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Implementing Best Management Practices Corrects Nutrient
Impairments in the Buck Creek-Busseron Creek Watershed
Waterbodies Irnproved lncreased nutrient levels from noripoint sources such as livestock,
agricultural activities, and septic systems caused the Buck Creek-
Busseron Creek watershed to be impaired for aquatic life use. As a result, the Indiana Department
of Environmental Management (IDEM) listed nearly 27 stream miles in the watershed on its Clean
Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for nutrients in 2002 and for impaired biotic
communities in 2010. Project partners implemented a variety of best management practices (BMPs)
in the watershed between 2003 and 2015. Sampling in 2016 revealed that applicable nutrient and
biologic community water quality standards are now being met. As a result, Indiana is proposing to
remove three waterbodies in the Buck Creek-Busseron Creek watershed from its 2018 CWA section
303(d) impaired waters list.
Problem
The Buck Creek-Busseron Creek watershed is In
Suliivan County in southwest Indiana (Figure 1). The
watershed contains 2 miles of Busseron Creek, along
with 37 stream miles of two major tributaries of
Busseron Creek: Robbins Branch (10.3 stream miles)
and Buck Creek (27 stream miles). The watershed is
mixed land use, with 54 percent in cultivated crops,
21 percent in forest, and 7 percent in pasture/hay with
some minimal mining activity. Though the water-
shed is mostly rural, it also contains most of the city
of Sullivan, whose wastewater treatment plant has
several combined sewer overflow outlets that empty
into Buck Creek.
Indiana's nutrient assessment methodology states
that a waterbody is classified as impaired if two or
more of the following conditions are met on the same
date (assuming a minimum of three sampling events):
(1)	dissolved oxygen is less than 4 milligrams per liter
(mg/L) or is consistently in the range of 4-5 mg/L;
(2)	nitrogen exceeds 10 mg/L; (3) total phosphorus
exceeds 0.3 mg/L; (4) pH exceeds 9 or is consistently in
the range of 8.7-9; and/or (5) algae is deemed "exces-
sive" based on field observations by IDEM scientists.
Nutrient parameters were sampled in the watershed
in 1999 and 2000. This sampling revealed an elevated
level of phosphorus (1.1 mg/L and 0.47 mg/L) in
both Buck Creek and Robbins Branch. In addition to
Buck Creek - Busseron Creek
HUC-12 Subwatershed
Indiana
Busseron Creek
Watershed
Legend
—	Streams
—	2002 Impaired Waters
¦ Populated Areas
125	2.5
Miles
Figure 1. The Buck Creek-Busseron Creek watershed is in
southwest Indiana. Buck Creek and Robbins Branch are being
delisted in 2018.

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elevated phosphorus levels, dissolved oxygen was
found to be low in Buck Creek and Robbins Branch
(4.79 and 4.7 mg/L, respectively); however, it was not
low enough to prompt an official impairment listing.
Further monitoring in 2006 revealed that aquatic
community scores were not achieving target bench-
marks. For a waterbody to be considered supporting
aquatic life use, the index of biotic integrity (IBI) score
must be at least 36. The 2006 sampling revealed an
IBI score of 16 in Buck Creek. On the basis of these
data, Busseron Creek-Robbins Creek (INB11GA_00)
was listed on Indiana's 2002 CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters for nutrients, and on Indiana's 2010
CWA section 303(d) list for impaired biotic communi-
ties. Since being listed as impaired in 2002, Busseron
Creek-Robbins Creek has been resegmented multiple
times for assessment purposes. As of 2012, it was
classified as three separate segments: INB11F9_T1001,
INB11F9_T1003, and INB11F9_T1004.
Project Highlights
IDEM used CWA section 319 grant funding to support
the creation of a watershed management plan (WMP)
in 2010. A variety of state and federal programs were
used to install BMPs including 20 acres of access
control; 64.1 acres of conservation cover; 3,556
acres conservation tillage; 972 acres of cover crops;
2 acres of critical area plantings; 600 feet of fence;
34 acres of filter strip; 13.4 acres of grassed waterway;
10,725 acres of nutrient management; 3,687 acres of
pest management; 100 feet of streambank protection;
13 water and sediment control basins; one waste man-
agement system; and 82.7 acres of waste recycling.
Results
IDEM reassessed the water quality in the Buck Creek-
Busseron Creek watershed in 2016. Results of that
sampling indicate that nutrients are no longer a water
quality threat (Table 1) and that the biologic com-
munity has recovered (IBI score on Buck Creek was a
36). Due to these results, IDEM will propose to remove
three segments (INB11F9_T1001, INB11F9_T1003,
and INB11F9_T1004) from the state's list of impaired
waters in 2018. All three segments are being removed
from the impaired waters list for nutrients, and
the two Buck Creek segments (INB11F9_T1003 and
INB11F9_T1004) are also being removed for impaired
biotic communities (see Figure 1).
^edsj^ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
0** Office of Water
^ Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-17-001JJ
pRot^c December 2017
Table 1. 2016 monitoring data for Buck Creek-Busseron
Creek segments.
Sampling
Date
Dissolved
Oxygen
(mg/L)
Nitrogen,
Nitrate-Nitrite
(mg/L)
pH
(standard
units)
Phosphorus,
Total
(mg/L)
Segment INB11F9_T1001 (Monitoring Site WBU-15-0041)
6/6/2016
9.97
4.7
8.16
0.087
7/6/2016
9.35
3.0
7.87
0.094
9/20/2016
7.21
0.6
7.27
0.161
Segment INB11F9_T1003 (Monitoring Site WBU160-0029)
6/6/2016
5.96
1.7
7.72
0.274
7/6/2016
6.68
1.3
7.81
0.483
9/20/2016
7.66
0.2
7.27
0.283
Segment INB11F9_T1004 (Monitoring Site WBU160-0161)
6/6/2016
6.30
2.6
7.77
0.335
7/6/2016
7.41
1.6
7.96
0.444
9/20/2016
7.30
0.2
7.59
0.351
Note: Indiana's nutrient assessment methodology states that a waterbody is
classified as impaired if two or more of the following conditions are met on
the same date: (1) dissolved oxygen is <4 mg/L or is consistently in the range
of 4-5 mg/L; (2) nitrogen concentration is >10 mg/L; (3) total phosphorus is
>0.3 mg/L; (4) pH is >9 or is consistently in the range of 8.7-9; and/or (5) algae
is deemed excessive based on field observations.
Partners and Funding
Multiple partners collaborated to restore water quality
in the Buck Creek-Busseron Creek watershed. IDEM
provided $795,635 in CWA section 319 grants to the
Sullivan County Soil and Water Conservation District,
who coordinated planning and restoration work in the
watershed and provided $612,885 in landowner and
in-kind match. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
provided $408,464 in Environmental Quality Incentives
Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program,
Conservation Stewardship Program and Conservation
Reserve Program funds to install BMPs. The Indiana
State Department of Agriculture also provided $20,785
in state funding for marketing, education programs,
technical assistance and BMPs.
For additional information contact:
Jamie Hosier
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3218 • jhosier@idem.IN.gov
Joe Schmees
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3194 • jschmees@idem.IN.gov

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