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Implementing Conservation Practices and Conducting Watershed
Outreach Improves Water Quality in Attoyac Bayou
Waterboch/ IrnprOvPd	'eve's bacteria, particularly fecal coliform arid Escherichia
coli (E. coli), prompted the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ) to add Attoyac Bayou to the 2004 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of
impaired waters for not supporting its primary contact recreation use. Local stakeholders partnered
with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) and the Texas Water Resources
Institute (TWRI) to develop a Watershed Protection Plan (WPP) to address the bacteria impairments
in the Attoyac Bayou watershed. Project partners used CWA section 319(h) grant funds from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to voluntarily implement agricultural and conservation
best management practices (BMPs) and conduct public outreach and education. Water quality
improved, prompting TCEQ. to remove Attoyac Bayou from the state's list of impaired waters in 2016
for bacteria (E. coli).
Problem
The Attoyac Bayou (assessment unit 0612_01) is a
subwatershed within the Upper Neches River water-
shed extending approximately 82 miies through Rusk,
Nacogdoches, San Augustine, and Shelby counties
before emptying into Sam Rayburn Reservoir (Figure 1).
Severai rural communities can be found throughout
the area, with the majority of the lands in the water-
shed being used for cattle and poultry operations,
forestry or recreational/wildiife uses. Water quality
data collected in Attoyac Bayou from 1995 to 2002
showed that fecal coliform and E. coli levels exceeded
the bacteria water quality standard for contact
recreation. As a result, TCEQ added Attoyac Bayou to
the 2004 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters
for not supporting its primary contact recreation use.
Story Highlights
In July 2010, the TSSWCB partnered with local
stakeholders and TWRI to begin developing a WPP
for Attoyac Bayou. The stakeholder group that led the
WPP development consisted of representatives from
agricultural and silvicultural producers, wildlife inter-
ests, soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs), the
poultry industry, Commissioner's courts (i.e., county
governments), cities and various other interests in the
l-igure 1. Attoyac Bayou is in the Upper Neches River
watershed in eastern Texas.
watershed. Throughout the planning process, stake-
holders identified and worked to ho!istically address
various pollution sources that threaten surface water
resources within the watershed (Figure 2). Several
outreach and education programs were implemented
to raise awareness about water quality issues and to
inform local stakeholders about management practice
options.

0612.01
j Countie
] Attoyac Watershed
Shelby
Jacogdoches
San Augustine.

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Legend
— Attoyac Streams
© Attoyac Index Sites
• Attoyac Bayou SWQM Stations
(labeled by five-digit station #s)
Attoyac Bayou
Subwatershed Delineation
Miles
0 2.5 5	10	15
Figure 2. Subwatersheds were delineated (1-13) to
help target areas during WPP implementation.
In 2007-2014 the TSSWCB partnered with the local
SWCDs to certify and implement 20 water quality
management plans (WQMP) on over 2,000 acres in the
impaired watershed. These plans included alternative
water sources, prescribed grazing, cross-fencing,
animal mortality facilities, composting facilities, nutri-
ent management and waste utilization.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
worked with landowners in the watershed to imple-
ment conservation practices on over 13,700 acres
using Environmental Quality Incentives Program fund-
ing. The conservation practices implemented included
prescribed grazing, grass and range planting, nutrient
management, various forestry practices, animal
mortality facilities, composting facilities, conservation
cover, livestock pipeline, and alternative water sources.
Results
Assessment data collected from 2007 to 2014 show
that the long-term E. coli geometric means have
dropped below the geometric mean water quality
standard of 126 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters
in a portion of Attoyac Bayou. This area of the bayou
now supports contact recreation. Therefore, TCEQ
removed a portion of Attoyac Bayou from the CWA
Figure 3. Water quality monitoring will continue to be
used to track water quality on Attoyac Bayou.
section 303(d) list in the 2016 Texas Integrated Report
of Surface Water Quality. The success of this effort can
be attributed to increased stakeholder awareness due
to the watershed planning process and to implementa-
tion of conservation practices. Water quality monitor-
ing continues to track and measure interim progress to
implement the WPP and ensure this restoration effort
remains a success (Figure 3).
Partners and Funding
Over $617,800 in EPA CWA section 319(h) funds
(provided by the TSSWCB), combined with more than
$414,600 in non-federal matching funds from TWRI,
supported efforts to develop the WPP, collect and
analyze water samples, develop pollutant loading
models, and facilitate stakeholder involvement in the
watershed planning process.
The Nacogdoches, Plney Woods, Rusk and Shelby
SWCDs worked with landowners to provide technical
assistance and voluntarily implement conservation
practices. The TSSWCB and the NRCS worked through
the SWCDs to provide technical assistance and provide
funds (approximately $18,000 in state funding and
$953,000 in federal Farm Bill funding) to landowners
as financial incentives to Implement BMPs in the
Attoyac Bayou watershed.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-19-001GG
November 2019
For additional information contact:
Brian Koch
Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
979-532-9496 • bkoch@tsswcb.texas.gov
Tony Ramick
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-0845 • tim.cawthon@tceq.texas.gov

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