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PRO^°
Aquatic Life Use Restored in . wo Hogan Creek Watershed Streams
!. A/ ,4 0f bodies ImnrO\1 °r The lndiana Department of Environmental Management
(IDEM) listed South Hogan Creek on its Clean Water Act (CWA)
Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters in 2002 due to high levels of Escherichia coli and impaired
biotic communities. In 2014, IDEM also listed Little Hogan Creek on its Section 303(d) List for E. coli
and impaired biotic communities. To address these concerns and others, partners developed and
implemented the Hogan Creek Watershed Project (HCWP) in 2005, out of which the Hogan Creek
Watershed Management Plan (WMP) was developed. After years of best management practice
(BMP) implementation and education and outreach in the watershed, monitoring at South Hogan
Creek and Little Hogan Creek revealed that both segments now fully support aquatic life. IDEM will
propose to remove both biotic community impairments from its impaired waters list in 2022.
Problem
Hogan Creek flows from its headwaters in northeast
Ripley County until it reaches its confluence with
the Ohio River, just north of the town of Aurora in
southeastern Indiana. Within the greater Hogan Creek
watershed (HUC 0509020304) are Little Hogan Creek
and South Hogan Creek, in adjacent subwatersheds,
comprising approximately 14.5 miles of stream
combined (Figure 1). The Hogan Creek watershed is
approximately half agricultural and half forested land.
According to the 2007 Hogan Creek WMP, the Hogan
Creek Steering Committee identified the top five con-
cerns within the watershed as water quality, dumping
of garbage, failed septic systems, erosion of cropland
and urbanization. A windshield survey conducted by
members of the Hogan Creek Technical Committee in
2006 identified numerous farms that allowed livestock
direct access to two tributaries of Hogan Creek and
had numerous overgrazed pastures.
In 2000, IDEM's Probabilistic Monitoring Program
sampled South Hogan Creek (INV0343_01) and
discovered a falling Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score
of 20 for its fish community. In Indiana, an IBI score of
less than 36 indicates that a stream is not supporting
a well-balanced aquatic community. This caused IDEM
to list the segment on its 2002 CWA Section 303(d) List
of Impaired Waters for impaired biotic communities.
IDEM returned to the same site in 2014 to reevalu-
ate the fish community through its Performance
Monitoring Program and again discovered a failing IBI
Figure 1. Hogan Creek is in southeastern Indiana.
score of 30. In 2010, IDEM's Probabilistic Monitoring
Program sampled Little Hogan Creek (!NV0341_T1007)
and found the segment to have a falling IBI score of
34 (30 at the site revisit) for its macroinvertebrate
Sunman
RIPLEY COUNTY
' DEARBORN COUNTY
tLittle Hogan Creek
Moores Hill
• Quality
Date: 07/20/2020
South Hogan Creek
Little Hogan Creek and South Hogan Creek
in the Hogan Creek I0-HIJC Watershed
Legend
—	South Hogan Creek INV0343_01
—	Little Hogan Creek INV0341_T1007
\X//\ Municipality
—	Stream
£3 HUC 12 Allen Branch-South Hogan Creek
HUC 12 Little Hogan Creek-North Hogan Creek
7 Miles
J
0	1.75 3.5
	1	I	I	I	I	l_
Dillsboro |	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
0 1.75 3.5	7 Kilometers

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community. This led IDEM to list this segment on its
2014 CWA Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters for
impaired biotic communities.
Story Highlights
The Dearborn County Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD) initiated the HCWP in 2005 and cre-
ated the Hogan Creek Steering Committee to oversee
it. The goals of the project were to educate community
members about water quality, develop a WMP,
perform water quality testing and conduct an exten-
sive outreach program. The committee completed the
Hogan Creek WMP in 2007.
The HWCP received four 319 implementation grants
from 2008 to 2018 (totaling $757,851 to date). These
funds supported implementing over 2,200 acres of
cover crops; 56,398 feet of fencing; and over 98,439
square feet of heavy use area protection (HUAP) in the
two subwatersheds containing Little Hogan Creek and
South Hogan Creek. Additionally, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) helped implement numerous BMPs
in the subwatersheds in 2005-2019, including 114
acres of cover crops; 19,000 feet of fencing; 192 acres
of forage/biomass planting; 245 acres of prescribed
grazing: 14 watering facilities; and 0.2 acres of wetland
creation. Further, the Indiana State Department
of Agriculture Clean Water Indiana (CWI) Program
supported additional BMPs in these subwatersheds in
2013-2019, including 2,005 acres of cover crops; 112
acres of no-till management; 37 acres of forage and
biomass planting; and more.
Results
IDEM conducted Performance Monitoring in 2015
on Little Hogan Creekj which showed great improve-
ment. The macroinvertebrate IBI score was 44 and no
longer failing. The fish IBI (which had not been failing)
had also slightly improved. IDEM also conducted
Performance Monitoring on South Hogan Creek in
2019, which showed a greatly improved fish IBI score
of 50. The macroinvertebrate IBI (which had not been
failing) had remained the same. In addition, the stream
habitat was flourishing and showed smail improve-
ment from the previous visit, with a Qualitative Habitat
Evaluation Index score of 77 (Figure 2). IDEM has
determined that a score of iess than 51 is indicative of
Figure 2. South Hogan Creek now fully supports aquatic
life use.
poor habitat. Because South Hogan and Little Hogan
creeks now fully support aquatic life, IDEM will pro-
pose to remove both biotic community impairments
from its list of impaired waters in 2022.
Partners and Funding
Various partners have helped restore the greater
Hogan Creek watershed over the past 15 years. iDEM
awarded the Dearborn County SWCD $78,376 in CWA
205j funds to develop the Hogan Creek WMP, in addi-
tion to an award of $757,851 In CWA 319 funding to
carry out the four implementation projects. Dearborn
County and other locai partners provided local match
totaling $888,085 for BMPs and other associated
project costs. The project's success was also due to
its strong partnerships with Historic Hoosier Hills
Research Conservation and Development (HHH RC&D)
Program and the Ripley County SWCD In project imple-
mentation. HHH RC&D assisted with administrative
duties and outreach; Ripley County assisted with the
project's outreach, education and cost-share efforts.
At the county level, in 2013 and 2018 Dearborn County
SWCD received a total of $91,542 in CWI grants and
Ripley County SWCD received $150,000 in 2015-2016.
NRCS was also a key partner for the project's cost-
share program. In the two subwatersheds containing
Little Hogan Creek and South Hogan Creek, NRCS
provided BMP promotion, design and installation at
a total cost of $190,746, through Its Conservation
Stewardship, Environmental Quality Incentives and
Wildlife Habitat Incentives programs.
&
*L PRO^°
2
o
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-20-0Q1P
September 2020
For additional information contact:
Lindsay Hylton Adams
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3378 • lhylton@idem.in.gov
Angie Brown
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-308-3102 • abrown@idem.in.gov

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