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NONPOINT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY
Virainifr
Improving Stream Aquatic Health by Implementing Best Management
Practices in Mountain Run Watershed

Waterbodies Imoroved Two segments °f Mountain Run were listed as impaired on
Virginia's 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) Total
Maximum Daily Load Priority List and Report. The segments were impaired due to violations of
the state's water quality general standard for aquatic life. Installing agricultural best management
practices (BMPs) in the watershed helped reduce sediment and improve benthic macroinvertebrate
communities, allowing Commonwealth of Virginia to remove both segments from the state's
impaired waters list in 2014.
Problem
The Mountain Run watershed (4,595 acres),, in
Rockingham County, Virginia, is a part of the south-
eastern portion of the Smith Creek watershed
(Hydrologic Unit Code 020700060202) (Figure 1).
Mountain Run empties into Smith Creek, which flows
northward from headwaters to its confluence with the
North Fork Shenandoah River. The watershed pre-
dominantly is forested, followed by pasture/hayland,
cropland and urban land uses.
The impaired segments begin in the headwaters and
end at their confluence with Smith Creek. The seg-
ments were listed on the CWA section 303(d) list for
violating the state's water quality general standard for
aquatic life during the 2002 assessment period. The
impairment at station #4076 was based on bioas-
sessment performed by the U.S. Forest Service using
the Macroinvertebrate Aggregated Index for Streams
(MAIS), based on the Rapid Bioassessment Protocols
methodology. A stream having an Index of 12 and
above was considered to be in a good condition. Two
segments of Mountain Run (5.69 miles and 0.95 miles)
received a MAIS score of 11.5, which faiied to meet
the minimum threshold. As a result, both segments
were categorized as moderately impaired and were
added to the 2002 CWA section 303(d) list of Impaired
waters. The Virginia Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) developed totai maximum daily loads in
2004, and created an implementation plan In coopera-
tion with the Virginia Department of Conservation and
Recreation (DCR) in 2009 that addressed aquatic life
impairments in the Smith Creek watershed, including
Mountain Run.
Figure 1. Delisted segments and biological monitoring
stations in northwest Virginia's Mountain Run
watershed.
DEQ now employs the Virginia Stream Condition Index
(VSCI) to evaluate biological conditions of a stream. A
stream that achieves a rating of 60 or above is consid-
ered to be supporting biological integrity and meeting
the stream's aquatic life use.
Story Highlights
The BMPs installed in the watershed from 2002
through 2012 included 155 acres of harvestable cover
crop, 71 acres of small grain cover crop, 25 acres
of riparian forest buffer, 15 acres of riparian buffer,
and 30 acres of legume based cover crop (Figure 2).
Also, 23 acres of pasture and hayland forage was
improved, and 1,815 feet of streambank protection
and two animal control facilities were installed. BMP
Rockingham County
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Creek and Mountain Run
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Peige County
A Biological Monitoring Station
/SS US Interstate Highways (all)
/\/ US Highway
Delisted Waters
—— River/Stream
£3 6th Order Hydrologic Unit
Mountain Run Watershed - 4,595 Act
13 Smith Creek
+

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implementation is stiii ongoing; from 2013 through
mid-2016 farmers added 4,405 feet of stream exclu-
sion fencing. 89 acres of harvestable cover crop,
163 acres of small grain cover crop, and 29 acres of
legume-based cover crop in the watershed.
Results
The BMPs installed in the watershed from 2002 to
2012 helped reduce sediment loadings to the stream.
The biological monitoring conducted by DEQ at station
1BMTR003.25 in 2011-2014 indicated an improve-
ment In the benthic macroinvertebrate community,
reflected through VSCI scores that met the threshold
for fuii support of aquatic life. Although a single spring
2012 score of 58 feii slightly below the threshold,
the overall average scores indicate full support
(Figure 3). In addition, water quality data collected
at U.S. Forest Service station 4076 (headwaters)
indicated full support of aquatic life use beginning in
2007 (Figure 4). Based on these data, both segments
(5.69 miles: VAVB47R_MTN01A00, and 0.95 miies:
VAVB47R_MTN02A00) were removed from the state's
impaired waters iist in 2014.
Partners and Funding
The improvement in the aquatic communities in the
Mountain Run is a result of partnerships among the
Shenandoah Valley Soil and Water Conservation
District (SVSWCD) arid several state and federal agen-
cies, including the DCR, DEQ, and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS). BMP implementation was administered
by the SVSWCD and NRCS and included cost-share
assistance totaling $275,134 from 2002 to 2012. Also,
BMPs were funded through Virginia's Water Quality
Improvement Fund ($33,407), DCR's contribution to
the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
($9,991), and NRCS funding ($50,860). The funding
for BMPs installed from 2013 through mid-2016 was
provided through state cost-share funds ($57,985),
a CWA section 319 federal grant ($8,094), and NRCS
($114,797).
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Figure 2. Livestock exclusion stream fencing and
riparian buffer in Mountain Run watershed.
Mountain Run (1BMTR003.25)
2014 & 2016 WQ Assessment Data: VSCI Scores
P 50
Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall
2011 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2014 2014
Figure 3. VSCI scores show aquatic life use support at
the downstream monitoring station 1BMTR003.25.
Mountain Run (USFS4076)
2014 WQ Assessment Data: VSCI Scores
Spring 2007 Spring 2008 Spring 2009 Spring 2010 Spring 2011
Figure 4. VSCI scores show aquatic life use support at
the headwaters monitoring station 4076.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-001F
February 2018
For additional information contact:
Megen Dalton
Shenandoah Valley Soil & Water Conservation District
540-433-2853 • Megen.Dalton@svswcd.org
Nesha McRae
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
540-574 -7850 • Nesha.Mcrae@deq.virginia.gov

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