/tosr%, '&?) NINPOIHT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY V PRO"^ Agricultural Best Management Practices and Septic System Repairs Help Reduce Escherichia coli in the Sequatchie River Waterbody Improvsd 'n t'ie ma'n stem Of Tennessee's Sequatchie River in Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties was listed as impaired by Escherichia coli bacteria due to pasture grazing, From 2013 to 2015, the Southeast Tennessee Resource Conservation and Development Council (SETN RC&D), with support from a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 319 grant, implemented urban and agriculture best management practices (BMPs) to assist with the restoration of the Sequatchie River. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) also helped to install agricultural BMPs from 2004 through the present. In 2014, the joint effort between the SETN RC&D and its partners quickly paid dividends when a 23.1-mile segment of the Sequatchie River was determined by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) to be fully supporting of all designated uses; it was removed from the impaired waters list in 2014. Problem The main stem of the Sequatchie River (TN06020004005-1000) flows through Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties in Tennessee and eventually empties into the Tennessee River in the southeastern part of the state (Figure 1). In 1982, 109 miles of the Sequatchie River in Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, and Cumberland counties were included on the Nationwide Rivers Inventory for exceptional scenery, recreation, geology, fish, and wildlife outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs). The Sequatchie River is popular for its recreational uses such as paddling. Samples collected between 2001 and 2006 showed that the average E. coli concentration at river mile 41.5 along the Sequatchie River was 503 colony-forming units (CFU) per 100 milliliters (mL). The maximum con- centration observed was greater than 2,419 CFU/100 ml_ (i.e., greater than the analytical test's upper limit). State water quality criteria require that the geometric mean for the E, coli group shall not exceed 126 CFU/100 ml_, and that no sample may exceed a maximum of 941 CFU/100 mL. As a result of exceed- ances in 2006, in 2008 TDEC included portions of the Sequatchie River on the state of Tennessee's CWA section 303(d) list for excessive E. coli levels due to pasture grazing. A total maximum daily load (TMDL) for E. coli in the Sequatchie River watershed was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 4) on December 18, 2008. Figure 1. Multiple BMPs were installed throughout the Sequatchie River (TN06020004005-1000) watershed. Project Highlights Pasture grazing was identified as the primary pollut- ant source for the Sequatchie River. The SETN RC&D worked with landowners to implement BMPs to better manage livestock, including installing cross-fences for new rotational grazing management systems and Sequatchie River Bledsoe & Sequatchie Counties, TN \He<>ek ) 7 / BLEDSOE COUNTY 9200040H G&UNDY COUNTY Legend — 2014 Delisted Segment of Sequatchie River <0 HUC-12 Watersheds ® County Boundaries • 319-Funded BMPs ~ ARCF-Funded BMPs TDEC Stream Assessment Fully Supporting Not Supporting Not Assessed 0 0.75 1.5 3 Miles .060200040301 060200040102 > Thurman Creek; ------- Figure 2. New fences prevent livestock from accessing the Sequatchie River and its tributaries. adding riparian-area fences to exclude livestock from streams (Figure 2). The SETN RC&D recognized that failing wastewater collection systems also contributed to the pathogen problem; therefore,, the SETN RC&D assisted with the repair of two failing septic systems in this portion of the watershed. Results The Sequatchie River (TN06020004005--1000) was included on the 2008 CWA section 303(d) list based on E. coli sampling performed by TDEC, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the city of Dunlap Water Treatment Plant from 2001 through 2006. At river mile 41.5, the geometric mean of five samples collected in April and May of 2006 (before project implementation) was 424.6 CFU/100 mL, which violated standards. During TDEC's 2010-2011 sampling cycle (after project implementation), the E. coli concentration had fallen to 121.1 CFU/100 mL, which met water quality standards and showed that the stream had improved (Figure 3). As a result,. TDEC removed this segment of the Sequatchie River from the state's 2014 impaired waters list; it was deemed fully supporting of all designated uses. Partners and Funding The SETN RC&D was awarded a CWA section 319 grant totaling $190,000 in fiscal year 2011. From that grant, the SETN RC&D provided $5,058 in cost-share for the BMPs directly adjacent to segment TN06020004005- 1000; the remaining grant funds were used to support BMPs and education throughout other portions of the Sequatchie River Basin. In addition, SETN RC&D has assisted with dozens of additional agricultural BMPs installations and septic system repairs along other still- impaired portions of the Sequatchie River and its tribu- taries. Along the delisted stretch of the Sequatchie River, the total investment from the CWA section 319 grant is $5,058, while cooperators provided $3,583 in matching funds. To date, the state of Tennessee's Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund (ARCF) has also contributed $43,983 in cost-share assistance for the implementation of 33 agricultural BMPs, including exclusion fencing, alternative watering facilities, and heavy use areas for livestock. Cooperators assisted by ARCF program provided an additional $33,460 in matching funds. Key partners with SETN RC&D for the CWA sec- tion 319 grant include the University of the South; TDEC (Division of Water Resources and Division of Groundwater Protection); the soil conservation districts (SCDs) In Bledsoe, Grundy, Marion, and Sequatchie counties; U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Partners with TDA that installed BMPs through ARCF include NRCS and various SCDs. E. coli Concentration at River Mile 41.5 of the Sequatchie River 450 ¦ Geometric Mean Concentration Water quality standard • ¦ 1 1 1 1 1 1. i i i 2005-2006 2010-2011 Sampling Cycle (Years) Figure 3. E. coli concentration at river mile 41.5 of the Sequatchie River. 0 PRO^° s © U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water Washington, DC EPA 841-F-17-001S September 2017 For additional information contact: Sam Marshall Tennessee Department of Agriculture 615-837-5306 • sam.marshall@tn.gov ------- |