Strawberry River Watershed 2003 Annual Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Report

Transcription

1 Strawberry River Watershed Summary of Water Quality in the Strawberry Watershed: The Strawberry River, a tributary of the Black River, is located in the Ozark Highland Ecoregion in north central Arkansas. The headwaters arise near the town of Salem in Fulton County. The river flows southeasterly through Izard, Sharp and Lawrence Counties before it enters the Black River near Strawberry, Arkansas. The Strawberry River watershed supports a variety of land uses. The watershed offers year-round recreational activities that include hunting, fishing, hiking and camping, but canoeing, primary, and secondary contact pursuits are the most dominant recreational uses. Commercial activities in 14

2 the watershed include confined animal operations, pastureland for livestock, and silviculture. Designated uses of the Strawberry River include Outstanding Resource Waters: Extraordinary Resource Stream Natural and Scenic Waterway Ecologically Sensitive Water body Ozark Highlands Ecoregion Fishery Specific Uses that support: Aquatic life Swimming (Primary contact) Wading (Secondary contact) Public, industrial, agricultural water supplies. The watershed is also home to several endangered and/or species of special concern listed by and State agencies and is considered to host one of the most diverse collections of aquatic species in the State. The ADEQ has identified 40.4 miles of stream as not supporting the aquatic life use (Perennial or Seasonal Ozark Highlands Fishery) and 20.4 of these miles as also not supporting swimming (primary contact recreation), i.e. 19% of the stream miles do not support all designated uses. The major cause of the non-support is sediment and pathogens are a minor cause of nonsupport. Agriculture is identified by the ADEQ as the likely source of the sediment and pathogens. Large portions of the streams in the watershed are not monitored. Land use in the watershed is approximately 43% agriculture, 53% forest, 3% urban, 1% mining/other. Agriculture: Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Issues: Strawberry River Model Farm Project ( ): All demonstration projects are completed and are being maintained in excellent condition. Informative newsletters have been sent to all landowners of more than 20 acres. Numerous pictures have been taken of practices on the farm and have been displayed during 2003 at the following activities: Strawberry River Watershed Model Farm : Information / Education /Awareness Activity Attendees 2003 Home and Garden 2500 Show County Agent Agricultural 25 Meeting Sharp County Fair 5000 Lower Spring River 28 Meeting SCCD Forestry Meeting 75 Strawberry River Agricultural Watershed Project (00-600): The project goal is to maintain or restore all designated uses of the Upper Strawberry River watershed. The project objective is to implement conservation plans on 21,000 acres in priority areas of the Upper Strawberry River Watershed and thereby improve the majority of pasture and grazing land in the watershed to Good to Excellent condition. Results of the project are given in the Strawberry River Watershed Project Data at the end of this watershed report. Strawberry River Agricultural Watershed Project - Reach 2 (Piney Fork) (01-800): The purpose of the project is to maintain and improve all uses of the land area in the Piney Fork Watershed of the Strawberry River. The project objective is to implement conservation plans on 27,000 acres of pastureland and woodland/wildlife in the Piney Fork Watershed. Results of the project are given in the Strawberry River Watershed Project Data at the end of this watershed report. 15

3 Silviculture Strawberry River Watershed -Forest Landowner Education Project ( ): This project was a landowner education and technical assistance effort. The goals and objectives of the project were to improve the water quality of the Strawberry River by reducing nonpoint source pollution from privately owned forestland. This was to be achieved by educating landowners on the value of forestland; suggest best management practices, encourage landowners to seek professional assistance in developing forest stewardship plans; and to make technical assistance available to landowners to aid them in making sound conservation decisions through a series of workshops. As a result of the workshops, the Arkansas Forestry Commission received 114 requests for assistance. Streambank Erosion: Alternative Livestock Water Demonstration Project ( ): This project was designed to demonstrate alternative methods for watering livestock in order to protect stream banks. Results of the project are given below in the Strawberry River Watershed Project Data at the end of this watershed report. Monitoring Physcial, Chemical, and Biological Assessment of the Strawberry River Watershed ( ): The project has been collecting data on the chemical, physical, and biological attributes of the river and its tributaries. Data collection is complete. The final report is to be submitted in December Any Nonpoint Source Pollution monitoring data that is available is reported in the Arkansas Nonpoint Source Pollution Monitoring Program section of this report. County Roads and Ditches: Izard County Strawberry River Watershed Hydromulcher Demonstration ( ): This project addressed sediment runoff from roads and ditches. A Hydromulcher was purchased and three roadside demonstration sites and one stream bank site were treated. Before and after photos have been taken at each demonstration site and site restoration plans are being implemented. It is estimated, using the Revised Soil Loss Equation, that by hydro seeding the three demonstration sites in the Strawberry River Watershed an average of 56.7 tons per acre of soil was saved. Strawberry River Watershed Project Data Project 314 Brush Mgt. 35 3,062.7 ac ,460.5 ac 378 Pond 3 3 ea ea 382 Fence 22 70,708 ft ,113 ft 512 Past/Hay.Plant ac ac 16

