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'&?) N8NP0IHT SOURCE SUCCESS STORY
Implementing Conservation Practices and Conducting Watershed
Outreach Improved Water Quality in Sulphur Creek
Waterbodies Improved Su'p'iur Creek, a tributary of the Lampasas River, was listed as
impaired ori the 2016 Texas Integrated Report and 303(D) List
due to high levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The Texas State Soil arid Water Conservation
Board (TSSWCB) used Clean Water Act (CWA) section 319(h) funding from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and partnered with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and local Soil and Water
Conservation Districts (SWCD) to develop a watershed protection plan (WPP) for the Lampasas
River. During the WPP development process, stakeholders learned about their local water quality
issues and developed management measures to address them. Water quality was improved due to
the implementation of management measures identified in the WPP and one assessment unit (AU)
of Sulphur Creek (1217B_Q2) was removed from the state's list of impaired waters in 2020.
Problem
Sulphur Creek (Figure 1) is a tributary of the Lampasas
River in the Brazos River Basin. The watershed is in
central Texas and lies in the eastern Texas Hill Country,
which is dominated by rangeland and dotted with small
communities that serve the local agriculture-based
economies. Outside of these small towns, the land-
scape is most suitable for grazing by cattle, goats, and
sheep and for engaging in outdoor recreation, such as
hunting and camping.
Water quality data collected In Sulphur Creek in
2007-2014 showed that E. coli levels exceeded the
bacteria water quality standard for contact recreation.
As a result, the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ) added the creek to the 303(d) list in the
2016 Texas Integrated Report for not supporting its
primary contact recreation use.
Story Highlights
TSSWCB partnered with Texas A&M AgriLife Research
in 2009 to develop a WPP for the Lampasas River.
Throughout the planning process, stakeholders
worked together to holistically address the sources
and causes of impairments and threats to surface
water resources within the watershed. The Lampasas
River WPP was accepted by EPA in 2013.
Terns
Figure 1. Suiphur Creek is in the Lampasas River
watershed in central Texas.
The Agriculture Nonpoint Source Work Group
focused their efforts on addressing contributions
from livestock, whitetail deer and feral hogs. They
recommended that individual agriculture operations
implement voluntary water quality management
plans (WQMPs), and they recommended that the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department adopt habitat
management programs, such as wildlife management
plans and managed land deer programs to mitigate
the bacteria contribution from whitetail deer. The
work group believed that feral hogs also needed to be

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addressed, and they recommended
creating a watershed-specific feral
hog specialist position to provide
technical assistance to landowners.
The Urban Nonpoint Source Work
Group addressed concerns about
wastewater, stormwater and domes-
tic dogs. The Wastewater Work
Group recommended that a detailed
database and inventory of all on-site
sewage facili ties within the water-
shed be developed and that aging
systems in particular subwatersheds
be repaired or replaced.
The TSSWCB and the Hill Country
SWCD partnered to develop and
implement eight WQMPs in the
impaired watershed between 2013
and 2018. Most of the WQMPs
were on grazing operations, cover- Figure 2. Watershed restoration efforts have improved Sulphur Creek,
ing 1,929 acres. These plans included
alternative water sources, prescribed
grazing, pasture and range planting, cross-fencing,
nutrient management and brush management. In
addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) worked with
landowners to implement conservation practices
on over 3,000 acres using Environmental Quality
Incentives Program funding. The conservation
practices implemented included prescribed grazing,
pasture and range planting, prescribed burning, cover
crops and brush management.
Water quality monitoring data show that the long-
term E. coli geometric means in the upper portion of
Sulphur Creek (AU 1217B_02) are meeting the state
water quality standard of 126 colony-forming units
(cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml_) of water for contact
recreation. Data collected from 2011 to 2018 show
a geometric mean of 45.51 cfu/100 mL for the 2020
reporting period. As a result, TCEQ removed Sulphur
Creek AU 1217B_02 from the 303(d) list in the 2020
Texas Integrated Report. The success of this effort
can be attributed to increased stakeholder awareness
and knowledge of water quality issues following the
watershed planning process and the implementation
of conservation practices in the watershed. Water
quaiity monitoring continues to track and measure
interim progress to implement the WPP and ensure
the restoration effort of Sulphur Creek remains a
success (Figure 2).
Partners and Funding
Over $498,422 in EPA CWA section 319(h) funds
(provided by the TSSWCB), combined with more than
$332,281 in nonfederal matching funds from Texas
AgriLife Research, supported the development and
implementation of the Lampasas River WPP. The
TSSWCB also provided $167,140 in 319(h) funding
to the Hi]] Country SWCD for the development and
implementation of WQMPs in the watershed.
The TSSWCB, Hill Country SWCD and NRCS worked
with landowners to voluntarily implement conserva-
tion practices to reduce the impact of agricultural
operations in the watershed. Approximately $43,300 in
state funding and $234,875 in federal Farm Bill funding
was provided to landowners as financial incentives to
Implement best management practices in the Sulphur
Creek watershed.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-21-001J
June 2021
For additional information contact:
Brian Koch
Texas State Soil & Water Conservation Board
979-532-9496 • bkoch@tsswcb.texas.gov
Samantha Litchke
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-5638 • samantha.litchke@tceq.texas.gov

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