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ggi NONPOINT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY
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on Practices Reduced Polluted Runoff and
Implementing Conservation Practices Reduced Polluted
Restored the Biological Integrity of Fannegusha Creek
\ a / j_ i I,	i Sediment and nutrient inputs from agriculture and silviculture
Waterboay Improved	_ , r , _ .
activities in Mississippi s Long Creek-Fannegusha Creek watershed
contributed to a biological impairment in Fannegusha Creek, As a result, the Mississippi Department
of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) placed Fannegusha Creek on the state's 2002 Clean Water Act
(CWA) section 303(d) list for aquatic life use impairment. Implementing best management practices
(BMPs) through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service's (USDA
NRCS's) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helped to abate sediment and nutrients
entering the streams in the watershed from agriculture, silviculture and cattle activities. As a result
of the conservation practices implemented in the watershed, impacts from sediment and nutrients
were reduced and the water quality in Fannegusha Creek improved. In 2018, Fannegusha Creek was
assessed as attaining the aquatic life use in the state's CWA section 305(b) report and was removed
from the impaired waters list.
Problem
Fannegusha Creek is in the Long Creek-Fannegusha
Creek watershed in Mississippi's Holmes County. The
watershed spans approximately 29,084 acres, and is
comprised of 70.5% forest, 13% pasture/grassland,
7% cropland, 3.4% urban, 3.3% wetland, 2.2% scrub-
barren, and 0.6% water (Figure 1). Fannegusha Creek
represents the mainstem drainage of the watershed,
and is on the border between the steeper slopes
found in the Bluff Hills region and the flatter landscape
of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Sediment and nutrient
enrichment from agriculture, silviculture and cattle
activities in the watershed all impact water quality in
Fannegusha Creek.
Biological community data are routinely used by MDEQ
to determine if streams are healthy enough to support
a balanced aquatic community. Fannegusha Creek was
monitored in 2001 as part of Mississippi's biological
monitoring program. Using MDEQ's index of biologi-
cal integrity, the Mississippi Benthic Index of Stream
Quality (M-BISQ), Fannegusha Creek scored 47.37,
which was approximately 10 points below the state
attainment threshold used to assess aquatic life use
support for this region of the state (East Bioregion).
2016 Land Use
Water
•Holmes Co
Urban
Scrub-Barren
Forest
~ Pasture/Grassland
Cropland
Wetland
J
A
A
A
Long Creek-Fannegusha Creek
080302060603
a —
Figure 1. Long Creek-Fannegusha Creek is in Mississippi's
Yazoo River basin.

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Story Highlights
EQIP, a voluntary conservation program offered by the
USDA NRCS, provides financial and technical assistance
to agricultural and forestry producers to address
natural resource concerns and deliver environmental
benefits. From 2008 through 2018, NRCS partnered
with the Holmes County soil and water conservation
district and locai producers to implement BMPs in the
Long Creek-Fannegusha Creek watershed using EQIP
funds (Table 1). BMPs addressed pollution sources;
from livestock, cropland, and eroding streambanks
(Figures 2 and 3). The implementation of these BMPs
are estimated to save 1,627 tons of soii per year, with
additional load reductions of 2,689 pounds per year of
phosphorus and 12,425 pounds per year of nitrogen.
Results
In 2014 MDEQ returned to Fannegusha Creek to
collect biological community data. The score was 30
points above the attainment threshold used to assess
aquatic life use support for this region. Using this 2014
Table 1. Best management practices installed in the
Long Creek-Fannegusha Creek watershed
biological community data, a 14.07-mile segment
of Fannegusha Creek was assessed as attaining the
aquatic life use in the 2016 CWA section 305(b) report
and was removed from the state's impaired waters list.
Partners and Funding
The restoration of Fannegusha Creek was a collective
effort between USDA NRCS, the Holmes County soii
and water conservation district, and iocal producers.
From 2008 through 2018, a total of $645,516.66 in
EQIP funds were used in the Long Creek-Fannegusha
Creek watershed.
Figure 2. Grade stabilization structures were used to
prevent erosion of streambanks.
Figure 3. Fencing was used to provide a barrier to
control livestock and manage sensitive riparian areas.
BMP type installed
Amount installed
Subsurface drain
2,500 ft
Watering facility
3
Prescribed grazing
224.5 ac
Pasture/hayland management
90 ac
Pond
21
Irrigation water management
156 ac
Irrigation pipeline
1,320 ft
Structure for water control
1
Terrace
3,500 ft
Heavy use area protection
13,640 ft®
Grade stabilization structure
24
Pasture/hayland planting
29.4 ac
Fence
82,439 ft
Diversion
700 ft
Dike
100 ft
Critical area planting
192.3 ac
Notes: ac = acres, ft = feet, ft2 = square feet.
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s
©
./
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-19-001VV
December 2019
For additional information contact:
Ajay Parshotam
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
601-961-4253 • aparshotam@mdeq.ms.gov
Patrick Vowell
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
601-961-5387 • pvowell@mdeq.ms.gov

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