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Conservation Programs Reduce Bacteria Levels in Little Cabin Creek
Waterbody Improvsd ^'evatec' bacteria levels resulted in the impairment of Little Cabin
Creek and placement on Oklahoma's Clean Water Act (CWA)
section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2004. Grazing and hay production contributed to these
impairments, and implementation of conservation practice systems (CPs) to promote better quality
grazing lands decreased Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria levels in the creek. As a result, Little Cabin
Creek was removed from Oklahoma's 2014 CWA section 303(d) list for E. coli bacteria. Little Cabin
Creek now partially supports its primary body contact (PBC) designated use.
Problem
Little Cabin Creek is a 32.3-mile stream that flows
through Craig, Ottawa, and Delaware counties in
Oklahoma before discharging to Big Cabin Creek, a
tributary of the Neosho River (Figure 1). Land use in
the 102,000-acre watershed is primarily grasslands
(77 percent of total) for beef cattle and hay produc-
tion. About 5 percent of the watershed is developed
land primarily for highways and roads, and 10 percent
of the watershed is forested. Less than 8 percent of
the watershed is cropland.
Grazing and hay land management contributed to
excess bacteria in Little Cabin Creek. Little Cabin
Creek was listed as impaired for E. coli in 2004 when
the geometric mean of samples collected during the
recreation season was 237 colony forming units per
100 milliliters (CFU/100 mL). The PBC designated use is
considered impaired for E. coli if the geometric mean
during the recreation season exceeds 126 CFU/100 mL.
On the basis of these assessment results, Oklahoma
added the Little Cabin Creek (OK121600060080_00)
to the 2004 CWA section 303(d) list for nonattainment
of the PBC designated beneficial use.
Figure 1. Little Cabin Creek is in northeastern Oklahoma.
From 2002 to 2015, landowners improved many acres
(ac) of grasslands, pasture, and hay meadows, which
reduced runoff of bacteria and other pollutants by
decreasing erosion of pollutants and better utilizing
available grazing lands (Table 1).
Story Highlights
Results
Landowners in the watershed worked with the Craig,
Delaware, and Ottawa county conservation districts,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Oklahoma
Conservation Commission (OCC) to implement con-
servation practices (CPs) through Oklahoma NRCS's
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and
general conservation technical assistance program,
and through the OCC's Locally Led Cost Share Program
(LLCP).
Through its statewide nonpoint source Rotating Basin
Ambient Monitoring Program, the OCC documented
improved water quality in Little Cabin Creek due to
landowners implementing CPs. The installed practices
worked to decrease runoff of bacteria to streams by
improving vegetative cover and Improving the natural
hydrology of the system. Monitoring data compiled
for the 2004 Integrated report had shown excessive
£ coli in Little Cabin Creek (the geometric mean of 237
CFU/100 mL exceeded the state standard of 126 CFU).
Little Cabin Monitoring Site
Little Cabin Creek Streams
— Tributaries
	Little Cabin Creek
| Little Cabin Creek Watershed

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Table 1. Water quality (values are means) improved
after lime doser installation
Practice name
Amount installed
Access control
21 ac
Brush management
1,931 ac
Forage harvest management
399 ac
Conservation crop rotation
1,304 ac
Nutrient management
925 ac
Integrated pest management
5,803 ac
Forage and biomass planting
2,360 ac
Critical area planting
16 ac
Constructed wetland
17 ac
Fence
15,301ft
Stream crossing
1
Heavy use area protection
8 ac
Waste recycling
25 ac
Well decommissioning
1
Wetland wildlife habitat
management
133 ac
Prescribed grazing
15,424 ac
Livestock pipeline
13,727 ft
Herbaceous weed treatment
982 ac
Seasonal residue management
829 ac
Pond
46
Upland wildlife habitat management
1,681 ac
Prescribed burning
926 ac
Diversion
730 ft
Contour farming
183 ac
Grade stabilization structure
2
Water control structure
3
Rotation of supplement and feeding
areas
241 ac
Watering facility
28
Wetland restoration
4 ac
Diversion
768 ft
Little Cabin Creek, E. coli
max. = 1680	1680
geomean= 237	216
1000
6100
322
6100
407
6100
460
6100
101
6100
102
I B
2004	2006
2010	2012
2014	2016	2018
Figure 2. E. coli decreased in Little Cabin Creek as producers
focused on improving pasture management.
However, by 2014, E. coli levels had decreased to a
geometric mean of 101 CFU/100 mL and this decreas-
ing trend continues through the 2018 assessment
(Figure 2). Based on these data, Little Cabin Creek was
removed from the Oklahoma CWA section 303(d) list
for E. coli in 2014. Little Cabin Creek is now in partial
support of its PBC beneficial use. Monitoring in Little
Cabin will continue in order to track progress towards
full support of its beneficial uses.
Partners and Funding
The OCC monitoring program is supported by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) CWA
section 319 funds at an average annual statewide cost
of $1 million and approximately $500,000 in EPA 319
funds support statewide water quality educational
efforts through Blue Thumb. Approximately $302,000
of these federal and state matching funds have been
devoted to Little Cabin Creek. Working in partner-
ship with local conservation districts, NRCS supplied
approximately $125,000 for implementation of CPs in
the watershed through NRCS EQIP. The LLCP provided
$61,910 matched by $80,630 from landowners.
Landowners self-funded a large number of practices
based on recommendations through NRCS general
technical assistance and conservation planning.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-001P
September 2018
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4728 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov

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