Upper Portion of the Lower Smoky Hill River Watershed
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Upper Portion of the Lower Smoky Hill River Watershed Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy Final Draft Plan December 2011 Funding for the development of this plan was provided through an EPA 319 grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. K-State Research and Extension Project Staff Dan Devlin, State Watershed Extension Specialist, KCARE Director Susan Brown, Kansas Center for Agricultural Resources and the Environment Ron Graber, Watershed Specialist, Lower Arkansas River Watershed Tom Maxwell, District Extension Agent, Central Kansas District Carl Garten, District Extension Director, Central Kansas District Dale Ladd, McPherson County Extension Agent Josh Roe, K-State Agricultural Economics Robert Wilson, K-State Agricultural Economics Amanda Schielke, Technical Writer, KCARE Stakeholder Leadership Team: Watershed Representatives Roger Anderson, Landowner/Producer Clifford Elvin, Landowner/ Producer Lawrence Spohn, Landowner/ Producer Larry Dahlsten, Landowner/ Producer Brad Shogren, Landowner/Producer, SCC Area III Commissioner Karl Esping, Landowner/ Producer, Basin Advisory Committee Chuck Olsen, Landowner/ Producer Connie Cox-Dorf, Landowner/ Producer Tom Toll, Landowner/ Producer Chris Hoffman, Landowner/ Producer Terry Hopp, Landowner/ Producer Josh Lloyd, Landowner/Farmer, No-Till on the Plains Martha Tasker, Director of Utilities, City of Salina, Basin Advisory Committee Project Management Team Doug Blex, Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams Wayne E. Nelson, P.E., City of Salina Bronson Farmer, Saline County Health Department Ken Bowell, Saline County NRCS Megan Whitehair, Saline County Conservation District Mark Schwartz, Buffer Coordinator, McPherson County Andrew Paull, NRCS Technician, Saline County Steve Johnson, McPherson County Health Department Baron Shively, McPherson County NRCS Brenda Peters, McPherson County Conservation District Rick Schlender, Program Assistant, McPherson County Jennifer Nichols, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Kansas Department of Health and Environment Project Officer Matt Unruh, Watershed Management Section Additional Technical Assistance Provided by: Debra Baker, Kansas Water Office Rich Basore, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Luke Cory, US Army Corps of Engineers Leonard Bristow, P.E., Kansas Division of Water Resources WRAPS Team ● Page 2 Table of Contents 1.0 Preface ................................................................................................................................ 7 2.0 Development of the Stakeholder Leadership Team .................................................... 9 3.0 Watershed Goals ............................................................................................................. 10 4.0 Watershed Review .......................................................................................................... 11 4.1 Description............................................................................................................. 13 4.2 Public Water Supply and NPDES ...................................................................... 14 4.3 Water Resources and Uses ................................................................................ 17 4.4 Land Cover/Uses .................................................................................................. 21 4.5 Special Aquatic Life Use Waters ....................................................................... 25 5.0 Overview of Water Quality ............................................................................................. 26 5.1 303d Listings in Watershed .................................................................................... 26 5.2 TMDLs in the Watershed ........................................................................................ 27 5.3 Impairments Assigned to the Lower Smoky Watershed .................................... 30 5.4 TMDL Load Allocations ........................................................................................... 34 6.0 Critical Targeted Areas ................................................................................................... 38 6.1 Targeting Streambanks ....................................................................................... 38 6.2 Targeting Cropland for Sediment and Nutrients .............................................. 48 6.3 Targeting Livestock Areas .................................................................................. 49 6.3.1 Targeting Livestock for Nutrients ....................................................................... 49 6.3.2 Targeting Livestock Areas for Bacteria ............................................................. 50 6.4 Load Reduction Methodology ............................................................................ 52 6.4.1 Cropland ................................................................................................................ 52 6.4.2 Livestock ............................................................................................................... 52 7.0 Impairments Addressed by the SLT ............................................................................. 53 7.1 Sediment from Streambank and Cropland Erosion ........................................ 53 7.1.1 Streambank Erosion ............................................................................................ 54 7.1.1.A Riparian Quality .................................................................................................. 54 7.1.1.B Rainfall and Runoff ............................................................................................ 55 7.1.1.C Sediment Goal and BMPs for Streambanks .................................................. 55 7.1.2 Cropland Erosion .................................................................................................. 57 7.1.3 Sediment Pollutant Loads and Load Reductions ............................................ 58 7.1.4 Sediment Goal and BMPs for Cropland ........................................................... 59 7.2 Nutrients from Cropland and Livestock Areas ................................................. 63 7.2.1 Nutrient Pollutant Loads and Load Reductions ............................................... 64 7.2.2 Nutrient Goal and BMPs ..................................................................................... 64 7.2.2.A. Cropland BMPs to be Implemented for Nutrients: ........................................ 64 7.2.2.B Livestock BMPs to be Implemented for Nutrients: ........................................ 66 7.3 Bacteria from Livestock ....................................................................................... 71 7.3.1 Manure Runoff from Fields and Livestock Operations ................................... 71 7.3.2 Land Use and Manure Transport ....................................................................... 72 7.3.3 Rainfall and Runoff .............................................................................................. 72 7.3.4 Pollutant Load and Load Reductions ................................................................ 72 8.0 Information and Education in Support of BMPs ........................................................... 74 9.0 Costs of Implementing BMPs and Possible Funding Sources ................................... 80 10.0 Timeframe ......................................................................................................................... 89 11.0 Measurable Milestones ................................................................................................... 90 11.1 Adoption Rates ..................................................................................................... 90 11.2 Water Quality Milestones to Determine Improvements .................................. 93 12.0 Monitoring Water Quality Progress ............................................................................. 101 13.0 Review of the Watershed Plan in 2015 ...................................................................... 103 14.0 Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 104 14.1 Service Providers ............................................................................................... 104 14.2 BMP Definitions .................................................................................................. 111 14.3 Appendix Tables ................................................................................................. 113 14.3.1 Cropland BMP Tables ....................................................................................... 113 14.3.2 Livestock BMP Tables ...................................................................................... 123 15.0 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 129 List of Figures Figure 1. Map of Watershed ...................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2. Overview of Project Area ........................................................................................ 13 Figure 3. Population Distribution Map .................................................................................... 14 Figure 4. Rural Water Districts in the Project Area .............................................................. 16 Figure 5. Relief Map ................................................................................................................