^ PRO^°
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&z) NOHPOIHT SIUBCE SUCCESS STORY
Implementation of Voluntary Conservation Programs Reduces
Bacteria in Fourteenmile Creek
Waterbody Improvsd	bacteria levels resulted iri the impairment of Fourteenmile
Creek and placement on Oklahoma's Clean Water Act (CWA)
section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2002. Pollution from grazing lands contributed to this
impairment. Farmers in the Fourteenmile Creek watershed implemented conservation practice
systems (CPs) that promoted better agricultural land management, resulting in decreased
Escherichia coli [E. coli) levels in the creek. As a result, Oklahoma removed Fourteenmile Creek from
its 2008 CWA section 303(d) list for E. coli. Fourteenmile Creek now partially supports its primary
body contact (PBC) designated beneficial use and fully supports all other assessed beneficial uses.
Problem
Fourteenmile Creek is a 25.45-mi!e stream that flows
through Cherokee County, Oklahoma, before drain-
ing into Lake Fort Gibson (Figure 1). Land use in the
45,000-acre (ac) watershed is about 62 percent grazing
lands and 33 percent forested. Approximately 4 per-
cent of the watershed is developed land and less than
1 percent is cropland. Although only a few poultry
houses are located In the watershed, Cherokee and
neighboring counties support a significant poultry
production Industry with hundreds of facilities and
millions of birds produced annually. As a result, land-
owners have ready access to poultry waste as a soil
amendment and fertilizer on grazing lands, which can
contribute to water quality degradation.
Challenges with grazing lands and animal waste man-
agement contributed to listing the stream as impaired
for pathogens (including £ coli) in 2002, when 29
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
impaired if the recreation season geometric mean
exceeded 126 CFU/100 ml for E. coli. Oklahoma added
Fourteenmile Creek (OK12160010100_00) to the 2002
CWA section 303(d) list for nonattainment of its PBC
designated beneficial use.
Figure 1. Fourteenmile Creek is in northeastern Oklahoma.
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
through Oklahoma NRCS's Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship
Program (CSP), Grazing Lands Conservation (GLC) tech-
nical assistance, and general conservation technical
assistance program, and Oklahoma's Locally Led Cost
Share Program (LLCP).
. Monitoring Site
Fourteenmile Watershed Streams
Tributaries
Fourteenmile Creek
Fourteenmile Creek Watershed

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Table 1. CPs installed in the Fourteenmile Creek
watershed.
Practice name
Amount
installed
Fence
26,388 ft
Brush management
949 ac
Composting facility
1
Pond
19
Nutrient management
1,979 ac
Conservation crop rotation
210 ac
Cover crop
0.1 ac
Seasonal high tunnel system
672 ft2
Watering facility
9 tanks
Livestock pipeline
3,367 ft
Forage harvest management
1,379 ac
Prescribed grazing
8,772 ac
Comprehensive nutrient management plan
7
Waste storage facility
2
Herbaceous weed treatment
372 ac
Groundwater testing
2 wells
Seasonal residue management
92 ac
Livestock well
3
Waste recycling
298 ac
Heavy use area protection
18 ac
Upland wildlife habitat management
1,132 ac
Integrated pest management
6,387 ac
Through the installation of CPs between 2002 and
2015, landowners focused on reducing erosion and
pollutant runoff from grazing lands in the watershed
(Table 1). In addition, over 3,000 ac were enrolled
in CSP, which encouraged additional management
improvements over those initially implemented
through the EQIP program. CSP focused on nutrient
management, soil health, grazing management, and
improved energy efficiency.
Results
The OCC documented improved water quality in
Fourteenmile Creek due to landowners implement-
ing CPs. The CPs worked to decrease the runoff of
fecal bacteria and other pollutants to downstream
waterbodies. Monitoring data compiled for the 2002
Fourteenmile Creek E. coli
~ i
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Figure 2. E. coli bacteria concentrations decreased in
Fourteenmile Creek with installation of CPs.
integrated report showed that Fourteenmile Creek E.
coli levels had violated state standards (29 percent of
the recreation season samples exceeded the individual
sample maximum of 406 CFU/100 mL). The stream
was delisted for E. coli in 2008 when concentrations
decreased to violating the individual sample maximum
less than 10 percent of the time and when the E. coli
geometric mean of 101 CFU/100 mL was less than
the standard of 126 CFU/100 mL (Figure 2). Based on
these data, Fourteenmile Creek was removed from the
Oklahoma CWA section 303(d) list for E. coli in 2008.
Although the stream remains listed for Enterococcus
and therefore is only partially supporting its PBC, the
stream fully supports all other assessed beneficial uses.
Partners and Funding
The OCC monitoring program is supported by U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) CWA section
319 funds at an average annual statewide cost of
$1 million. Approximately $500,000 in EPA section 319
funds support statewide water quality educational
efforts through Blue Thumb. Approximately $188,000
of these federal and state matching funds have been
devoted to Fourteenmile Creek. From 2002 to 2015,
NRCS supplied approximately $50,000 for implementa-
tion of CPs in the watershed through EQIP. Additional
funds were provided through NRCS for CSP. The state
LLCP provided $22,218, which was matched by $29,797
from landowners. In addition, many practices were
funded by landowners based on recommendations
through NRCS GLC, general technical assistance and
conservation planning.
^edsj^ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
0** Office of Water
^ Washington, DC
WJ
EPA 841-F-18-001S
prO"^° September 2018
For additional information contact:
Shanon Phillips
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
405-522-4728 • shanon.phillips@conservation.ok.gov

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