Nonpoint Source Success Story Mississippi Implementing Best Management Practices Restored the Biological Integrity of North Tippah Creek

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1 NONPOINT SOURCE SUCCESS STURY

Implementing Best Management Practices Restored the Biological
Integrity of North Tippah Creek

Wafprhndv Imnrnvpd The MississiPPi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)

placed North Tippah Creek on the state's 2012 Clean Water Act
(CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for aquatic life use impairment. Implementation of
best management practices (BMPs) through U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS) programs helped to abate sediment and nutrients entering streams in
the watershed from agricultural and other land use activities. As a result of the BMPs implemented
in the watershed, impacts from sediment and nutrients were reduced and the water quality in
North Tippah Creek improved. In 2020, North Tippah Creek was assessed as attaining the aquatic life
use in the state's CWA section 303(d) list and will be removed from the state CWA section 303(d) list
in the 2022 cycle.

Problem

North Tippah Creek is iri the 35,521-acre North Tippah
Creek-Tippah River watershed (hydrologic unit code
HUC 080302010502) in Mississippi's Tippah County.
The Tippah River watershed is part of Mississippi's
Yazoo River basin. The watershed spans approximately
35,521 acres and is composed of 56.9% forest, 18.8%
pasture/grassland, 11.1% cropland, 5.2% urban, 4.5%
scrub-barren, 2.5% wetland, and 1.0% water (Figure 1).

Biological community data are routinely used by
MDEQ to determine if streams are healthy enough to
support a balanced aquatic community. North Tippah
Creek (Waterbody ID: MS902515) was monitored
as part of Mississippi's biological monitoring pro-
gram. Using MDEQ's index of biological integrity, the
Mississippi Benthic Index of Stream Quality (M-BISQ),
North Tippah Creek scored 44.96, which was below
the attainment threshold of 71.6 used to assess
aquatic life use support for this region of the state.
Because the stream was not meeting the aquatic life
designated use based on lack of a healthy and diverse
aquatic community, MDEQ placed a 3.99-mile seg-
ment of North Tippah Creek on the state's 2012 CWA
section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Sediment and
nutrients (i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus) entering streams
in the watershed from agricultural and other land use
activities, along with areas of soil erosion potential and
streambank erosion, are considered to be contributors
of pollution in North Tippah Creek.

North Tippah Creek-Tippah River
080302010502

Figure 1. The North Tippah Creek-Tippah River watershed is
in northern Mississippi.

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Figure 2. Grade stabilization structure BMP.

Figure 4. Streambank and shoreline protection BMP.

Figure 3. Close-up of a grade stabilization structure.

Story Highlights

Through a subgrantfrom MDEQ, Mississippi Soi
and Water Conservation Commission (MSWCC) was
awarded $125,000 in CWA section 319 funds to facili-
tate the development of a Watershed Implementation
Team and a Watershed Implementation Plan in the
North Tippah Creek watershed to abate the adverse
impacts of nonpoint sources of pollution. The
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provided monitoring for
waters within the watershed. BMPs were implemented
in the watershed through two NRCS programs: (1) The
National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI), which is a
partnership among NRCS, state water quality agencies
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to identify and address impaired waterbodies through
voluntary conservation, and (2) the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which is a voluntary
conservation program offered by the NRCS. Both NWQI
and EQIP provide financial and technical assistance to
agricultural and forestry producers to address natural
resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits
such as improved water and air quality, conserved
ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and
sedimentation, and improved or created wildlife habitat.

From 2012 through 2020, NRCS partnered with the
Tippah County Soii and Water Conservation District
and local producers to Implement BMPs, including
grade stabilization structures (Figures 2 and 3), fenc-
ing, cover crops, and stream and shoreline protection
(Figure 4). Implementing these BMPs in the North
Tippah Creek-Tippah River watershed is estimated to
save 21,342 tons of soii per year, with additional load
reductions of 19,998 pounds per year of phosphorus
and 42,648 pounds per year of nitrogen.

Results

In 2020 MDEQ returned to North Tippah Creek to
collect biological community data. The M-BISQ score
was 83.34, which was above the attainment threshold
of 71.6 used to assess aquatic life use support for this
region. Using this 2020 biological community data,
North Tippah Creek was assessed as attaining the
aquatic life use and will be removed from the state's
CWA section 303(d) list in the upcoming 2022 cycle.

Partners and Funding

The restoration of North Tippah Creek was a collective
effort between NRCS, MDEQ, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), MSWCC, USGS, the Tippah
County Soil and Water Conservation District, and
local producers. MDEQ contributed $125,000 in EPA
CWA section 319 funds for the development of the
Watershed Implementation Team and Watershed
Implementation Plan. From 2012 through 2020, over
$5 mil'ion in funds supported implementation of BMPs
in the North Tippah Creek-Tippah River watershed.

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC

EPA 841-F-22-001A
February 2022

For additional information contact:

Ajay Parshotam

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
601-961-4253 • aparshotam@mdeq.ms.gov

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