North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL & LIFE SCIENCES

NWQEP NOTES
The NCSU Water Quality Group Newsletter

Number  59                	May 1993           	ISSN 1062-9149

NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM NEWS

State Coastal Nonpoint Source Control Programs to be Developed

Judith A. Gale
NCSU Water Quality Group

Introduction

In January of 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published two guidance documents for state and territorial coastal nonpoint pollution control pro-grams required under section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA).

Coastal waters are affected by both point and nonpoint sources of pollution, with the latter a significant, often dominant, form of pollution in a given water body. While great strides have been made in controlling point sources of pollution since enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, nonpoint source pollution remains a major problem in many coastal areas. The leading contributors of nonpoint source pollutants to estuarine waters are urban runoff and agriculture. In some areas, forestry, marinas, and hydromodification also contribute to nonpoint source pollution. The loss and degradation of wetlands and riparian areas has adversely affected coastal water quality as well.

While water quality protection is integral to the management of many coastal resources, it was not cited as a central purpose of the original coastal management statute enacted in 1972. CZARA, however, specifically charges state coastal management programs and state nonpoint source programs with addressing nonpoint source pollution affecting coastal waters.

The purpose of the coastal nonpoint pollution control programs is to develop and implement management measures for nonpoint source pollution to restore and protect coastal waters, working in close conjunction with other state and local authorities. Once approved, state coastal nonpoint programs will be implemented through changes to 1) the state's existing nonpoint source pollution program approved by USEPA under section 319 of the Clean Water Act and 2) the existing state coastal zone management programs approved by NOAA under section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act.

States and territories with federally-approved coastal zone management programs are required to develop coastal nonpoint pollution control programs and submit them for approval to USEPA and NOAA by July of 1995. States and territories that fail to submit approvable programs will face reductions of federal financial support for their coastal zone management and nonpoint source (section 319) programs. The funding reductions range from 10% in Fiscal Year 1996 to 30% in Fiscal Year 1999 and thereafter.

Background: Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972

In 1972, through the Coastal Zone Management Act, Congress established a program by which states and territories could voluntarily develop comprehensive programs to protect and manage coastal resources (including the Great Lakes). In order to receive federal approval and implementation funding, states or territories had to demonstrate that they had programs (including enforceable policies and authorities to implement such policies) that were sufficiently comprehensive and specific both to regulate land uses, water uses, and coastal development, and to resolve conflicts among competing uses. There are currently 29 federally-approved state and territorial coastal zone management programs (see map above).

Requirements of Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990

Section 6217 of CZARA was enacted to address concerns about the impact of nonpoint source pollution on coastal waters. Specifically, the intent of the section is to strengthen the links between state coastal management and water quality programs. This cooperative effort is mirrored at the federal level by the NOAA and USEPA partnership in overseeing the coastal nonpoint control program. The states' coastal nonpoint pollution control programs are required to implement management measures for five categories of nonpoint source pollution: 1) agricultural runoff; 2) urban runoff; 3) forestry runoff; 4) marinas and recreational boating; and 5) channelization and channel modification, dams, and streambank and shoreline erosion. Management measures are also required for wetlands, riparian areas, and vegetated treatment systems that apply to one or more categories of nonpoint sources. States must also identify land uses and critical coastal areas that will require additional management measures in order to meet water quality standards and protect designated uses.

Management Measures

Section 6217 requires USEPA to publish (in consultation with NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other federal agencies), and periodically revise thereafter, guidance for specifying management measures for sources of nonpoint pollution in coastal waters. Management measures (see sidebar on page 3 for examples) are defined as "economically achievable measures for the control of the addition of pollutants from existing and new categories and classes of nonpoint sources of pollution, which reflect the greatest degree of pollutant reduction achievable through the application of the best available nonpoint pollution control practices, technologies, processes, siting criteria, operating methods, or other alternatives." While management measures are broadly defined, management practices are more specific; the practices are the actual techniques or tools for implementing the management measures. The management measures approach is technology-based rather than water quality-based. That is, management measures are to be based on technical and economic achievability, rather than on cause- and-effect linkages between particular land use activities and particular water quality problems. The philosophy behind this approach is that states should concentrate their resources on developing and implementing measures that experts agree will reduce pollution significantly. Examples of management measures included in the guidance document are listed in the sidebar.

Additional Measures

In addition to applying the management measures set forth in the guidance for specific land use categories, section 6217 requires that states identify additional, more stringent, state-specific measures necessary to attain and maintain applicable state water quality standards. These water quality-based measures are to be applied in critical areas whose function may be impaired by new and expanding land uses.

