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Inspecting Home Septic Systems and Educating Homeowners Help
Reduce Bacteria in the Amite River

Waterbody Improved Bacteria ^rom improperly maintained septic systems led to a fecal

coliform bacteria impairment in the Amite River (subsegment
040301 - Mississippi state line to LA-37). The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ)
added the waterbody to the state's 2016 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 305(b) assessment as not
supporting its secondary contact recreation (SCR) designated use because of high bacteria levels.
Beginning in 2018, the LDEQ contracted with Capital Resource Conservation and Development
Council (CRC&D) to implement a series of initiatives such as home septic system inspections,
education, and water quality monitoring in the Amite River subsegment. Recent data indicate that
the river no longer exceeds the fecal coliform standard for SCR. As a result, LDEQ removed the
waterbody's SCR bacteria impairment listing from the state's 2020 305(b) water quality assessment.

Problem

The upper Amite River watershed (subsegment 040301
- Mississippi state line to LA-37) drains approximately
131,095 acres of largely rural land. According to data
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cropland
Data Layer (CDL), primary land cover in the watershed
is forest, rangeland, and forested wetlands (Figure 1).

Rural areas in Louisiana often depend on on-site sew-
age disposal systems (OSDS) in the absence of munici-
pal or other public wastewater treatment systems.
Improperly maintained OSDS caused high bacteria
loadings to the Amite River.

For SCR to be supported, no more than 25% of the
fecal coliform samples collected on a monthly or near-
monthly basis may exceed a fecal coliform density of
2,000 colonies (col)/100 milliliters (mL) year-round.
Between October 2014 and September 2015, five of
11 sampling events (45%) exceeded 2,000 col/lOOmL..
Based on these data, LDEQ indicated subsegment
040301 in the 2016 CWA section 305(b) assessment
as not supporting the designated use SCR due to fecal
coliform bacteria. The 2016 and 2018 305(b) assess-
ments showed the suspected cause of the bacteria
impairment in the river as on-site treatment systems
(septic.systems and similar decentralized systems).

	

Amite River Subsegment 040301
2018 CDL Generalized Land Cover

Figure 1. Amite River subsegment 040301 land cover.

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Figure 2. Fecal coliform concentrations in the Amite River declined over time (2014-2020).

Story Highlights

From 2018 through 2020, work occurred in the Amite
River watershed to inspect home septic systems,
educate homeowners and monitor water quality.
CRC&D inspected 790 systems and found that 297
were not functioning properly. LDEQ has contracted
with CRC&D to hire a watershed coordinator since
2008. The watershed coordinator's job is to facilitate
and conduct watershed use support restoration
activities in southeast Louisiana, with a goal of reduc-
ing nonpoint source pollution to ultimately improve
surface water quality, restore designated use support
and maintain healthy waters. CRC&D identified and
assisted in the repair of 188 of the 297 systems that
were not functioning properly.

Results

Water quality data show improvements as a result of
OSDS repairs. From October 2018 to September 2019,
only one fecal coliform sample out of 12 exceeded
2,000 col/100 mL (i.e., an eight % annual exceedance
rate). From October 2019 to September 2020, only
two fecal coliform samples out of 12 exceeded 2,000
col/100 mL (i.e., a 17% annual exceedance rate). These
data indicate that the Amite River supports its SCR
designated use (Figure 2). Based on this data, LDEQ
removed SCR as a bacteria-impaired designated use
for subsegment 040301 in 2020.

Partners and Funding

Partners responsible for making this project a success
include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
LDEQ, and CRC&D. From November 2017 to December
2020, LDEQ used $89,533 in CWA section 319 funds to
contract with CRC&D to fund a watershed coordinator
position, septic system inspections and water quality
monitoring.

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

EPA 841-F-22-001E
February 2022

For additional information contact:

John Sheehan

LDEQ

225-219-0879 ¦

john.sheehan@la.gov

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