Tangipahoa River Watershed Is One of the Largest Watersheds in the Pontchartrain Basin
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FINAL REPORT Targeted Watershed Grant # WS-96618701-0 Tangipahoa/Natalbany Watersheds Submitted: July 26, 2010 1 2 Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation FINAL REPORT Targeted Watershed Grant # WS-96618701-0 Tangipahoa/Natalbany Watersheds I) Introduction The Tangipahoa and Natalbany Watersheds: Tangipahoa Parish in southeast Louisianan is comprised of two watersheds, the larger Tangipahoa watershed to the east and the smaller Natalbany watershed (a tributary of the Tickfaw watershed) to the west. The Tangipahoa River Watershed is one of the largest watersheds in the Pontchartrain Basin. The Tangipahoa River is 98.1 kilometers long and its 2,010 km2 watershed covers most of Tangipahoa Parish. The Natalbany River (80.7 km long, watershed is 367.4 km2) is the largest tributary of the Tickfaw River, adjoining the Tangipahoa watershed to the west (Figure 1). Upper reaches of the watershed are characterized by upland forests and agricultural/ grass lands and the lower reaches include wetlands such as bottomland-hardwood forests, swamps, and fresh to brackish water marshes (Figure 2). The Parish’s more developed/urban areas are located in the southern portion of the watersheds (Figure 2). The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has designated the middle and upper reaches of the Tangipahoa River (north of Interstate 12) as a scenic river through the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers system (as per the “Louisiana Scenic Rivers Act” Acts 1988, No. 947, §1) meaning that the waterway is unique, of ecological significance, and should be preserved for the future. The mean annual discharge of the Tangipahoa River is 1.2 ± 0.07 km3, ranging from 0.4 km3 to 1.9 km3 and the mean monthly discharge is 0.09 ± 0.005 km3, ranging from 0.05 km3 to 0.16 km3. The monthly discharge is highest in the months January through April, corresponding with the wet season for the area. Lowest discharges are found in the months August through November, corresponding with the dry season. The high flow periods discharge about three times more than low flow periods. The Natalbany River is the major tributary of the Tickfaw River, the watershed to the west of the Tangipahoa and drains the southwestern portion of the parish. Based on 63 years of USGS stream gauge records at Baptist, LA, the median flow of the Natalbany River is 1.2 m3/sec or 0.04 km3 annually (USGS, 2007). However, this flow is prior to the inflow of its two largest tributaries, the Yellow Water River and Ponchatoula Creek. 3 Figure 1. Tangipahoa Watershed in Pontchartrain Basin Northern Tangipahoa River Legend Municipal Boundries Natalbany Watershed Kentwood Tangipahoa Watershed 0361.5 Miles Tangipahoa ± Franklinton Big Creek Roseland Amite City Location of Watersheds in the Pontchartrain Basin Chappepeella Creek Montpelier IndependenceIndependence Folsom Natalbany River Tickfaw Natalbany Y Y ello ell o w w W W Hammond Albany llaa a at uu t ttoo e e aa r r hh kk R cc ee R oonn rree Southern Tangipahoa ive ive PP CC River r r Ponchatoula Springfield Madisonville Killian Lake Pontchartrain 4 Figure 2. Land Use in Tangipahoa Parish (Red Indicates Urban) 5 Historically, there was high recreational activity on the Tangipahoa River, including swimming, fishing, boating, and tubing (Figure 3). Water quality on the river became a high-profile issue in 1988 when a group of Girl Scouts became ill while swimming. The Tangipahoa River was included in the Impaired Waterbodies (303d) List until 2008 due to high fecal coliform levels in the section of river extending from Interstate 12 to the state line (the portion denoted as a scenic stream). The Natalbany River and its two major tributaries, Yellow Water River and Ponchatoula Creek, are still listed as impaired for fecal coliform. Figure 3. Tubing in Tangipahoa River circa 1981 The fecal pollution derives from three sources: dairy farms and municipal and individual wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Eight of the nine municipal WWTPs discharge into the Tangipahoa River north of I-12. Outside of the municipalities, businesses treat their sewage with individual WWTPs, subdivisions/ trailer parks treat sewage with small package plants, and houses/trailers have individual septic systems with discharges running to ditches and eventually to the river. The majority of the small, individual WWTPs do not function properly releasing fecal bacteria into the environment usually due to lack of knowledge of the owner/operator. In addition, there are approximately 200 dairy farms in the parish, the greatest concentration in Louisiana. Of those dairies, 74 have participated in programs to construct and cleanout waste lagoons. Tangipahoa Parish is situated between two of the fastest growing parishes in the state, St. Tammany and Livingston Parishes, experiencing sprawl from New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. While Tangipahoa is a mostly rural parish with dairy, strawberry farming, and timber as its economic staples, it is beginning to feel the impacts of sprawl (particularly in the wake of the 2005 hurricane season), with development spreading from municipalities including Hammond, Ponchatoula, and Amite. According to the 2000 census, Tangipahoa Parish’s population grew over 17% in the 1990’s (US Census, www.censusscope.org) and greater than 16% since 2000 (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22105.html). 