Bitter and Killpecker Creeks Watershed Management Plan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 Bitter and Killpecker Creeks Watershed 2 Management Plan 3 4 A comprehensive natural resource management plan designed to improve water quality 5 within the Bitter and Killpecker Creeks Watershed 6 7 8 9 10 Developed by the Bitter/Killpecker Watershed Advisory Group and the 11 Sweetwater County Conservation District 12 13 Sweetwater County, Wyoming 14 June 2006 15 0 0 1 Bitter Creek / Killpecker Creek Watershed Plan 2 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................2 5 Mission Statement .....................................................................................................................2 6 Purpose .......................................................................................................................................2 7 The Clean Water Act.................................................................................................................2 8 Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Role ......................................................2 9 Sweetwater County Conservation District’s Role ..................................................................3 10 Conservation District’s Planning Authority ...........................................................................3 11 Public Participation Strategy ...................................................................................................4 12 BACKGROUND INFORMATION.............................................................................................5 13 Bitter Creek / Killpecker Creek Watershed Description.......................................................5 14 Sweetwater County Past and Present .............................................................................................................. 5 15 Location.............................................................................................................................................................. 5 16 Physical Setting.................................................................................................................................................. 6 17 Elevations ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 18 Water Quality of Bitter and Killpecker Creeks......................................................................6 19 Water Quality Efforts To Date.................................................................................................8 20 ISSUES AND CONCERNS ..........................................................................................................9 21 Urban/Suburban Impacts.........................................................................................................9 22 Coordination with DEQ and Local Stakeholders.................................................................10 23 Water Quality Concerns (303(d) List, Continued Monitoring, Use Classifications) ........10 24 Agricultural Impacts...............................................................................................................11 25 Recreational Impacts...............................................................................................................12 26 Soil Survey................................................................................................................................12 27 Industrial Impacts ...................................................................................................................12 28 Wildlife/Wild Horse Impacts..................................................................................................13 29 Funding Issues .........................................................................................................................13 30 WATERSHED IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................13 31 Urban/Suburban Impacts.......................................................................................................13 32 Coordination with WDEQ and Local Stakeholders.............................................................14 33 Water Quality Concerns (303(d) List, Continued Monitoring, Use Classifications) ........16 34 Agricultural Impacts...............................................................................................................16 35 Recreational Impacts...............................................................................................................18 36 Soil Survey................................................................................................................................18 37 Industrial Impacts ...................................................................................................................19 38 Wildlife/Wild Horse Impacts..................................................................................................19 39 Funding Issues .........................................................................................................................20 40 MILESTONE TABLE ................................................................................................................19 41 APPENDIX A – USE CLASSIFICATION TABLE.................................................................30 42 APPENDIX B – WATERSHED MAP.......................................................................................31 43 APPENDIX C - ACRONYMS....................................................................................................33 44 APPENDIX E – REFERENCES CITED ..................................................................................37 45 APPENDIX F – RESPONSE TO COMMENTS ......................................................................38 46 APPENDIX F – RESPONSE TO COMMENTS ......................................................................38 47 APPENDIX G – BKWAG MEMBERS & PLANNING TEAM .............................................38 48 APPENDIX G – BKWAG MEMBERS & PLANNING TEAM .............................................43 49 SIGNATURE PAGE ...................................................................................................................31 1 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 Mission Statement 3 The mission of the Bitter Creek and Killpecker Creek Watershed Advisory Group (B/KWAG) is to assess 4 the condition and classification of the watersheds and water quality, with the goal of achieving regulatory 5 compliance while educating the community, in order to use a locally led process to develop a watershed 6 plan to maintain and/or improve watershed health. 7 8 Purpose 9 The purpose of this watershed plan is to improve the water quality and ultimately delist the impaired 10 segments of Killpecker and Bitter Creeks. The methods used to accomplish this include: 11 1. Maintaining and/or improving the quality of Bitter Creek and Killpecker Creek watersheds by 12 identifying possible impairments and mitigating those impairments to a realistic and achievable 13 level, through feasible Best Management Practices (BMPs) on a voluntary basis with success 14 determined by evaluating and summarizing the condition of the watersheds; 15 2. Focusing resources on addressing the current listing of the segments in Table A of the WDEQ 16 303(d) list of waterbodies with water quality impairments due to noncompliance with the current 17 fecal coliform, e coli, and chloride water quality standards and addressing whether the two 18 streams are properly classified; 19 3. Facilitating public understanding of BMPs, implement and evaluate BMPs within the 20 watersheds, and to assist in voluntary practices designed to improve watershed health by 21 providing technical and financial assistance; 22 4. Developing and implementing an effective public education and information program, focusing 23 on water quality issues specific to the watersheds while ensuring that a locally led process is 24 used to achieve regulatory compliance; 25 5. Continuing to sample water quality and other relevant parameters to monitor progress achieved 26 through implementation of this watershed plan. 27 28 The Clean Water Act 29 The Clean Water Act (CWA) was adopted by Congress for two primary purposes. That is to: 30 • restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters, 31 and; 32 • Where attainable, to achieve water quality that promotes protection and propagation of fish, 33 shellfish, and wildlife, and provides for recreation in and on the water. This goal is 34 commonly known by the expression “fishable/swimmable”. 35 The Environmental Protection Agency has responsibility to ensure that provisions of the CWA are met. 36 With regard to Wyoming, EPA has delegated authority to the Wyoming Department of Environmental 37 Quality (WDEQ) to ensure compliance with the CWA. In states without delegated authority, EPA retains 38 responsibility for CWA compliance. 39 40 Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Role 41 In order to ensure compliance with the CWA, WDEQ had to establish a system for evaluating and 42 protecting waterbodies. Since all waters are not used for the same purpose, no single set of standards could 43 be established to reasonably address water quality concerns. For this reason, WDEQ classified each 44 waterbody within the state. The classifications were based on “designated uses” designed to reflect what 45 the water is currently used for or what the water could