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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STURY
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Funds Leveraged to Restore Biotic Community in Metcalf Ditch
Waterbody Improved ™"?a"a °rrtm!"t0'EnT"me"tal Mana9,e,™nt.
(IDEM) added Metcalf Ditch and its tributaries to Indiana s
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters because of impaired biotic
communities in 2002. Using CWA section 319 funds, project partners developed a
watershed management plan, educated stakeholders about proper agricultural and septic
system management, and implemented best management practices (BMPs) throughout
the watershed to address residential and agricultural nonpoint source pollution. Recent
monitoring data show that the Metcalf Ditch and Tributaries segment fully supports its
aquatic life use designation. As a result, IDEM has removed this segment from the state's
2012 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters.
Problem
Metcalf Ditch and its tributaries include a total of
14.3 stream miles in the Buck Creek watershed, a
subwatershed of the St. Joseph River watershed in
northeast Indiana's Maumee River Basin in DeKalb
County (Figure 1). In 2000 IDEM's watershed
monitoring program staff collected information on
chemical, physical and biological parameters in the
watershed to determine whether the waters were
meeting water quality criteria and their designated
uses. Data collected for the Buck Creek watershed
revealed an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score of
22 for the fish community. An IBI score greater than
36 is considered supportive of the aquatic life des-
ignated use, whereas a score below 36 indicates
non-support (i.e., impaired biotic communities). On
the basis of these data, IDEM added this segment
to the 2002 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters.
IDEM identified nonpoint source runoff as the main
contributor to the biotic community impairment;
no pollutant was identified as the cause of the
impairment in the listing. The Buck Creek water-
shed lies within a predominantly agricultural area,
but it also includes the southern tip of the city of
Butler. Land use suggests that elevated sediment
and nutrient levels were the cause of the impair-
ment. Key pollutant sources in the watershed
include runoff from row cropping, livestock grazing
and animal feeding, as well as leaking and failing
septic systems.
Buck Creek
Watershed
0 2011 Monitoring
~ 2000 Monitoring
—	Impaired Water
—	Riversand Streams
Metca f Ditch
Buck Creek
5 Miles
Figure 1. Metcalf Ditch and its tributaries, located in the Buck
Creek watershed in northeast Indiana.
Project Highlights
Since 1990 IDEM has supported a total of 15 CWA
section 319 nonpoint source projects and 205(j)
water quality management planning projects in
the greater St. Joseph River watershed. Project
funds have been used to develop a comprehen-
sive watershed management plan, identify critical

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areas and priority actions to improve water quality,
implement BMPs to address failing septic systems,
install tree plantings, and encourage landowners
to use agricultural BMPs. Key agricultural practices
implemented in the watershed include 24,437 linear
feet of filter strips; 200 feet of grassed waterway;
194 conservation plans; 121 acres of residue
management; 1,575 acres of precision application
technology used to apply nutrients; and 198 acres
of plant tissue testing and analysis to improve nitro-
gen management. Other practices include install-
ing a grade control structure and a wetland septic
system, repairing two septic systems, planting 23.4
acres of trees, and improving 35 acres of forest.
Between 1997 and 2004, IDEM used CWA section
319 funds to fund technical experts, who provided
recommendations on implementing agricultural
BMPs. After 2004 these positions were funded
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural
Resources Conservation Service. Implementation of
the St. Joseph River watershed management plan
continues throughout the watershed.
Results
BMPs reduced the amount of nonpoint source pol-
lution entering the Buck Creek watershed, allowing
habitat in the streams to improve (Figure 2) IDEM
conducted follow-up monitoring of the fish com-
munity in 2011. The Metcalf Ditch and Tributaries
segment received an IBI score of 36, indicating that
it fully supports its aquatic life use. As a result, IDEM
removed the segment from the state's CWA section
303(d) list for its aquatic iife use impairment in 2012.
Partners and Funding
Major partners in these watershed efforts included
the nonprofit St, Joseph River Watershed Initiative
Partnership, the City of Fort Wayne, the DeKalb
County Soil and Water Conservation District
(SWCD), and the Indiana Department of Natural
Resources. Because the St. Joseph River serves
as the drinking water source for Fort Wayne, the
second-largest city in Indiana, interest in the water-
shed is high.
Since 1990 IDEM has directed $900,747 in CWA
section 319 funds and $53,997 in CWA section
205(j) funds, as well as $543,300 in local in-kind
l-igure 2. Buck Creek in the summer of 2011, after
extensive BMP Implementation.
and cash match, to conduct water quality efforts
in the St. Joseph watershed. In addition, between
1994 and 2011, IDEM directed $1,780,836 of CWA
section 319 funds to implement agricultural BMPs
statewide and to support regional staff tasked with
teaching farmers about water quality and the fund-
ing resources that are available to improve it. Local
partners leveraged these resources with additional
state and federal funds to develop the St. Joseph
River watershed management plan, identify critical
areas, spur the development of subwatershed
groups, implement BMPs, and educate residents
about ways to restore the biotic community in the
Buck Creek watershed.
From 2000 to 2002, the DeKalb County SWCD used
$75,600 in CWA section 319 funds to pilot a septic
system repair cost-share program. The program
resulted in repairs to 43 septic systems in the
county. The SWCD also used $10,000 in state Clean
Water Indiana funds to leverage $44,400 in federal
dollars to install 24,437 linear feet of filter strips
along Metcalf Ditch in 2008-2009.
Aside from CWA funding, groups working to
improve water quality in the area brought in an esti-
mated $1,740,000 in state and federal grants to the
greater Maumee River watershed (including Buck
Creek) during the period 2005-2012. State-funded
awards comprised $66,864 of those total project
dollars.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-13-0010
April 2013
For additional information oontact:
Bonny Elifritz
Chief, Watershed Planning and Restoration Section
Office of Water Quality
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3082 • belifrit@idem.in.gov

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