Protection of Potable Water Supplies in Tennessee Watersheds
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PROTECTION OF POTABLE WATER SUPPLIES IN TENNESSEE WATERSHEDS Prepared by: 2017 Report Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Division of Water Resources William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower 312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 Page left intentionally blank. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INITIALS AND ACRONYMS ___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 2.0 INTRODUCTION _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 3.0 TENNESSEE WATERSHEDS __________________________________________________________________________________ 12 3.1 Definition _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12 3.2 The Watershed Approach _______________________________________________________________________________ 13 3.3 Watershed Planning _____________________________________________________________________________________ 13 4.0 POINT AND NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION CHALLENGES TO WATERSHED PROTECTION _______ 16 4.1 Point Sources of Pollution ______________________________________________________________________________ 16 4.1.A Issue of Concern __________________________________________________________________________________ 17 4.1.B Restoration Programs and Tools __________________________________________________________________ 22 4.2 Nonpoint Sources of Pollution _____________________________________________________________________________ 24 5.0 DRINKING WATER _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 5.1 Drinking Water Supply _______________________________________________________________________________________ 26 5.2 Threats to Water Sources ___________________________________________________________________________________ 27 5.2.A Drought Impact ___________________________________________________________________________________ 28 5.2.B Emerging Problems _______________________________________________________________________________ 28 5.3 Other Issues ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 5.3.A Karst _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 5.3.B Mercury in Bridges ________________________________________________________________________________ 32 6.0 WATER QUALITY _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 33 6.1 Surface Waters ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 33 6.2 Ground Water _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 38 6.3 Source Water Assessment __________________________________________________________________________________ 38 7.0 CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT _________________________________________________________________________________________ 39 8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS____________________________________________________________________________________________ 41 APPENDIX A – WATER SYSTEMS & THEIR SOURCES ________________________________________________________________ 1 APPENDIX B – WATER SYSTEMS & THEIR THREATS _________________________________________________________________ 1 APPENDIX C – SOURCE WATER PROTECTION AREAS _______________________________________________________________ 1 1.0 INITIALS AND ACRONYMS ARCF Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund BMP Best Management Practice CAFO Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation CPCRI Clinch-Powell Clean Rivers Initiative CTA Conservation Technology Assistance CWSRF Clean Water State Revolving Fund DOI Department of Interior DWSRF Drinking Water State Revolving Fund EIS Environmental Impact Statement EPA Environmental Protection Agency ERIC Eastern Region Initiative on the Clinch ETSU East Tennessee State University FSA Farm Services Agency GIS Geographic Information System HAB Hazardous Algal Bloom HDSS High Definition Stream Survey HUC Hydrologic Unit Code LID Low Impact Development LUM Lands Unsuitable for Mining MS4 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System NPS NonPoint Source NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service OSMRE Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement PED Petition Evaluation Document QLP Qualifying Local Program RRAT Runoff Reduction Assessment Tool SDWA Safe Drinking Water Act SOC Synthetic Organic Compound SRF State Revolving Fund SWAP Source Water Assessment Plan TDA Tennessee Department of Agriculture TDEC Division of Water Resources 2017 Legislative Report Page 1 of 41 Initials & Acronyms (continued) TDEC Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load TNC The Nature Conservancy TOC Total Organic Carbon. TSMP Tennessee Stream Mitigation Program. TVA Tennessee Valley Authority. TWRA Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. UD Utility District. USGS United States Geological Survey. USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service. UT University of Tennessee. WRTAC Water Resources Technical Advisory Committee. WTRBA West Tennessee River Basin Authority. TDEC Division of Water Resources 2017 Legislative Report Page 2 of 41 2.0 INTRODUCTION The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) prepared this report to fulfill the requirements of Tennessee Water Quality Control Act, T.C.A. 69-3-107(24) as amended in 2006: 69-3-107. Duties and authority of the commissioner. In addition to any power, duty, or responsibility given to the commissioner under this part, the commissioner has the power, duty, and responsibility to: (24) “Perform a thorough and ongoing study of, and prepare recommendations regarding options for, the protection of watersheds and the control of sources of pollution in order to assure the future quality of potable drinking water supplies throughout the state. The department is authorized to use information and studies from state, federal and local governments and other sources of reliable scientific data. Initial findings and recommendations shall be presented to the governor and the general assembly no later than February 1, 2007, and annually thereafter.” This report presents a summary of some of the activities within the Division of Water Resources that TDEC uses in protecting water quality. As this report illustrates, TDEC: 1) has posted Watershed Water Quality Management Plans (watershed inventory reports) on the TDEC website, 2) reports on the status of water quality biennially, and 3) updates its water quality standards triennially. The documents associated with these three activities describe the condition of Tennessee's 55 watersheds and establish the criteria used to assess water quality in the state. In addition, TDEC requires public water systems to update source water protection/wellhead protection plans annually and submit updated reports/plans triennially. TDEC Division of Water Resources 2017 Legislative Report Page 3 of 41 This report is a summary of these documents as well as TDEC's ongoing programs to protect watersheds and control sources of pollution and—through a series of maps— illustrates the threats to drinking water supplies. Finally, as required by the 2006 amendment, several recommendations are presented for further protection of potable water supplies. A more thorough description of the items contained in the report is found on the department’s web site. Division of Water Resources Page: http://tn.gov/environment/section/wr-water-resources Division of Water Resources, Watershed Stewardship Page: http://tn.gov/environment/topic/wr-ws-watershed-stewardship Division of Water Resources, Watershed Management Approach Page: http://tn.gov/environment/article/wr-ws-watershed-management-approach Division of Water Resources, Water Quality Page: http://tn.gov/environment/topic/wr-wq-water-quality Division of Water Resources, Drinking Water Program Page: http://tn.gov/environment/topic/wr-wq-dw-drinking-water Division of Water Resources, Source Water Assessment Page: http://tn.gov/environment/article/wr-wq-source-water-assessment TDEC Division of Water Resources 2017 Legislative Report Page 4 of 41 Activities related to watershed protection since the last Watershed Protection Report (2016) include: TDEC awarded approximately $92.4 million dollars in Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loans to communities across Tennessee. (FY16) TDEC awarded approximately $28.6 million dollars in Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loans to communities across Tennessee. (FY16) In August of 2016, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the West Tennessee River Basin Authority began partnership in a nearly $5.7 million investment in two targeted conservation projects in West Tennessee. The first agreement signed is a USDA NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)-Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) agreement and will establish a partnership framework for cooperation between NRCS and WTRBA on activities that will focus approximately $1.9 million on 9 impaired or degraded watersheds in Hardin, Hardeman, Chester, and McNairy counties. The second partnership agreement—a Wetland Reserve Enhancement Program agreement, which is a component of the USDA NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program-Wetlands Reserve Easement (ACEP-WRE)—will establish a mechanism for cooperation between NRCS and WTRBA to address priority wetland protection, restoration, and enhancement in the North and Middle Fork Forked Deer