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'&?) NINPOIHT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY
PRO-^
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Pollution Source Tracking and Education Equal Water Quality Success
for the Natalbany River
Waterbody Improved Sewage leakir|gfrom improperly managed septic systems led to
fecal coliform bacteria impairment in the Natalbany River, The
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) added the waterbody to the state's 2002
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list for not supporting its primary contact recreation (PGR)
designated use because of high bacteria levels. Beginning in 2005, partners implemented a series
of initiatives such as pollution source tracking, education and intensive water quality monitoring.
Recent data indicate that the river no longer exceeds the fecal coliform standard for PGR; as a result,
LDEQ removed the water body's PGR bacteria impairment listing from the state's 2016 Integrated
Report (IR).
Problem
The Natalbany River is approximately 54 miles long.
The watershed includes portions of a few small towns,
including Albany and Springfield, Primary land cover
in the watershed is woody wetlands, shrubland, and
evergreen forest (Figure 1).
Homes with improperly managed septic systems
caused high bacteria loadings to the Natalbany River.
Louisiana's water quality standard for PCR requires
that no more than 25 percent of the fecal coliform
samples collected on a monthly or near-monthly basis
from May 1 to October 31 may exceed a fecal coliform
density of 400 colonies per 100 milliliters of water
(col/100 mL). During the 2001 sampling year, three
out of six events at Ambient Water Quality Monitoring
Network (AWQMN) site 0298 exceeded the standard
of 400 col/100 mL. On the basis of these data. LDEQ
added the Natalbany River to its 2002 CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters for not fully support-
ing the water quality standard for PCR due to fecal
coliform bacteria.
Subsequent 303(d) lists stated the suspected cause
as on-site treatment systems (septic systems and
other decentralized systems). Due to a court-ordered
schedule, a total maximum daily load (TMDL) was not
developed for Natalbany River until 2012. The TMDL
report indicated a 50 percent reduction was needed
in the summer months (May through October), and
an 87.5 percent reduction was needed in the winter
months (November through April).
Figure 1. Land use in the Natalbany River watershed in
southeast Louisiana.
Roseland
I Amite City
Albany*
0298\*J
Springfield!
040503
CLASS
ACRES
PERCENT
^¦Woodv Wetlands
24,073
26.5%
Shrubland
22,453
24.7%
^¦Uoland Forest
19,560
21.5%

Pasture/Hay
13,807
15.2%

Developed/Open Space
5,711
6.3%
^BDeveloDed
3,030
3.3%
Barren
778
0.9%
^¦Ooen Water
711
0.8%
^¦Herbaceous Wetlands
605
0.7%
^MSoybeans
44
0.0%
0	5	10 Miles
	1	l	I	l	I	I	I
Natalbany River
Subsegment 040503
2015 NLCD Land Use
Q LDEQ Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Station - 0298
Natalbany River west of Ponchatoula, Louisiana

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Project Highlights
Results
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) began
sub-basin pollution source tracking in Tangipahoa
Parish in 2005 under a Targeted Watershed Grant from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
Through this grant, LPBF was able to assess water
quality and begin pollution source tracking in the
Tangipahoa, Tickfaw and Natalbany River watersheds.
The results indicated that the urbanized areas along
the Natalbany River and its tributaries Yellow Water
River, Ponchatoula Creek and Ponchatoula River con-
tained excessive amounts of fecal coliform bacteria.
From 2008 through 2014, LDEQ's Nonpoint Source
Unit funded watershed coordinator (WSC) positions
at LPBF and the Capital Resource Conservation &
Development Council (CRC&D) to facilitate and con-
duct watershed use support restoration activities in
the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. The goal was to reduce
nonpoint pollution sources to ultimately improve sur-
face water quality, restore designated use support and
maintain healthy waters. LPBF developed a Watershed
Implementation Plan (WIP) which included manage-
ment measures recommended for the Natalbany River
watershed.
In 2011 LPBF began a project with LDEQ—"Water
Quality Monitoring and Education in North Shore
Watersheds"—under the federal fiscal year 2009 CWA
section 319 grant. The project's purpose was to locate
and track pollution sources in the Tangipahoa and
Tickfaw watersheds through water quality and land
use analysis, educate and assist those causing the pol-
lution, and educate the general public about environ-
mental pollution issues, with all tasks performed in
cooperation with state and local agencies.
In 2013 and 2014, LPBF worked closely with the
Tangipahoa Parish Department of Health and Hospitals
(TDHH) to conduct individual home sewage inspec-
tions. As of November 2014, 254 individual home
wastewater systems had been inspected in the
Natalbany River watershed.
Water quality data show improvement as a result of
wastewater system repairs. Fecal coliform data from
October 2013 to September 2014 showed that only
one out of six events at AWQMN site 0298 exceeded
the standard of 400 col/100 mL (i.e., a 16.7 percent
annual exceedance rate, below the 25 percent annual
exceedance rate limit noted in the water quality
standard). This data indicated that the Natalbany River
supports its PCR designated use (Table 1).
On the basis of these data, in 2016 LDEQ has indi-
cated PCR is no longer impaired by bacteria, and the
Natalbany River is fully supporting the PCR use. The
river remains listed as impaired for failing to sup-
port its fish and wildlife propagation designated use
because of mercury in fish tissue and low levels of pH
and dissolved oxygen.
Partners and Funding
Partners in this work included USEPA, LDEQ, LPBF,
CRC&D, and TDHH. The "Water Quality Monitoring and
Education in North Shore Watersheds" project used
$129,376 in CWA section 319(h) funds. LPBF entered
into a cooperative agreement with LDEQ for a water-
shed coordinator from 2012 to 2014; $205,920 of CWA
section 319 funds were spent for WIP development
and associated work. LPBF spent $178,758 in CWA
section 319 funds and $119,172 in match for water
monitoring, source tracking, and home wastewater
activities. LDEQ also contracted with CRC&D to fund
a watershed coordinator, septic system inspections,
and water quality monitoring; $15,279 in CWA section
319 funds and $2,781 in match were expended for the
Natalbany River during 2012 and 2013.
Table 1. Data show that Natalbany River (site 0298)
met the water quality standard1 (WQS) for fecal
coliform (FC) bacteria in 2014.

2001
2006
2009
2010
2014
Average FC density
(cfu/100 mL)
2533.3
3319.9
251.3
376.4
152.9
WQS exceedance (%)
50.0%
66.7%
33.3%
33.3%
16.7%
1WQS: No more than 25% of samples collected on a monthly or
near-monthly basis from May 1 to October 31 may exceed a FC
bacteria density of 400 col/100 mL.
^£DSrX
PRO^°
ro
s
o
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-001C
January 2018
For additional information contact:
John Sheehan
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
225-219-0879 • John.Sheehan@la.gov

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