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) NOHPOIHT SIUBCE SUCCESS STORY
PRO^°
Citoraifc
tices Through the National
Implementing Best Management Practices through the N;
Water Quality Initiative Increases Dissolved Oxygen in Piscola Creek
Watprhnrk/ ImnrnvpH Because °f l°w dissolved oxygen levels, 25 miles of Piscola Creek
were added to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of
Problem
The Piscola Creek watershed is within the hydrologic
unit code (HUC) #0311020307 and includes Brooks and
Thomas counties as well as the city of Quitman. The
segment of Piscola Creek from downstream Whitlock
Branch at Ozell Road to Okapilco Creek near Boston
was added to the CWA section 303(d) list for low
dissolved oxygen in 2000.
The 13-mile reach of Piscola Creek highlighted in this
success story is in the Lower Piscola Creek watershed
(41,309 acres) in Brooks County, Georgia, immediately
north of the Georgia-Florida border. The watershed
is dominated by agricultural land use, most of which
is classified as row crops (29.7 percent). Of the 14,137
acres currently classified as agriculture, approximately
53 percent is irrigated by groundwater. Several clas-
sified evergreen forests (18.8 percent) appear to be
intensively managed for pine and quail plantations
(Figure 1).
Watershed partners developed total maximum daily
loads (TMDLs), a TMDL implementation plan, and
a watershed management plan that recommended
implementing specific BMPs to reduce oxygen-
demanding pollutant loads and bacteria loads from
forestry and agricultural sources.
Figure 1. The Piscola Creek watershed is in southern Georgia.
Thomas
•*» -4
Lowndes
impaired waters in 2000. In 2013 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Water
Quality Initiative (NWQI) designated Piscola Creek a priority watershed for the Natural Resources
Conservation Service's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) investments in voluntary
conservation practices that reduce pollutants from agricultural sources. After investments of over
$1,600,000 in best management practice (BMP) implementation through EQIP, in-stream water
quality data collected by Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) in 2014 indicated
that 13 of Piscola Creek's 25 impaired miles were meeting water quality criteria for dissolved
oxygen. Therefore, GAEPD recommended that the downstream 13-mile section of Piscola Creek
be removed from the state's list of impaired waters, pending EPA approval of Georgia's draft 2016
Integrated Report.
Legend



I
Counties



*
2015 Land Use



J
1 1 Beaches, Dunes, Mud
¦¦
Evergreen Forest
~
Pasture
1 1 Clearcut, Sparse
¦¦
Forested Wetland
IT~i
Quarries, Strip Mines
1 1 Deciduous Forest
¦1
Golf Courses
~
Rock Outcrop
Developed, High Intensity
is=a
Mixed Forest

Row Crop
i m Developed, Low Intensity

Non-forested Wetland (Freshwater)
} 1
Utility Swaths
H Developed, Medium Intensity
r i
Non-forested Wetland (Salt, Brackish)


1 1 Developed, Open Space
¦
Open Water


Piscola Creek Land Use

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Project Highlights
The NWQI was launched in 2012 by the USDA NRCS in
collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). In 2012 the NRCS and GAEPD, the state
water quality partner, selected Piscola Creek to be
targeted by the NWQI for financial and technical
assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners
interested in voluntarily improving water quality and
aquatic habitats in priority watersheds with impaired
streams. Qualified producers received financial
assistance from EQIP to implement conservation and
management practices through a systems approach to
control and trap nutrient and manure runoff.
From 2012 to 2014, BMPs were implemented on
9,811 acres within Brooks County. The BMPs included
conservation crop rotation, cover crops, nutrient
management, fencing and installation of microirriga-
tion. Ultimately, the goal of NWQI is to implement
conservation practices in a concentrated area so that
agriculture no longer contributes to the impairment of
waterbodies within these priority watersheds.
Results
During 2014, GAEPD collected monthly water quality
samples from Piscoia Creek at State Road 333 below
Quitman, Georgia, to determine the impact, if any,
of NWQI conservation practices implementation
on in-stream water quality. The monitoring site was
selected based on its position within the watershed
and its historical data that was used for comparability.
Analysis of the 2014 data showed an increase in dis-
solved oxygen compared to the previous sampling; the
segment is now meeting the water quality standard
(Figure 2).
Because data indicate that 13 of Piscola Creek's 25
impaired miles are meeting water quality criteria for
dissolved oxygen, GAEPD is recommending that the
downstream 13-mile section of Piscola Creek (Allen
Branch to Okapilco Creek, near Boston) be removed
from the state's list of impaired waters, pending EPA
approval of Georgia's draft 2016 Integrated Report.
Piscola Creek @ SR 333
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
8
o
$
ot
8o O O O o
o o o o o
r\| (N	fN (\| (N
8
o o
fN fN
D.O. (mg/l) Standard (mg/l)
Figure 2. Data collected in 2014 at State Route (SR) 333
show that dissolved oxygen (DO) levels meet the water
quality standard.
Partners and Funding
Using EQIP funds in 2012-2014, NRCS provided
$1,653,432 in funding and advice to producers in
Brooks County to install conservation practices such as
cover crops, nutrient management, livestock fencing
and watering systems, among others, to make a dif-
ference to improve water quality. EQIP was originally
established under the 1996 Farm Bill and reauthorized
in the 2014 Farm Bill. Agricultural producers provided
10 to 50 percent cost share for each eligible practice
implemented.
GAEPD performed monthly water quality monitoring
and was the lead author on the TMDL Implementation
plan. Southern Georgia Regional Commission devel-
oped the 2014 Pride Branch Watershed Management
Plan with financial assistance from GAEPD using CWA
section 319(h) funds.
^tDST:%
0
PRO^°
s
©
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-17-001V
October 2017
For additional information contact:
Veronica Craw
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
404-651-8532 • veronica.craw@dnr.ga.gov

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