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NOHPOIHT SIUBCE SUCCESS STORY
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Conservation Practices Restore Water Quality in Ranger Creek
Waterbody Improved H'gh bacteria and low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels resulted in
the impairment of Ranger Creek and placement on Oklahoma's
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2002 for Escherichia coli (E, coli)
and in 2010 for DO. Pollution from grazing lands contributed to this impairment. Implementing
conservation practice systems (CPs) to promote better agricultural land management decreased
E. coli and improved DO levels in the creek. As a result, Oklahoma removed Ranger Creek from its
2014 CWA section 303(d) list for E. coli and DO. Ranger Creek now fully supports its Fish and Wildlife
Propagation (FWP) beneficial use and partially supports its Primary Body Contact (PBC) designated
beneficial use.
Problem
Ranger Creek is a 7.94-mile stream that flows through
Cherokee County before emptying into Fort Gibson
Lake (Figure 1). Land use in the 23,324-acre (ac)
watershed is about 60 percent grazing lands and 32
percent forested. Less than 1 percent of the watershed
is cropland. Challenges with grazing lands manage-
ment contributed to listing the stream as impaired for
E. coli in 2002 when 50 percent of individual samples
violated the individual sample maximum of 406 colony
forming units per 100 milliliters (CFU/100 mL) during
the recreation season. In 2002, the PBC designated
use was considered impaired if more than 10 percent
of samples violated the individual sample maximum.
The assessment method changed in 2008 and streams
were considered violating if the recreation season
geometric mean exceeded 126 CFU/100 mLfor E. coli.
During the 2010 assessment, 25 percent of DO values
violated the criteria for a warm-water aquatic com-
munity. A stream is impaired if more than 10 percent
of samples violate the criteria. Based on these results,
Oklahoma added Ranger Creek (OK121600010060_00)
to the 2002 CWA section 303(d) list for nonattainment
of its PBC designated beneficial use and to the 2010
303(d) list for nonattainment of its FWP beneficial use.
, -V

a m

Ranger Watershed Streams
— Tributaries
	Ranger Creek
EJ Ranger Creek Watershed
] Counties
Figure 1. The Ranger Creek watershed is in eastern Oklahoma.
through Oklahoma NRCS's Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), and general conservation
technical assistance program, and Oklahoma's Locally
Led Cost Share Program (LLCP). CPs installed between
2002 and 2017 focused on reducing erosion and
pollutant runoff from grazing lands in the watershed
(Table 1).
Results
Story Highlights
Landowners in the watershed worked with the
Cherokee County Conservation District, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Oklahoma
Conservation Commission (OCC) to implement CPs
The OCC documented improved water quality in
Ranger Creek due to installation of CPs. The Installed
CPs worked to decrease the runoff of fecal bacteria
and other pollutants to downstream waterbodies.
Monitoring data compiled for the 2002 Integrated
report had showed that Ranger Creek E. coli levels
violated the Individual sample maximum 50 percent of
the time (Figure 2). However, by the 2014 assessment,

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Table 1. CPs installed in the Ranger Creek watershed.

Amount
Practice name
installed
Comprehensive nutrient management plan
2
Brush management
447 ac
Forage harvest management
956 ac
Pond
9
Nutrient management
473 ac:
Heavy use area protection
745 ft1-
Pest management
2,430 ac
Prescribed grazing
2,179 ac
Livestock pipeline
408 ft
Forage and biomass planting
98 ac
Groundwater testing
1
Watering facility
1
Herbaceous weed treatment
297 ac
Ranger Creek E. coli
50% 33%	38%
bacteria levels had dropped and the E. coli geometric
mean was 30 CFU/100 mi. Although DO levels were
of concern in 2008, during the 2010 assessment, 25
percent of samples violated the DO criteria of 5 mi I -
.igrams per liter (mg/L) (Figure 3). However, by 2014,
only 9 percent of samples violated the criteria. Based
on these data, Oklahoma removed Ranger Creek from
the CWA section 303(d) list for E. coli and DO in 2014.
Ranger Creek now fully supports its FWP and partially
supports its PBC beneficial uses.
Partners and Funding
The OCC monitoring program is supported by U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) CWA section
319 funding at an average annual statewide cost of
$1 million. Approximately $500,000 in EPA 319 funds
support statewide water quality educational efforts
through Blue Thumb. Approximately $215,000 of these
federal and matching state funds have been devoted
to Ranger Creek. From 2002 to 2017, NRCS supplied
approximately $30,000 for implementation of CPs in
the watershed through NRCS EQIP. Additional funds
were provided through NRCS for technical assistance.
The state LLCP provided $12,202 matched by $16,522
from landowners. In addition, many practices were
funded by landowners based on recommendations
through NRCS general technical assistance and conser-
vation planning.
96	132
30	11
% exceeds
geomean
^ 1400
E 1000
2002	2004	2006	2008	2012	2014	2018
Figure 2. E, coli bacteria concentrations decreased in
Ranger Creek with the installation of CPs.
%exceedance:
16.00
Ranger Creek Dissolved Oxygen
25	26	9	10
LM; i
E 10.00
Figure 3. DO concentrations improved with the
installation of CPs.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
W .1
^ EPA 841-F-18-001M
PROt^° September 2018
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4728 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov

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