State Program Development and Approval

Coastal nonpoint pollution programs must adequately address the following program components in order to receive approval from USEPA and NOAA: 1) identification and establishment of procedures to ensure implementation of section 6217 guidance management measures and additional management measures; 2) response to NOAA boundary recommendations; 3) identification or enactment of enforceable policies and mechanisms to implement program requirements; 4) coordination with all relevant federal, state, and local programs; 5) provision of technical assistance to local government and the public relating to the coastal nonpoint program; and 6) provision for public involvement in all aspects of the program. States and territories must submit their coastal nonpoint programs to NOAA and USEPA for approval by July 1995.

Guidance Documents

USEPA. 1993. Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters. Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. EPA 840-B-92-002. Copies may be requested (free) from USEPA, 11029 Kenwood Road, Bldg 5, Cincinnati, OH 45242 or Jan Shifflett, Nonpoint Source Control Branch (WH-553), USEPA, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC 20460.

NOAA and USEPA. 1993. Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program: Program Development and Approval Guidance. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC, and Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. Copies may be requested (free) from Marcella Jansen, Office of Coastal Resource Management, NOAA, 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20235.

For Further Information

Stu Tuller
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Tel: 202-260-7085
or
Marcella Jansen
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Tel: 202-606- 4181.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Monitoring of both land treatment and water quality is necessary to document the effectiveness of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution controls in restoring water quality. The Section 319 National Monitoring Program, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), is designed to support 20 to 30 watershed projects throughout the country that meet a minimum set of project planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation requirements. The requirements are designed to lead to successful documentation of project effectiveness with respect to water quality protection or improvement. The National Monitoring Program projects comprise a small subset of NPS pollution control projects funded under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987. The following article continues a series describing the 319 National Monitor-ing Program projects.

Long Creek (North Carolina)
Section 319 National Monitoring Program Project

Daniel E. Line
NCSU Water Quality Group

Project Synopsis

The Long Creek 319 National Monitoring Program project (28,480 acres) is located in southcentral North Carolina, just west of Charlotte, in an area of mixed agricultural and urban/industrial land use. Long Creek is a perennial stream which serves as the primary water supply for Bessemer City, a munici-pality with a population of 5-10,000 people.

Agricultural activities related to crop and dairy production are believed to be the major nonpoint sources of pollutants to Long Creek. Sediment from eroding cropland is the major problem in the upper third of the wa-tershed. At present, the water supply intake pool must be dredged quarterly to maintain adequate storage volume. Below the intake, Long Creek is impaired primarily by bacteria and nutrients from urban areas and animal holding facil-ities.

Proposed land treatment upstream of the water supply intake includes implementing the land use restrictions of North Carolina's Water Supply Wa-tershed Protection Act. These restrictions mandate a vegetated buffer around all fields in the one-half mile critical area around the water supply intake and require best management practices on all farms with more than 100 animal units.

Below the intake, land treatment will involve implementing a comprehensive nutrient management system on a 600-acre dairy (Kiser dairy) and a field-scale evaluation of North Carolina's nutrient management policies using paired watersheds. Currently, the state's nutrient management plans are based on a nitrogen budget; the project will investigate the environmental effects of using a phosphorus budget.

Land treatment and land use tracking will be based on a combination of volun-tary farmer record- keeping and frequent farm visits by Cooperative Extension Service (CES) personnel. Data will be stored and managed in a geographic information system located at the county CES office.

The water quality monitoring program includes the following designs: single station before/after land treatment, upstream/downstream, and paired watershed. Continuous and grab samples will be collected at various sites to provide the chemical, biological, and hydrologic data needed to assess the effectiveness of the land treatment program.

Project Time Frame

January, 1993 to December, 2001

Pre-Project Water Quality

Water quality variables change with time and location along Long Creek, but generally stay within the following ranges:

Note: These data were obtained from 12 monthly grab samples taken from six locations along Long Creek, except for the coliform data which came from six monthly samples taken at three stations along Long Creek. The monitored area contains four dairy farms with animal populations ranging from 85 to 400. Operations include three open lots (one each draining into a holding pond, across a pasture, and across a grass buffer) and one roofed operation.

Nonpoint Source Control Strategy

Water Supply Intake Protection Plan_: Bessemer City has recently purchased 13 acres of cropland immediately upstream of the intake with the intention of implementing runoff and erosion controls. Also, to comply with the state's Water Supply Watershed Protection Act, strict land use requirements will be implemented on land within one-half mile of and draining to the intake; less strict requirements will be imple-mented in the remainder of the watershed draining to the intake.

