-acre segment of
Records Pond (DE-050-L04) from the state's list of
impaired waters in 2008 per its Assessment and Listing
Methodology. The Draft 2016 Integrated Report shows
the pond continues to meet the applicable water qual-
ity standards for bacteria due to continued restoration
efforts in the watershed. Records Pond remains a
popular recreation destination (Figure 2).
Partners and Funding
Key partners included SCD, USDA Farm Service Agency
NRCS and the Delaware Nonpoint Source Program.
Approximately $1.1 million in federal CWA section 319
funds supported the costs of the Records Pond resto-
ration effort. Additional funding came from the USDA
(through EQIP and CREP) and Delaware's Conservation
Cost Share Program (which was provided through KCD
and SCD). Because of the nature of the funding and
enrollment procedures, much of the funding provided
by watershed partners has been immeasurable.
0
PRO^°
S
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-17-001G
August 2017
For additional information contact:
Sharon Webb
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control
302-739-9922 • Sharon.Webb@state.de.us

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