6 LPBF Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program LPBF began the Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program in January 2002. The Sub-Basin Program targets sub-watersheds of the Pontchartrain Basin to identify and correct sources of fecal pollution. Activities of the program include coordination of all agencies with water quality responsibility, intensive water quality monitoring, inspection of and assistance to WWTPs, data analysis using statistical methods and GIS, and broad-based education/outreach, all covered under an EPA Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). This program was piloted on the neighboring Bogue Falaya/Tchefuncte Watershed and achieved in-stream improvements on eight tributaries in three years. In another program to address fecal pollution issues within the Pontchartrain Basin, LPBF initiated a dairy lagoon construction program in 1992 in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s Office of Soil and Water Conservation, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), and the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center’s Extension Service (LSU Ag). From 1992-1994, LPBF cost-shared in the construction of 67 dairy lagoons in Tangipahoa Parish through this program. In 2001, working with the NRCS and LSU Ag, LPBF developed a program to assist dairy operators with the maintenance of their waste lagoons. In a cost-share program, dairy operators have the accumulated sludge in their waste lagoons extracted and applied to their land as fertilizer, under a nutrient management plan. Data obtained by the LPBF Basin-Wide Water Quality Monitoring Program, rapid development, and increased recreational interest in the Tangipahoa River prompted the LPBF to perform its “Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program” on the Tangipahoa/Natalbany watersheds 2005 (Q-Track # 05-130). In 2005 LPBF received the Targeted Watershed grant and combined the sub-basin program with an existing dairy assistance program to address both of the major sources of pollution in the watershed. 7 8 II) PROJECT DESCRIPTION LPBF implemented its Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program on the Tangipahoa and Natalbany River and their tributaries. The project goal was the achievement of a 25% reduction in fecal coliform and E.coli counts in the waterways with high fecal coliform counts. LPBF was to show in-stream improvements by integrating all aspects of the project, including assistance, technical training, and innovative technology for WWTP owners/ operators (including individual systems and municipalities) and dairy operators and extensive public education. Activities were to be coordinated through the collaborative effort of the Tangipahoa River Task Force (TRTF), a multi-agency coalition devoted to water quality improvements on the river. Work Element 1) WWTP Assistance Goal: LPBF was to assist WWTP owners/operators within the Tangipahoa and Natalbany watersheds to reduce the levels of enteric pathogens (as indicated by fecal coliform and E.coli counts) by 25%. Task 1) Assistance to Small WWTPs: LPBF, in partnership with the LDEQ’s Small Business Assistance Program, offered education, technical assistance, and assistance with permits to the owner/operators of WWTPs in the target watershed. When the LPBF visited a facility, the WWTP was inspected for functionality and the paperwork and permitting of the plant reviewed. LPBF offered technically-sound, economical, and innovative ways for the WWTP to come into compliance. The LPBF, in partnership with LDEQ and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (LDHH), also provided technical training sessions for WWTP plant operators to assist with their continuing education. Task 2) Assistance to Municipalities: The LPBF assisted municipalities with the operations of WWTPs and inspection of collection systems. LPBF worked with the five municipalities that directly discharge into the river to optimize treatment through technical assistance, modification to plants, and installation of flow-proportional disinfection as a means to reduce fecal loading. This was the first large-scale application of