Kiser Dairy Land Treatment Plan: The strategy will be to design and implement a comprehensive nutrient management system including a new waste holding facility. A larger waste storage structure will be constructed along with implementing improved pasture management and livestock exclusion between sites D and E (see map) on a tributary next to the Kiser dairy.

Paired Watershed: The control strategy on the paired watershed will involve implementing practices to both reduce annual erosion to less that five tons per acre in accordance with USDA-Soil Conservation Service recommendations and apply nutrients based on a phosphorus (as opposed to nitrogen) budget. The number and types of best management practices implemented will depend on voluntary farmer participation.

Water Quality Monitoring Design

The water quality monitoring effort incorporates the following three designs:

Variables to be measured include percent canopy and aufwuchs (organisms growing on aquatic plants), invertebrate taxa richness, bacteria, total sus-pended solids (TSS), sediment, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH, conductivity, nitrate-nitrogen + nitrite-nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, and orthophosphate phosphorus.

Explanatory variables include rainfall, flow rate of Long Creek, and rainfall and runoff rate at paired watersheds.

Single station before/after grab sampling at the water supply intake will be conducted weekly from December through May and monthly the remainder of the year. Suspended sediment (SS), temperature, conductivity, DO, pH, and turbidity will be monitored. Occasional storm event sampling for sediment will also be conducted.

Single station before/after sampling will be carried out at the wa-tershed outlet biweekly from December through May and monthly the rest of the year. Variables include grab sampling for fecal and streptococci coliforms, temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, DO, TSS, nitrogen, and phosphorus; and annual biological monitoring for sensitive species.

Upstream/downstream grab sampling of Long Creek at Kiser dairy will be conducted weekly from December through May and monthly the remainder of the year. Variables include fecal and streptococci coliforms, temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, DO, TSS, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Annual biological samples will be taken for sensitive species at one station.

The paired watershed study on Kiser dairy cropland will involve stage activated storm event sampling for flow, TSS, SS, nitrogen, phosphorus, and total sediment.

Upstream/downstream monitoring will be conducted in a tributary at Kiser dairy on a weekly basis from December through May and monthly the rest of the year: grab sampling for fecal and streptococci coliforms, temperature, pH, conductivity, and DO, and continuous sampling for TSS, SS, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

Project Water Quality Objectives

The objective of the project is to quantify the effects of nonpoint source pollution controls on:

In addition, biological monitoring of streams will be used to attempt to show improvements in biological habitat associated with the implementation of nonpoint source pollution controls.

Information, Education, and Publicity

Cooperative Extension Service personnel will conduct public meetings and media campaigns to inform the general public, elected officials, community leaders, and school children about the project and water quality in general. In addi-tion, project personnel will make many one-to-one visits to cooperating and non-cooperating farmers in the watershed to inform them of project activities and address any questions or concerns they may have.

Water Quality Data Management and Analysis

Data will be stored locally at the county CES office. The data will also be stored and analyzed at North Carolina State University using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) NonPoint Source Management System software.

For Further Information

Daniel E. Line, Water Quality Extension Specialist
NCSU Water Quality Group
615 Oberlin Rd., Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27605-1126
Tel: 919-515- 3723.

INFORMATION

Section 319 National Monitoring Program

Osmond, D.L., J.A. Gale, D.E. Line, J.B. Mullens, J. Spooner, and S.W. Coffey. 1992. Summary Report: Section 319 National Monitoring Program Projects. Nonpoint Source Watershed Project Studies, NCSU Water Quality Group, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 45p.

The NCSU Water Quality Group and Oregon State University Water Resource Re-search Institute recently produced a report on the four projects that have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to date under the Section 319 National Monitoring Program. The main objective of the program is to monitor water quality and land treatment in selected projects in order to document water quality changes associated with land treatment. Mini-mum tracking and reporting requirements for land treatment and surface water quality monitoring have been established by USEPA for approved projects.

The Section 319 National Monitoring Program projects comprise a small subset of nonpoint source pollution control projects funded under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987. The program is designed to support 20 to 30 watershed projects nationwide that meet the minimum project planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation requirements. As of the end of 1992, four 319 National Monitoring Program projects had been approved: Snake River Plain, Idaho; Sny Magill Creek Watershed, Iowa; Elm Creek Watershed, Nebraska; and Long Creek Watershed, North Carolina.