4 516 Pipeline 14 4,152 ft ,843 ft 528 Pres. Grazing 35 3,062.7 ac ,317.5 ac 590 Nutrient Mgt. 35 3,062.7 ac ,318.5 ac 595a Pest Mgt. 35 3,062.7 ac ,155.5 ac 614 Tank ea ea Project 314 Brush Mgmt ac. 44 3,051.4 ac. 342 Critical Area Treatment ac 378 Pond 3 3 # # 382 Fence 25 55,325 ft ,056 ft 412 Grassed Waterway ac 472 Use Exclusion ac ac 512 Pasture Planting ac ac 516 Pipeline 9 6,490 ft 15 14,060 ft 528 Pre. Grazing 58 6,266.4 ac ,934.9 ac 561 Heavy Use Area ac 580 Streambank Protect ft 590 Nutrient Management 58 6,266.4 ac ,934.9 ac 595 Pest Mgmt. 57 5,829.3 ac ,063.6 ac 614 Water Facility # # 645 Upland Habitat Management 54 3,464 ac 114 8,652.9 ac Water Storage Structure # Project 382 Fence ,198 ft ,748 ft 378 Pond 9 12 ea ea 391 Rip. Forest Buffer ac ac 472 Use Esclu ac ac 516 Pipeline 36 21,417 ft 61 48,900 ft 574 Spring Dev. 2 2 ea 4 4 ea 580 Streambank Protection ,491 ft ,904 ft 614 Tank ea ea 642 Well 6 6 ea 8 8 ea 17

5 Project 314 Brush Mgt. 74 7,546.4 ac ,445.9 ac 378 Pond ea ea 382 Fence ,861 ft ,493 ft 512 Past/Hayland Planting ac ac 516 Pipeline 51 23,598 ft 79 31,939 ft 528 Pres. Grazing 75 7,763.4 ac ,302.9 ac 590 Nut. Mgt. 76 7, ac ,303.9 ac 595a Pest Mgt 75 7,763.4 ac ,140.9 ac 614 Tank ea ea Project 314 Brush Mgmt ac 29 1,436.3 ac 342 Critical Area Treatment ac 378 Pond 1 1 # 14 4 # 382 Fence 9 17,134 ft ,554 ft 412 Grassed Waterway ac 472 Use Exclusion ac 512 Pasture Planting ac 516 Pipeline ft 6 7,798 ft 528 Pre. Grazing 30 3,462.7 ac 81 10,947.7 ac 561 Heavy Use Area ac 580 Streambank Protect ft 590 Nutrient Mgmt 30 3,462.7 ac 80 10,904.1 ac 595 Pest Mgmt. 28 2,655.7 ac 77 9,385 ac 614 Water Facility 2 3# 7 14 # 645 Upland Habitat Mgt 25 1,429.6 ac 66 4,927.3 ac Water Storage Structure 1 1 # 1 1 # 18

6 Project 378 Pond 8 8 ea 8 8 ea 382 Fence ,651 ft ,711 ft 391 Riprian Forest Buffer ac ac 472 Use Exclusion ac ac 516 Pipeline 35 31,460 ft 37 32,200 ft 574 Spring Development 4 4 ea 5 5 ea 580 Streambank Protection ,683 ft ,643 ft 614 Tank ea ea 642 Well 5 5 ea 5 5 ea Allocated / Promised Project Paid / Earned Non Non Non Match Made # of Contracts $142,696 $44,266 $142,696 $169,530 $142,696 $169, Allocated / Promised Project Paid / Earned Non Non Non Match Made # of Contracts $215, $71,543 $218, $261, $112,075 $128, Allocated / Promised Project Paid / Earned Non Non Non Match Made # of Contracts $200,000 $64,700 $195, $285, $120, $165,

7 Activity Project Field Days 1 3 Number of Attendees Events 1 3 Number of Attendees Activity Project Newsletters 4 8 Activity Project Field Days 3 3 Number of Attendees