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PRO^°
NONPOINT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY
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Agricultural and Residential Pollution Control Measures Reduce
Bacteria Loading in Rock Island Creek
\A/qtprhnH\/ lmnrn\ -'Pf] An 8-88-mile"long segment of the Rock Island Creek was listed as
impaired on Virginia's 2004 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d)
list. The impairment was due to not attaining the state's bacteria water quality standard (WQS)
for designated recreation (swimming) use. Installing agricultural and residential best management
practices (BMPs) helped reduce bacteria loading in Rock Island Creek, resulting in the removal of a
segment from the state's impaired waters list on 2016 CWA sections 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality
Assessment Integrated Report.
Problem
The Rock Island Creek watershed (VAC-H17R-04) is
adjacent to the Slate River watershed; both are part
of the James River Basin (HUC 02080205). Located in
Buckingham County, Virginia, the Rock Island Creek
watershed encompasses a geographical area of
approximately 13,050 acres with forest as the primary
land use (92 percent), followed by pasture/cropland
(6 percent), water/wetland (2 percent), and residential
(1 percent) land uses (Figure 1).
The water quality of Rock Island Creek was monitored
at station 2-RKI003.40 under Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality's (DEQ's) ambient and total
maximum daily load (TMDL) monitoring programs.
The Rock Island Creek segment (VAC-H17R_RKI01A00)
was initially placed on Virginia's 2004 CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters because it failed to
meet the state's fecal coliform bacteria-based WQS
for its designated recreation (swimming) use. During
the 1998-2002 assessment period, three out of 19
samples collected (16 percent) violated fecal coliform
instantaneous WQS. The impaired segment begins at
the headwaters at river mile 8.84 and ends at conflu-
ence with the James River at river mile 0.00 (Figure 1).
The segment remained on Virginia's 2006 CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters for fecal coliform viola-
tion because two out of seven (29 percent) samples
collected exceeded the bacteria WQS.
In mid-2003, the state changed its bacteria WQS to
one based on Escherichia coti bacteria levels. The
new WQS required that samples not violate the single
Figure 1. Rock Island Creek is in the James River watershed in
south-central Virginia.
sample maximum value of 235 colony-forming units
(cfu) per 100 milliliters (mL) of water for more than
10 percent of the time, based on a minimum of 12
samples collected monthly or bimonthly. In addition,
if a minimum of four weekly samples are collected
within any calendar month, a geometric mean must
not exceed 126 cfu/100 mL.
A bacteria TMDL for Rock Island Creek was developed
by DEQ in 2007 as a part of the James River Basin
TMDL. Livestock, failing septic systems, pets and
wildlife were identified as primary bacteria sources in
the watershed.
2-RKIC
Rock Island Creek
k K
Buckingham County
A Monitoring Station
Delisted Waters
Bacteria Impaired River/Stream
Benthic Impaired River/Stream
/V US Highway
— River/Stream
23 Slate River and Rock Island Creek
£3 6th Order Hydrologic Unit
Albermarle County

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Q
U
Rock Island Creek Watershed
(Bacteria Monitoring Station: 2-RK1003.40)
0.6,	

16%
29%
7 Samples)
1


19Samptes
0.1
8%
(12 Samples)


1998-2002	2000-2004	2009-2014
Water Quality Assessment Period
Figure 2. Fencing was installed to protect riparian
areas and support rotational grazing.
Story Highlights
In 2011 the Virginia Department of Conservation and
Recreation, with active participation of Peter Francisco
Soil and Water Conservation District (PFSWCD) and
other stakeholders, developed an implementation
plan and began conducting various outreach activities
and installing agricultural and residential BMPs in the
Rock Island Creek watershed. Multiple contacts with
farmers and landowners, field tours, presentations to
civic bodies, and postcard mailings were conducted
to promote conservation programs and to enhance
environmental awareness in the community.
From the beginning of the implementation project
in July 2011 until December 2014, many residential
and agricultural BMPs were installed through active
partnerships between the PFSWCD and several state,
federal and locai agencies. The BMPs included 117
acres of small grain and mixed cover crop planted for
nutrient management and residue management, 38
head of livestock excluded from stream, and approxi-
mately 6,000 linear feet of stream exclusion fencing
completed along the creek (Figure 2). in addition, 57
acres were placed under a long-term continuous no-till
planting system and two residential septic projects
were completed in the Rock Island Creek watershed.
Results
The agricultural and residential control measures
installed in the watershed helped reduced bacteria
levels in Rock Island Creek. DEQstaff conducted water
quality monitoring at station 2-RKI-003.40. Water qual-
ity data indicated that only eight percent of samples
(one out of 12) exceeded the E. coli WQS during the
Figure 3. Bacteria levels met the WQS in Rock Island
Creek for the 2009-2014 assessment period.
January 2009 to December 2014 assessment period
(Figure 3). This exceedance of violation rate is signifi-
cantly lower than 29 percent (two out of seven) found
during the 2000-2004 assessment period, and the 16
percent (three out of 19) found during the 1998-2002
assessment period. On the basis of attaining the WQS
(i.e., less than 10 percent violation rate exceedance) in
the 2009-2014 assessment period, DEQ removed the
8.88-mile-long segment of Rock Island Creek from the
list of impaired waters in the 2016 Final 305(b)/303(d)
Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report.
Partners and Funding
The PFSWCD administered implementation proj-
ects in the Rock Island Creek watershed and forged
active partnerships among several state, federal and
local agencies, including the Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation, Virginia DEQ, Virginia
Department of Health, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service,
Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Buckingham
County Farm Bureau.
The BMPs (completed from 2011 through 2014)
included state of Virginia cost-share funds totaling
$31,575, through funding from Virginia Agricultural
Cost-Share Program ($31,300) and $275 from CWA
section 319(h). in addition, the CWA section 319(h)
grant program provided $120,541.22 to fund nonpoint
source implementation staff that managed the project
and provided technical assistance, in conjunction with
ongoing implementation projects in the adjoining Slate
River and Willis River watersheds. DEQ estimates that
approximately 15 percent of these funds were directly
used within the Rock Island Creek watershed area.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
W .1
^ EPA 841-F-19-001J
PROt^° February 2019
For additional information contact:
Ram Gupta
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
804-698-4184 • Ram.Gupta@deq.virginia.gov
Sherry Ragland
Peter Francisco Soil & Water Conservation District
434-983-7923 • Sherry.Ragland@vaswcd.org

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