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targeted Implementation Reduced Bacteria Levels in Stearns Creek
, , . | Bacteria from nonpoint sources caused violations of state water
Waterbody Improved qua|jtystandards ,p StearnsCreek_ a trjbutarytothe Upper
Chehalis River in western Washington, south of Puget Sound. As a result, Washington State
Department of Ecology (Ecology) added Stearns Creek to the 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) section
303(d) list of impaired waters. Ecology staff partnered with state and county agencies, tribes, and
local residents and businesses to find and fix the sources of bacterial pollution in Stearns Creek. In
2018-2019, Ecology staff worked closely with local property owners to establish bracket-sampling
locations, collect weekly samples, and review new data results. During this time, a collaborative
approach to voluntary implementation of best management practices (BMPs) helped to improve
water quality quickly and at low cost.
Problem
Stearns Creek is in western Washington, south of Puget
Sound (Figure l).Thissma!i stream is just west of the
city of Chehalis, within the Chehaiis River watershed in
Lewis County. Fecai coiiform bacteria concentrations
showed seasonal Increase during the summer months.
Data collected in 1998-1999 showed that Stearns
Creek violated the applicable fecal coiiform water
quality standard, which called for a geometric mean
of 100 colonies (col)/100 milliliters (mL) of water
with no more than 10% of samples greater than 200
col/100 mL. As a result, Ecology added Stearns Creek
to the 2002 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters
for failing to support its primary contact recreation
designated use. In 2004, Ecology developed a total
maximum daily load (TMDL) for the Upper Chehalis
River watershed, which included Stearns Creek. The
TMDL noted that a 55% reduction in bacteria would be
required for the creek to meet standards.
The Chehalis Tribe ambient water quality monitoring
program identified bacteria exceedances in Stearns
Creek and shared their data with Ecology's Southwest
Regional Office nonpoint staff. Data collected in
2017 indicated that Stearns Creek contained high
concentrations of bacteria when compared to other
streams in the watershed. This prompted Ecology staff
to develop a pollution identification and correction
project in 2018-2019 to trace the possible sources
of pollution contributing to the water quality exceed-
ances. During a Stearns Creek watershed assessment
Figure 1. Stearns Creek is in western Washington.
in 2018, Ecology identified potential bacterial sources
that included agriculture (e.g., livestock), wildlife and
wastewater from human activities.
The Stearns Creek Valley has a long history of agricul-
ture in Lewis County; some families have lived in this
area for up to seven generations and remain strong
stewards of the land. Many residents initially were
cautious about working with the state government
and allowing staff to conduct water sampling on their
property. However, with effective partnership-building
and transparency in data and project goals, the local
residents slowly bought into the project.
Chehalis
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Figure 2. Landowners installed fences along the creek
to exclude livestock from the riparian areas.
Story Highlights
The Chehalis Tribe Water Quality Coordinator and
Ecology staff collaborated on monitoring efforts in
Stearns Creek in 2018-2019 to find bacteria sources.
The tribe shared their monthly sample data with
Ecology to track any improvements in water quality.
Staff from both organizations collected samples at the
Pleasant Valley Road/Stearns Creek site and 2.5 miles
downstream at the Twin Oaks Road/Stearns Creek site
(see Figure 1). Data collected by both organizations
showed that exceedances continued to occur at the
downstream site during the summer months.
Ecology monitored upstream and downstream of
muitipie suspected bacteria sources (i.e., bracket
sampling) in August 2019 to isolate locations where
bacteria entered the creek. Local residents received
these data, and many opted to voluntarily implement
BMPs at problem spots. BMPs included 3,000 linear
feet of new fencing along Stearns Creek to prevent
cattle from directly accessing the creek (Figure 2), new
pasture management with rotational grazing efforts,
and refined manure application methods. Project
partners also identified locations of potential septic
system failures and referred them to the Lewis County
Environmental Health Department for repair.
Ecology staff work in many different watersheds to
find and fix sources of pollution affecting surface and
ground water quality. With limited staff covering a large
area, the keys to success for the Stearns Creek project
(and other watersheds), have included: (1) building
strong partnerships with local property owners and
federal, state and local organizations; (2) conducting
bracket water quality sampling to identify hot spots;
and (3) sharing data and working directly with the
Stearns Creek Bacteria Levels 2017-2019
/
Water quality standard
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-^¦PLEASANT VALLEY ROAD ORIDGt -^-TWIN OAKS ROAO ORIDGt
Figure 3. The magnitude of bacteria spikes at the
downstream monitoring site dropped during the
project period.
landowners to help them understand the impact of their
current operations on water quality and to encourage
long-term behavior change to prevent future pollution.
Results
Data provided by the Chehalis Tribe indicate that bac-
teria levels in Stearns Creek were very high in the sum-
mer of 2017 and have declined since then, although
some bacteria spikes continue to occur (Figure 3). Data
showed that average bacteria concentrations have
dropped from an average of 627 col/100 m!_ in 2017
(April-August) down to 214 col/100 mL in 2019 (June-
October)—a drop of about 65%.
Given the immediate drop in bacteria concentrations,
Ecology nonpoint staff planned to continue using
data from the Chehalis Tribe to track progress in this
watershed. However, the tribe could not consistently
conduct monthly sampling data in 2020 due to staffing
limitations during the COVID 19-pandemic. The tribe
plans to continue monitoring in 2021.
Partners and Funding
Many partners contributed to reduction of bacteria
in Stearns Creek, including the Confederated Tribes
of the Chehalis Reservations, Washington State
Department of Ecology, Washington State Department
of Agriculture, Lewis County Environmental Health
Department, Lewis Conservation District, the Port of
Chehalis, and Stearns Creek landowners. Landowners
funded the BMPs they implemented on their own prop-
erties. Ecology used annual CWA section 319 funding to
support salaries for nonpoint source staff working on
the pollution identification and correction project.
$
PROl*°
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-21-001JJ
December 2021
For additional information contact:
Kelly Ferron
Washington State Department of Ecology
360-764-3583 • kelly.ferron@ecy.wa.gov
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