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Kitsap County's Pollution Identification and Correction Program
Improves Water Quality in Dogfish Creek
v.yg^gj^Qcly ||7|0PP'\ 6"1 ^eca' coiiform (FC) bacteria from nonpoint sources caused the main
stem and east and west forks of Dogfish Creek to violate water
quality standards (WQS), prompting the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) to add the
segments to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list in 1996. The Kitsap County Public
Health District (Health District) developed a Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) program
to identify pollution sources and work with landowners to eliminate them. The PIC program and
on-the-ground cleanup activities are reducing FC levels across the Dogfish Creek watershed. Data
show that the three segments have been improving; they are on an exponentially decreasing trend
and have often met WQ standards. Downstream commercial shellfishing beds are also becoming
cieaner as a result.
Problem
Dogfish Creek is within the Liberty Bay watershed in
Kitsap County, it includes the city of Poulsboro and is
just west of the greater Seattle area (Figure 1). Kitsap
County's waters have been regularly monitored by the
Health District for FC bacteria since 1996. This exten-
sive monitoring program has resulted In the listing of
many Kitsap County waterbodies for FC pollution on
the CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters begin-
ning in 1996, including the main stem of Dogfish Creek
(#7637), East Fork Dogfish Creek (#7640), and West
Fork Dogfish Creek (#7636). FC bacteria in the water-
shed are from sources in both urban and rural areas.
Additionally FC pollution or the threat of pollution has
caused the closure and restricted use of commercial
shellfish beds in many marine waters. In response,
Ecology completed a FC total maximum daily load
(TMDL) study for Liberty Bay watershed in 2013.
West Fork
Dogfish Creek
Dogfish Creek
East Fork
Dogfish Creek
Story Highlights
The Health District has been working to improve water
quality through their PIC program since 1995. It has
become a model for other counties in Washington.
The program's five key elements include:
1. Proactive approach: The Health District investigates
streams and marine shorelines to find sources of
pollution; when a source is located, they work with
the property owners to eliminate it.
Figure 1. Dogfish Creek is in western Washington.
2.Stable funding source: A county assessment pro-
vides stable funding for the program.
3.	Enforcement authority: The Health District uses
existing local regulations and authorities to address
pollution sources and enforce corrective actions
when necessary.
4.	Countywide program: The PIC program creates a
work plan for each impaired stream based on inves-
tigatory sampling data. A prioritization system is
used to track down bacterial pollution sources near
stream segments with elevated bacteria levels.
5.	Effectiveness monitoring: The countywide water
quality trend monitoring program collects annual
data at 106 stations in 65 streams and 71 stations in
10 marine embayments.

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Each year, the Health District PIC team uses their
monitoring data to prioritize a list of the most-polluted
waterbodies, and then assesses each for potential
pollution sources. Door-to-door PIC inspections are
conducted. PIC inspectors provide free technical assis-
tance to guide property owners through the process
of correcting identified pollution sources (e.g., failing
onsite septic systems [OSS]), iivestock and agricultural
animal manure). The Health District is actively engaged
in OSS system education, dye testing of suspect sys-
tems, and enforcement of county OSS regulations.
The Health District coordinated with the Kitsap
Conservation District (KCD) to implement a PIC project
in the Dogfish Creek watershed (1999-2004). The
Health District surveyed 145 properties. Six failing OSS
were identified and repaired. Landowners installed
46 agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on
17 properties, including 8,776 feet of fencing and four
waste storage structures.
The Health District led a larger-scale PIC project in
2009-2014 throughout the entire the Liberty Bay
Watershed, The Heaith District held eight public meet-
ings and educational workshops, which were attended
by 224 people. The Health District inspected 867 OSS
between 2009 and 2013; repairs were made to 47 of
50 (97 percent) falling systems. In partnership with
the Health District, KCD inspected 47 high-priority
farms, provided free technical assistance, and helped
landowners apply for and receive cost-share funding to
implement 98 BMPs at 41 locations.
Results
however, these will remain listed as impaired until they
meet WQS for at least two consecutive years. Since PIC
efforts began approximately 22 years ago, the Kitsap
County's shellfish growing areas that are approved for
harvest have increased by 4,224 acres.
Partners and Funding
The Health District's PIC program receives baseline
annual funding from a stormwater utility fee assessed
on properties in the unincorporated area of Kitsap
County. The Heaith District received Centennial
Clean Water Fund grants from Ecology in 1999 for
the Dogfish Creek Restoration Project and in 2009
for the Liberty Bay Watershed Restoration Project.
Using some of these funds, KCD provided cost-share
assistance for BMPs. Some landowners also received
U.S. Department of Agriculture (Environmental Quality
Incentives Program) incentive payments to implement
farm conservation plans. KCD provided in-kind match-
ing funds.
Kitsap Health District conducted monthly trend moni-
toring in the project area. KCD developed educational
materials in partnership with the Washington State
University Extension and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance.
Grant funding and program support has also been
provided from the Washington State Department of
Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2013 the City of Poulsbo Public Works Department
received $198,700 in CWA section 319 matching funds
to support development of the Liberty Bay/Dogfish
Creek FC TMDL implementation plan.
The surface waters in the project area
are currently designated as Extraordinary
Primary Contact Recreational Waters.
Applicable WQS for FC bacteria has two
parts: (1) samples must be less than or
equal to 50 colonies/100 milliliters (mL)
geometric mean value (GMV), and (2) not
more than 10 percent of all samples
obtained for calculating a GMV may be
greater than 100 colonies/100 mL. Data
collected show that FC levels in the main
stem of Dogfish Creek (Figure 2), West Fork
Dogfish Creek, and East Fork Dogfish Creek
have declined between 1996 and 2017;
Water
Year
GMV
%> Limit
Meets
WQS
Parti?
Meets
WQS
Part 2?
450
- 400
1350
¦g 300
§ 2 SO
f 200
1 ISO
5 loo
U
50
0
19
Dogfish Creek (DF01)
•
1996
406
67.0
No
No
1998
322
85.0
No
No
2001
107
54.0
No
No
2003
62
50.0
No
No
•
2004
77
54.5
No
No

2005
53
33.3
No
No
2006
82
50.0
No
No
2007
62
33.3
No
No

2008
61
33.3
No
No
2009
51
25.0
No
No
2013
42
25.0
Yes
No
2014
29
8.3
Yes
Yes
95 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Water Year
2015
38
25.0
Yes
No
2016
24
8.3
Yes
Yes
2017
75
41.7
No
No

Figure 2. Dogfish Creek bacteria levels have declined over time but do not
yet meet both parts of the WQS.
.^tDS7"X
PRO^°
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-19-001G
February 2019
For additional information contact:
Patrick Lizon, Washington Department of Ecology
360-407-6180 • patrick.Nzon@ecy.wa.gov
Lara Henderson, Washington Department of Ecology
360-407-7656 • lara.henderson@ecy.wa.gov

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