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Recreational and Aquatic Life Use Impairment^Removed in the
Pendleton Branch of Indian Creek
Waterbody Improved lnc'ian Creek is a 22-mile-iong Ohio River tributary in western
Switzerland County, Indiana. The Indiana Department of
Environmental Management (IDEM) listed the Pendleton Branch of Indian Creek on its 2008
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters due to high levels of Escherichia
coli. To address this concern and others, partners developed and implemented the Indian Creek
Watershed Management Plan (WMP) under the guidance of the nonprofit Historic Hoosier Hills
Resource Conservation and Development Council (HHH RC&D). This plan led to the implementation
of multiple best management practices (BMPs) in the watershed, ultimately leading to the creek
being delisted for E. coli in 2014. Bioassessment data collected in 2010 prompted the addition of an
aquatic life use impairment in 2014; however, BMP implementation led to improved conditions and
this impairment is proposed for removal in 2018.
Problem
The Indian Creek watershed is made up of two 12-digit
hydroiogic unit code (IHUC) watersheds; Pendleton
Branch is located midway between upper Indian Creek
and the mouth of the creek in HUC 050902030902.
The river and its tributaries flow southward through
hilly terrain before coalescing with the Ohio River
just west of Vevay, Indiana. The watershed is highly
forested, with 61.5 percent in forested land use,
22 percent in pasture/hay land use and 7.6 percent in
cultivated crops. Livestock in the watershed include
goats, chicken, cattle, horses and donkeys.
The WMP notes that several homes within the
watershed are serviced by outhouses instead of
septic system or sewer. A 6.17-mile reach of Indian
Creek known as the Pendleton Branch (assessment
unit identification [AUID] INV03M5_01) was added
to Indiana's 2008 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters for having levels of E. coli (217 most probable
number per 100 milliliters of water [MPN/100 mLJ)
well above Indiana's water quality standard for recre-
ational use (geometric mean < 125 MPN/100 mL to be
considered supporting). Later sampling indicated that
aquatic life use was also impaired, as evidenced by a
low macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity (mlBI)
score (mlBI scores > 36 are considered supportive of
biological integrity). In 2010 the mlBI score on the
reach was 30, prompting IDEM to add the reach to its
Figure 1. Pendleton Branch is in southeastern indiana's
Indian Creek watershed.
2014 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
impaired biotic communi ties (note: in 2014 the water-
body was resegmented as AUID !NV0392_02).
Indian Creek - HUC 0509020309
Legend
O Biologica I comm unities sa mpli ng sites
^ E. coli sampling sites
—	State Highways
Assessment Unit ID
	INV0392	02
Streams
Intermittent
—	Perennial
Cities
Lakes/ponds
12-digit Watersheds
> i 
I ! 050902030901
ED. 050902030902
Indian Creek

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Figure 2. A fence was installed to exclude iivestock
from the creek.
Project Highlights
The Indian Creek WMP was completed in May 2008.
The Switzerland County Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD), HHIH RC&D, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), and the USDA Farm Service Agency
(FSA) helped implement numerous BMPs and other
management activities between 2005 and 2015
(Figure 2). In addition to the BMPs outlined in Table 1,
HHH RC&D helped landowners install a pumping plant
for water control, a water well, and a water tank; the
USDA NRCS helped implement five access control
practices, two stream crossings, a developed spring,
forage/biomass planting (434 acres [ac]), upland
wildlife habitat management (51 ac), early successional
habitat development/management (37 ac), wetland
enhancement (0.5 ac), and forest stand improvement
(32 ac); and the USDA FSA supported planting of
permanent native grasses ("19.8 ac), grassed waterways
(1.5 ac), and hardwood trees (24.3 ac).
Results
iDEM resampled the reach for E. coli in 2011 and found
geometric means of 15 MPN/100 mL and 47 MPN/100
ml, well below the water quality standard of geometric
mean < 125 MPN/100 mL. to be considered supporting.
As a result, IDEM removed Pendleton Branch of Indian
Creek from the impaired waters list in 2014 for £ coli.
In 2015, after significant restoration work had taken
place, IDEM sampled the aquatic community and
found that macroinvertebrates had recovered,
Table 1. BMPs implemented in the Indian Creek
watershed (2005-2015


Amount Implemented
Practice Type
SWCD
HHHRC&D
USDA NRCS
Cover crops
74 ac
611.4 ac
679 ac
Conservation cover
-
-
2.5 ac
Exclusion fencing
58 ft
-
-
Fencing
-
66,866 ft
70,033 ft
Prescribed grazing
-
93 ac
442 ac
Heavy use area protection
2,143 ft2
4.55 ac
8.4 ac
Pipeline
130 ft
660 ft
12,088 ft
Pest management
80 ac
8.6 ac
175 ac
Critical area planting
-
2.7 ac
3.3 ac
Pasture and hay planting
-
711.2 ac
-
Roof runoff structure
1
-
9
Underground outlet
1
-
1
Watering facilities
3
14
6
Pond
-
2
5
Notes; ac= acres; ft: = feet; ft®= square feet
achieving mlBI scores of 40 and 44 along the reach.
The fish community retained Its supporting score (IBI
= 48 and 42). Because both the mlBI and the IBI scores
show fuli support of aquatic life, this segment's aquatic
life use impairment is proposed for removal from the
2018 impaired waters list.
Partners and Funding
A variety of federal, state and local partners contrib-
uted to restoration in the watershed. HHH coordinated
the WMP planning and implementation events. IDEM
awarded $916,167 in CWA section 319 funding to the
effort. Switzerland County SWCD sponsored the 319
grant for the WMP, obtained a Clean Water Indiana
grant ($122,983) from the Indiana State Department
of Agriculture to conduct outreach and install
BMPs, obtained and administered local funds from
Switzerland County ($26,678) to provide cost-share for
BMPs, and was the technical service provider during
implementation. NRCS provided BMP promotion,
design and installation at a cost of $1,024,471 through
both its Environmental Quality Incentives Program and
its Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. FSA contribut-
ed $6,824 toward BMP design and installation through
its Conservation Reserve Program.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
0** Office of Water
\ Washington, DC
WI
EPA 841-F-18-001A
PROt^° January 2018
For additional information contact:
Joe Schmees
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3194 • jschmees@idem.in.gov
Angie Brown
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3206 • abrown@idem.in.gov

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