Profiles of each project contain a project overview; a water resource project description, including water resource type and size, water uses and impairments, pre-project water quality, and project water quality objectives; information on area, hydrologic, geologic, and meteorologic factors, land use, pollutant sources, information and education program, nonpoint source control strategy, water quality monitoring design, variables, data management and analysis plans; project budget; project contacts; and maps.

Copies of the report are available ($5 per copy/ free to potential 319 projects) from: Publications Coordinator, NCSU Water Quality Group, 615 Oberlin Rd., Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27605-1126, Tel: 919-515-3723. Please make check out to BAE-NCSU-NWQEP.

Protecting Coastal and Wetland Resources: A Guide for Local Governments

USEPA. 1992. Protecting Coastal and Wetland Resources: A Guide for Local Governments. Oceans and Coastal Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. EPA 842-R-002.

Written for local planners, elected officials, and concerned citizens, this guide contains a comprehensive review of the resource management and planning tools available to communities. The manual covers zoning ordinances, land acquisition, covenants, deed restrictions, and development rights transfers. Also included are 19 case studies and many examples of how communi-ties across the country have addressed coastal and wetland resource planning issues. Although specifically geared toward aquatic resources protection, most of the growth management and planning techniques described in the guide will be useful to those interested in protecting other types of sensitive areas as well.

Single copies of the publication may be obtained free of charge by sending a written request for EPA document #842-002 to USEPA, 11029 Kenwood Rd., Bldg. 5, Cincinnati, OH 45242.

The Rural Clean Water Program: Protecting America's Water Resources

A 16-minute videotape on the Rural Clean Water Program (RCWP), produced by The Pennsylvania State University and the NCSU Water Quality Group, has recently been released. The video discusses the effects of agricultural nonpoint source pollutants, including sediment, nutrients, and pesticides. The objectives, organization, and results of the 10-year federally-sponsored experimental RCWP, which assisted farmers in implementing best management practices (BMPs) to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution, are explained. Successes of some of the 21 RCWP projects are noted and the BMPs utilized in various projects described. Innovative nonpoint source pollution control practices developed through the RCWP are identified and illustrated. Monitoring designs and techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of BMPs are also discussed.

Copies may be purchased for $18 from: Publications Coordinator, NCSU Water Quality Group, 615 Oberlin Rd., Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27605-1126. Please make checks out to NCSU-BAE-NWQEP.

Water Quality Videotapes for Young People

Educational videos on surface water, ground water, saving water, and careers in water quality are now available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The videotapes are targeted at 5th - 9th graders and contain contemporary graphics and animation as well as live char-acters. Surface Water is an exploration of the world of streams, lakes, oceans, and rivers and addresses how to conserve surface water, clean up water pollution, and prevent future pollution (9 min.). The Ground Water Video Adventure (9 min.) discusses ground water resources and what students can do at home to prevent ground water pollution. Saving Water - The Conservation Video is an animated video adven-ture featuring the "Lost Treasures of the Earth" exhibit (housing the last remaining drops of clean water) and easy methods of conserving water (8 min.). Careers in Water Quality (16 min.) is designed to introduce junior high school students to careers in the water quality field. The videos are available on loan. For further information, contact Paula Thorn, Training Center, USEPA, P. O. Box 6064 - 466 High St., Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6064, Tel. 1-800-624-8301.

Herbicides and Water Quality Videotape

An educational video addressing herbicide use and water quality has been produced by the Kansas State Board of Education and the U.S. Geological Survey. The video is intended to encourage discussions within the agricultural community in the Delaware River Basin (DRB) about farming methods that may help improve water quality and reduce the risks associated with herbicide use in the recently-established DRB pesti-cide management area. Copies are available ($20) from USGS, Books and Open- File Reports, Bldg. 810, Box 25425, Denver, CO 80205, (303) 236-7477

EDITOR'S NOTE

NWQEP NOTES is issued bimonthly. Subscriptions are free within the United States (contact: Publications Coordinator at the address below or via internet at wq_puborder@ncsu.edu). A list of publications on nonpoint source pollution distributed by the NCSU Water Quality Group is included in each hardcopy issue of the newsletter.

I welcome your views, findings, information, and suggestions for articles. Please feel free to contact me.

Judith A. Gale, Editor
Water Quality Extension Specialist
North Carolina State University Water Quality Group
Campus Box 7637
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695
Tel: 919-515-3723
Fax: 919-515-7448
Internet: notes_editor@ncsu.edu

Production of NWQEP NOTES is funded through U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Grant No. X818397.