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Section 319
NONPOINI SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STURY
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Planning, Educating Landowners and Installing Management Practices
Restore Bull Run/West Creek Watershed
\ A / . |	|	i Nonpoint source pollution from agricultural and urban areas
Waterbodies Improved C3used waters in the Bu|l Run/West Creek watershed t0fai|
to support a healthy biotic community. As a result of this impairment, the Indiana Department
of Environmental Management (IDEM) added Bull Run (in 2002) and West Creek (in 2008) to
Indiana's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Using CWA section
319 funds, project partners educated stakeholders about sound agricultural management and
implemented best management practices (BMPs) throughout the watershed to control erosion
and address urban and agricultural runoff. Recent monitoring data show that the Bull Run seg-
ment meets water quality criteria for healthy biotic communities. Therefore, IDEM will propose
to remove both segments from the state's 2012 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters.
Problem
The Bull Run/West Creek watershed is in north-
west Indiana's Lake County, in the Kankakee River
Basin. Bull Run, a 6.04-mile-long stream In the
watershed's headwaters, joins St. John Ditch to
form West Creek, which flows 19.05 miles before
emptying into Singleton Ditch. Bull Run lies within
an agricultural area (Figure 1), while its confluence
with St. John Ditch at West Creek lies within a
predominantly urban area.
Data showed that areas of the watershed failed to
support healthy biotic communities. Biotic commu-
nities are considered impaired on the basis of the
narrative water quality standards and the fish Index
of Biotic Integrity (IBB:, a measurement of stream
health based on multiple attributes of the resident
fish population. An IBI score of 36 or greater is
considered supportive of a healthy biotic com-
munity; a score below 36 indicates that the biotic
community is impaired and requires development of
a total maximum daiiy load (TMDL) or installation of
improvement activities.
Bull Run data collected in 1999 revealed a fish
IB! score of 0, and West Creek data collected in
2004 and 2005 showed an IBI score ranging from
16 to 32 (Figure 2). As a result, IDEM added both
Bull Run (in 2002) and West Creek (in 2008) to the
state's CWA section 303(d) list because of impaired
biotic communities. No TMDL was developed for
Bull Run/West Creek.
Figure 1. Agricultural activities are the dominant
land use surrounding Bull Run.
IDEM identified nonpoint source runoff as the main
contributor to the biotic community impairment.
Key pollutant sources in the watershed included
runoff from row crops, improper manure spreading,
livestock with direct access to streams, leaking and
failing septic systems, stream bank erosion and
urban stormwater runoff. Contributing point source
pollutants included one municipal separate storm
sewer system (MS4). That facility did not have a
history of violating its MS4 permit, and it worked
within the MS4 community to implement BMPs
and identify outfail locations to address stormwater
runoff.

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IBI threshold
Bull 1 Bull 1 Bull 1 West 1 West 1 West
Runl Run 2 Run 3 Creek 1 Creek 2 Creek 3
Stream Monitoring Sites
Figure 2. Biological data show that water quality has
improved in the Bull Run/West Creek watershed.
Project Highlights
Since 1990 IDEM has supported nine CWA section
319 and 205(j) projects in the greater Lake County
area. Project funds were used to develop a com-
prehensive watershed management plan, identify
critical areas and priority actions to improve water
quality, and implement demonstration BMPs to con-
trol sediment loading and erosion in urban areas.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources
(IDNR) hosted education events on urban runoff and
its effects on water quality.
Between 1997 and 2004, IDEM staff used CWA
section 319 funds to help local farmers implement
conservation tillage BMPs and identify additional
federal funding opportunities to support BMP
implementation. Since 2004 the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) has funded staff to
provide this kind of support to local landowners.
These combined efforts have led to an 80 percent
rate of adoption of conservation tillage practices
among farmers in the watershed. Furthermore, a
number of farmers have adopted no-till cropping
practices, in which agricultural fields are left largely
undisturbed from harvest to planting.
The Town of St. John cleared silt from several
ditches and reseeded the areas to prevent further
erosion. The Town continues to speak with home-
owners' associations about how to enhance the
stormwater management within their respective
subdivisions. The Town has improved stormwater
quality by maintaining replanted native vegetation
along the Dyer and St John ditches and the tributary
to Turkey Creek.
Results
Water quality monitoring data collected in 2011
show that IBI scores in Bull Run and West Creek
have improved. The scores now meet or exceed an
IBI score of 36, indicating that the biotic community
is no longer impaired (Figure 2). Therefore, IDEM will
propose to remove both segments (25.09 miles total)
from the state's CWA section 303(d) list in 2012.
Partners and Funding
The Northwest Indiana Regional Planning
Commission worked closely with the Lake County
Soil and Water Conservation District; NRCS regional
conservation staff; and a number of state and
local partners, including IDNR, the Indiana State
Department of Agriculture, and the Lake County
Health Department. Partners contributed resources
to support educating landowners, identifying pol-
lutant sources and critical areas for potential water
quality improvement projects, and conducting
outreach to stakeholders. Since 1996 NRCS and the
USDA Farm Service Agency have spent an average
of $120,000 per year in the Bull Run/West Creek
watershed to promote conservation practices,
particularly controlled tillage practices.
Since 1990 IDEM has directed $484,787 in CWA
section 319 funds and $111,800 in CWA section
205(j) funds, as well as $121,196 in local in-kind
and cash match, to fund water quality projects
in the Bull Run/West Creek watershed. Between
1997 and 2004, IDEM directed $1,009,364 of CWA
section 319 funds to implement agricultural BMPs
statewide, including within the Bull Run/West Creek
watershed, and to fund IDEM staff working directly
with farmers. The St. John MS4 has made a large
capital investment—the purchase of three new
global positioning system units, which will be used
to enhance the existing outfall and BMP location
data. More accurate and easily accessible informa-
tion will help the Town of St. John make future
decisions on identifying potential sites for BMP
implementation.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841 -F-11 -001SS
December 2011
For additional information contact:
Bonny Elifritz
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
Office of Water Quality, Watershed Planning and
Restoration Section
317-308-3082 • belifrit@idem.in.gov

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