Watershed Planning in Chestnut Creek Marshall County, KY Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge Energy and Environment Cabinet Department for Environmental Protection Kentucky Division of Water Grant number: C-9994861-09 Application title: Watershed Planning in Chestnut Creek, Marshall County, Kentucky Application number: 09-13 Memorandum of Agreement Number: #PON2 128 1300001554 1 Project period: March 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016 Submitted by: Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge P.O. Box 89 Benton, KY 42025 The Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) and Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability. The EEC and the Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge will provide, on request, reasonable accommodations including auxiliary aids and services necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in all services, programs and activities. To request materials in an alternative format, 0 contact the Kentucky Division of Water, 200 Fair Oaks Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601 or call (502) 564-3410, or contact Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge at (270) 527-5770. Funding for this project was provided in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) through the Kentucky Division of Water, Nonpoint Source Section, to Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge as authorized by the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987, §319(h) Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant # C9994861-09. Mention of trade names or commercial products, if any, does not constitute endorsement. This document was printed on recycled paper. 1 A. Acknowledgments Kentucky Division of Water, James L. Roe, Nonpoint Source and Basin Team Section Supervisor; Murray State University, Dr. Mike Kemp, Professor of Engineering, Jane Benson, Watershed Studies Institute; Jackson Purchase Foundation, Maggie Morgan, Basin Coordinator; Third Rock Consultants, Steve Evans, Environmental Scientist; Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, Michael Johnson, Manager, Scott Simmons, Assistant Manager, Judith Miller, Office Assistant, Stacey Hayden, Environmental Specialist; United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Andy Radomski, Private Lands Biologist; United States Department of Agriculture, Dianna Angle, Natural Resource Planner; Marshall County Conservation District, Vicki Boatright, Office Administrator; Marshall County Health Department, Michael Carlson, Environmentalist; Marshall County Sanitation District, Allen Artis, Manager; Aaron Lane, Chestnut Creek Watershed Coordinator; Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, Ray Stainfield, President, Hap Chambers, Natural Science Manager 2 B. Table of Contents Title Page ................................................................ Cover Acknowledgments.................................................. page 2 Table of Contents ................................................... page 3 List of Tables & Figures ........................................ page 4 Executive Summary ............................................... page 5 Introduction & Background ................................... page 5 Materials & Methods ............................................. page 7 Results & Discussion ........................................... page 18 Conclusions .......................................................... page 31 Literature Cited .................................................... page 34 Appendix A: Financial and Administrative Closeout Appendix B: QAPP-Quality Assurance Project Plan Appendix C: Chestnut Creek Watershed Based Plan Appendix D: Chestnut Creek Visual Stream Assessments Appendix E: Habitat and Macroinvertebrate Assessment Report Appendix F: Chestnut Creek Data Quality Review Appendix G: Chestnut Creek Water Quality Report Appendix H: MST (Microbial Source Tracking) Results of Chestnut Creek Samples Appendix I: Chestnut Creek Watershed Plan Benchmark Recommendations from Kentucky Division of Water Appendix J: Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge BIOTA List (Appendix J from Comprehensive Conservation Plan Report) Appendix K: Chestnut Creek Watershed Project Education and Outreach Materials 3 List of Tables Table 1: 2000 MSU 319(H) SAMPLING – CHESTNUT CREEK AT OAK VALLEY RD ........................ p. 9 Table 2: Sampling Locations for Chestnut Creek Watershed ............................................... ..p. 13 Table 3: Parameters Sampled During Environmental Monitoring of Chestnut Creek ............................................................................................ pgs. 14 & 15 List of Figures Figure 1: Location of Chestnut Creek Watershed in Marshall County, KY ............................. p. 8 Figure 2: Chestnut Creek Monitoring Locations ................................................................... p. 11 Figure 3: Severe Erosion Sites Within the Chestnut Creek Watershed .................................... p. 25 Figure 4: Chestnut Creek Water Quality Health Grades ........................................................ p.26 Figure 5: Chestnut Creek Human Recreation Health Grades ............................................... p. 27 Figure 6: Chestnut Creek Goals Identified Through the Watershed Plan ............................. p. 30 4 C. Executive Summary In the 2010 Integrated Report to Congress on the Condition of Water Resources in Kentucky (Kentucky Division of Water 2010), Chestnut Creek was categorized as an impaired stream for partial support of both the aquatic life and primary contact recreation uses. Out of a shared sense of responsibility for Chestnut Creek and Clarks River, the Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge agreed to lead a partnership of several agencies, groups, individuals, Murray State University (MSU), and the Kentucky Division of Water (KDOW) for this project and serve as fiscal agent. The primary goals of the Watershed Planning in Chestnut Creek Project are to identify water quality issues in this tributary to the Clarks River and to identify strategies to address these issues through the creation of a watershed team and a watershed based plan (WBP). The watershed based plan was written by Third Rock Consultants, who worked to identify sources of pollution. Third Rock partnered with Murray State University to analyze and interpret all data collected. The next phase of work for Chestnut Creek will focus on development of a best management practice (BMP) implementation plan based on information that was identified by Third Rock in the Chestnut Creek Watershed Based Plan (Appendix C), and then working with landowners in the watershed to implement the solutions identified in the watershed based plan and BMP implementation plan. D. Introduction & Background Introduction When a watershed based plan for the Clarks River was written in 2009 by Strand Associates, it identified Chestnut Creek as an area of concern for best management practice implementation. Chestnut Creek was categorized as an impaired stream for partial support of both the aquatic and primary contact recreation uses in the 2010 Integrated Report to Congress on the Condition of Water Resources in Kentucky (KDOW 2010). Suspected sources of these impairments were not defined. Murray State University collected limited data in 2005 as part of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) study, indicating that bacteria are an issue of concern in Chestnut Creek, with Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations exceeding the water quality (WQ) standard 80% of the time at the most downstream site. Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge biologists noted large amounts of sediments deposited into Clarks River directly from Chestnut Creek. The increasing concern about water quality in Chestnut Creek is compounded because of its direct flow into the Clarks River on the Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was established in July of 1997 to protect the bottomland hardwood forest, an endangered wetland habitat type, bordering the Clarks River. The refuge is composed of approximately 9,500 acres surrounding the Clarks River, and land is still being purchased within its acquisition boundary. The refuge is a seasonal home for over 200 species of migratory birds and encompasses 6% of the remaining wetlands in the state of Kentucky. Clarks River is one of the only rivers in the area that has not been dammed or channelized and provides habitat for several mussel species. 5 While conducting habitat assessments of the Clarks River, refuge biologists have noted large amounts of sediments deposited in the river from Chestnut Creek. Additional data collection efforts in the Chestnut Creek Watershed have aided refuge staff in better managing the unique habitat and the abundant wildlife found within refuge land. The Clarks River Watershed Based Plan identified the Chestnut Creek Watershed as a critical area where BMP installation should focus, though additional data collection was needed to more accurately define the threats to water quality and the best approach to BMP installation. These data collection efforts began under the 2007 Clarks River WBP-BMP Implementation Project (Grant No. C999-4861-07), following the monitoring scheme identified in the Watershed Planning Guidebook for Kentucky Communities (Kentucky Waterways Alliance and KDOW 2010). Funds for this project were used for additional data collection efforts and analysis and interpretation of the data, including a comparison of parameter concentrations