^tosrx

A

I NONPOINT SOURCE SUCCESS STURY

v,y'	- -

Alpiskti

Community Efforts Improve Jordan Creek

Waterbody Improved Ur'3an run°ff damaged water quality in lower Jordan Creek,

an anadromous fish-bearing stream in Juneau, Alaska. Urban
development encroached upon riparian areas and contributed sediment and other pollutants to the
stream, which began showing declines in aquatic life health. As a result, the Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) added Jordan Creek to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d)
list in 1998 for impairments due to debris, sediment and low dissolved oxygen (DO). Since then,
partners have collaborated on various projects throughout the lower Jordan Creek watershed to
control pollutants and restore creek health. The creek's water quality has improved as a result.

Problem

Jordan Creek is a salmon stream in Juneau, Alaska. If
drains 1.664 acres of mostly undisturbed forest in the
Mendenhall Valley before entering a highly developed
commercial and residential area downstream of Egan
Drive (Figure 1). The Lower Jordan Creek watershed
comprises less than 5% of the total watershed area;
however, Its extensive impervious surfaces, heavy traf-
fic, and degraded riparian corridor have continued to
negatively affect stream and riparian habitat.

Data collected in the mid-1990s showed declines in
benthic macroinvertebrate populations and reduced
salmon egg survival. High sediment levels enter the
creek from urban runoff, riparian area and streambank
erosion, land-disturbing activities, and traction sand
applied during winter months. Adult coho salmon
returns had dropped from a few hundred individuals to
a handful by 1997. As a result, DEC added Jordan Creek
to the CWA section 303(d) list in 1998 for failing to
support aquatic life and other designated uses due to
debris, sediment and DO impairments. DEC developed
total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for Jordan Creek
in May 2005 (debris/residue) and 2009 (sediment and
interstitial DO).

Story Highlights

Since the impairment listings, partners have worked on
protecting and restoring Jordan Creek. In 2006, DEC part-
nered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) and the Mendenhall Partnership to develop the
Jordan Creek Watershed Recovery and Management Plan,
which assessed pollution sources and possible solutions.
In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and

Figure 1. Jordan Creek is in southeast Alaska.

the Juneau Watershed Partnership (JWP) completed
Stormwater in the Lower Jordan Creek Watershed, a
stormwater inventory and assessment. In 2021, the
Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC) developed
a Lower Jordan Creek Watershed Management Plan
(WMP), which focused on reducing sediment transport
to the creek and designing stormwater best management
practices (BMPs) for installation.

-------
Thanks to the many plans in place, partners have
been chipping away at the pollution problem. In 2013,
USFWS and JWP worked with a Southeast Alaska
Guidance Association (SAGA) AmeriCorps crew to
revegetate riparian areas damaged during bridge
construction. In 2015-2016, JWP and SAWC worked
with the Central Council of Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes
of Alaska (CCTHITA) to install barrier fencing and a rain
garden at the tribal office building. Stormwater from a
large shopping mail parking area (about 0.8 acres) had
been flowing across the CCTHITA's unpaved lot and
discharging untreated into Jordan Creek. The partners
installed a pre-treatment rock swaie and a rain garden
to treat the stormwater before it enters the creek
(Figure 2). The partners aiso installed 460 feet of snow
barrier fencing along the creek to discourage snow
disposal near and directly into the creek to reduce
snow as a source of pollution. JWP conducted exten-
sive public education through its website, social media,
meetings and newspaper articles.

in 2019, SAWC arid the City and Borough of Juneau
(CBJ) -Juneau International Airport partnered to
replace two pedestrian bridges over the creek. Local
volunteers helped the partners restore an adjacent
8-acre greeribelt just north of the airport by remov-
ing invasive plants, planting trees, relocating snow
storage areas, removing litter, and transforming an
obsolete trail in the riparian area into a popular com-
munity trail. Jordan Creek neighbors, the Society of
St. Vincent De Paul (SSVDP) homeless shelter, hold a
weekly litter patrol. Also in 2019, SAWC partnered with
a local motel to remove access to an unauthorized
trail through the riparian area on the motel's property,
which had led to erosion and litter problems. The
motel erected a barrier fence, and SAWC and local
volunteers revegetated the damaged riparian area.

Since 2021, SAWC has spearheaded several low impact
development (LID) projects, including installing a wet
biofiltration swale on CBJ property to treat runoff from
a mall parking lot. The swale will remove an estimated
12,000 pounds of sediment annually. Other LID proj-
ects currently underway or planned include installing
bioretention planters and permeable pavement.

Results

Figure 2. A rain garden Installed on CCTFHI lA property
captures and treats stormwater runoff,

numbers are rebounding—likely due to better habitat
conditions. DEC and partners have collected and evalu-
ated data periodically from the early 1990s to the early
2020s, but these data cannot be directly compared
because various methods and instruments were used.
The most recent measurements from 2019/2020 show
that most data meet Alaska's water quality standards
for turbidity (less than 25 nephelometric turbidity
units above natural conditions) and dissolved oxygen
(greater than 7 milligrams per liter for waters with
fish); however, some locations along the creek con-
tinue have seasonal turbidity problems during spring/
fall stormwater events. These areas were highlighted
in the WMP, and additional targeted green infrastruc-
ture projects are being installed in 2023 (with effec-
tiveness monitoring to follow).

Partners and Funding

Partners have implemented many projects designed
to reduce the volume of sediment reaching Jordan
Creek, and these reductions are making a difference.
Anecdotal reports from local residents note that fish

Restoration partners have Included SAWC, DEC, CBJ,
JWP, USFWS, NRCS, Alaska Department of Fish and
Game, CCTHITA, SAGA, Super 8 motel, Discovery
Southeast, Juneau International Airport, Tongass
Chapter of Trout Unlimited, SSVDP, Zach Gordon Youth
Center, cub scouts, local landowners, business owners
and others. Funding sources have included CWA section
319 grants (more than $400,000, matched by at least
$340,000 in local funds), some of which were DEC
Alaska Clean Water Action grants issued directly to local
groups. Funding was also provided through the USFWS
Coastal impact Assistance Program and the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation Wells Fargo Environmental
Solutions for Communities Grant Program. Private
landowners and business owners have contributed time
and money to various restoration projects.

^£D	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

0** Office of Water
\ Washington, DC

I

EPA 841-F-23-001J
pRot^° September 2023

For additional information contact:

Laura Eldred

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
907-376-1855 • laura.eldred@alaska.gov

-------