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Adding Best Management Practices Reduces Bacteria in Deep Creek
WafprhnHv lmnrn\/prl Bacteria from nonpoint sources of pollution, including livestock,
pets, humans and wildlife, impaired several waterbodies within
Virginia's Deep Creek watershed. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added
an 11.55-mile-long segment of Deep Creek to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d)
list of impaired waters in 2002 for a bacteria impairment. State and federal agencies collaborated
with watershed stakeholders to implement agricultural best management practices (BMPs) to
reduce nonpoint source pollutant loadings. Water quality monitoring data show a decreasing trend
in bacteria violation rates in Deep Creek, resulting in the removal of the impaired segment from
the state's impaired waters list in the 2016 CWA Sections 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment
Integrated Report.
Problem
Virginia's Deep Creek watershed drains portions of
Nottoway and Amelia counties in the Appomattox
River Basin. The 117,914 acre (ac) watershed includes
woodland as the primary land use (68%), followed by
pastureland (21%), barren land (4%), wetland (3%),
cropland (3%), and residential and commercial land (1%).
The water quality in Deep Creek was monitored at
Station 2--DPC005.20 under Virginia DEQ's ambient and
total maximum daily load (TMDL) monitoring program.
From 1995 to 2000, 10 of 29 samples collected
(34%) violated bacteria instantaneous water quality
standards (WQS) and failed to meet state's bacteria-
based WQS for its designated recreation (swimming)
use. Consequently, a segment of Deep Creek (VAP-
J11R_DPC01B00) was placed on Virginia's 2002 CWA
section 303(d) list of impaired waters. The impaired
segment begins at the confluence with Spindlers Run
and continues downstream to the confluence with
Beaverpond Creek (Figure 1).
In mid-2003, the state changed its bacteria WQS to
one based on Escherichia coli bacteria. The new WQS
required that samples not violate the single sample
maximum value of 235 colony-forming units (cfu) per
100 milliliters (mL) of water more than 10% of the
time, based on a minimum of 12 samples collected
monthly or bimonthly. If a minimum of four weekly
samples are collected within any calendar month, a
geometric mean must not exceed 126 cfu/100 mL.
Figure 1. The impaired segment and monitoring station are on
lower Deep Creek in southern Virginia.
In 2004, DEQ completed a bacteria TMDL study for
impaired streams of Deep Creek in conjunction with
other impaired segments of the nearby Flat,. Nibbs
and West creeks in the Appomattox River watershed.
The study identified a number of nonpoint sources
of bacteria, including grazing livestock, wildlife, pets,
and failing septic systems and uncontrolled discharges
(e.g., straight pipes). The TMDL stated that bacteria
loads from nonpoint source categories—livestock,
humans, pets, and wildlife—need to be reduced signifi-
cantly to meet the TMDL load allocation and attain
WQS in Deep Creek watershed.
Delisted for Bacteria 2016:
Deep Creek - VAP-J11R_DPC(I1BOO - 11.55 Mile
First Listed - 2002
J2-DPVC005.20 ¦
Amelia County
Nottoway County
~ Monitoring Station
*A**» Delisted Waters
— River/Stream
y\/ US Highway
53 Deep Creek Watershed
£3 6th Order Hydrologic Unit
Chesterfield Comity

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Story Highlights
Iri 2002 Virginia's Department of Conservation and
Recreation (DCR) and the Piedmont Soil and Water
Conservation District (PSWCD), along with other stake-
holders, initiated water quality improvement efforts in
the Deep Creek watershed. In coordination with other
state agencies, DEQ developed a TMDL implementa-
tion plan in 2008 and quantified the control measures
necessary to achieve water quality goals.
In 2002-2014, landowners installed various agricultural
BMPs, including 25 miles of stream exclusion fencing;
3,926 ac of harvestable cover crops; 1,603 ac of small
grain and mixed cover crops; 1,583 ac of legume-based
cover crops; and 176 ac of continuous no-till forage
production. Project partners also installed two animal
waste control facilities and established 138 ac of forest
on former cropland, hayland and pastureland. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) worked with landowners to
install approximately 167 ac of woodland buffer through
its Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
(CREP), a voluntary land retirement program that helps
agricultural producers protect environmentally sensi-
tive land, water and wildlife habitat (Figure 2).
PSWCD and the NRCS conducted numerous field visits
and watershed tours to promote agricultural BMP imple-
mentation and water quality improvement programs.
These agencies coordinated outreach activities to farm-
ers and other residents and organized group meetings
to update the community about the water quality status
of waterbodies in the watershed. The efforts resulted in
a significant increase in agricultural BMP implementa-
tion in the Deep Creek and adjoining watersheds.
Results
Implementing agricultural BMPs has resulted in a
continual decline in pollutant ievels in Deep Creek. The
E. coli bacteria data collected at monitoring station
2-DPC005.20 shows a decreasing trend in bacteria
exceedance rates. In the 2007-2012 assessment
period, 12 out of 82 samples (15%) exceeded E. coli
WQS, and in 2009-2014 assessment period, 11 out
of 113 samples (less than 10%) exceeded E. coli WQS
(Figure 3). These exceedance rates are significantly
lower than the 34% found during 1995-2000 period.
As a result, in 2016 DEQ removed an 11.55-mile-long
segment of Deep Creek from the list of impaired waters.
Figure 2. This stream crossing prevents cows from
accessing the creek.
34%
(29 Samples)
State Violation
Limit: 10%
9.73%
(113 Samples)
0%
Deep Creek Watershed
(Bacteria Monitoring Station: 2-DPC005.20)
Water Quality Assessment Period
Figure 3. Bacteria violation rates in Deep Creek before
and after project implementation.
Partners and Funding
Project success has been the result of partnerships
between the PSWCD, DCR, DEQ, Virginia Cooperative
Extension, Amelia and Nottoway county governments,
and NRCS. The PSWCD led community outreach and
administered the implementation program.
The BMPs were installed using multiple funding
sources (totaling $2,096,736): state of Virginia agri-
cultural cost-share (VACS) funds, including the Water
Quality Improvement Fund ($485,647), contribution
to NRCS CREP fund ($88,814), the Targeted TMDL
fund ($215,321), tax credits ($76,665), and contribu-
tions from farmers and others ($1,230,289). DCR also
provided about $180,000 to administer the projects
and the Virginia General Assembly provided about
$200,000 for project support. CWA section 319(h)
funded about 5% of staff and technical assistance, in
conjunction with the adjoining Flat, Nibbs, and West
creek watersheds.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-20-0Q1F
February 2020
For additional information contact:
Ram Gupta
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
804-698-4184 • Ram.Gupta@deq.virginia.gov
Deanria Fehrer
Piedmont Soil and Water Conservation District
434-392-3782 • Dfehrer@piedmontswcd.org

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