Huron River Watershed TMDLs APPENDIX A. HURON RIVER WATERSHED TMDL PROGRAM FACT SHEET Fact Sheet State of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Huron River Watershed April 2005 TMDL Program Where is the goals to determine which stream segment of Clayton Ditch, tributary to segments are impaired, and how much Frink Run, portions of Marsh Run, Huron River watershed? needs to be done to restore good tributary to Marsh Run and Shiloh Ditch. stream habitat and water quality. There The Huron River is located in north is an emphasis on protection of public central Ohio along the Lake Erie drinking water supplies for several Is the Huron River polluted? shoreline. The mainstem of the river is communities in the watershed. This approximately 60 miles long and drains evaluation is done as part of Ohio EPA’s Yes and no. Much of the Huron 403 square miles or 261,000 acres. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) River and its two major branches have Land use in the watershed is mostly program. good water quality and populations of agriculture, with 74 percent cropland, 15 fish and other aquatic life. percent forest and 11 percent urban or The Huron River upstream from other use. How does your lake-affected area meets the water There are three cities, Willard, stream “measure up?” quality standards, as do the West Norwalk and Huron, and 10 villages in Branch Huron River from Monroeville to the Huron watershed. The state man- the mouth and the East Branch Huron ages two wildlife areas within the Citizens in Norwalk and Monroeville River from Bronson Township to the watershed, Willard Marsh Wildlife Area get their drinking water from the East mouth. and Milan Wildlife Area. The Branch Huron River and the West Other streams that are meeting upstream segments of the river and the Branch Huron River, respectively. water quality standards include Rattle- Marsh Run subwatershed are character- All streams are designated Warm snake Creek, Village Creek, Walnut ized by dark, highly erodible “muck” Water Habitat (the water will support Creek, upper Slate Run, Frink Run, soils and vegetable crop production. The plant and animal species accustomed Megginson Creek, Seymour Creek, Megginson Creek, Slate Run and Frink to warm water), including the Cole Creek, tributaries to Cole Creek Run subwatersheds are dotted with lake-affected lower 10 miles of the river. and Norwalk Creek and Clayton Ditch. sinkholes, a geological formation that Of the 220 miles evaluated, 140 meet Some areas of the watershed do makes ground water highly susceptible the quality level of their use designation. not currently meet water quality to contamination from surface runoff. Eighty-three percent of the impaired standards. The West Branch Rattle- streams are in areas that drain less snake Creek and Norwalk Creek near than 20 square miles. Norwalk, Jacobs Creek near Willard, How did Ohio EPA collect Several streams are being West Branch Huron River near Ply- water quality data? re-evaluated for a possible change to mouth, the headwaters of Mud Brook Modified Warm Water Habitat due to and its tributaries south of Huron and persistent habitat or channel modifica- the mouth of the Huron River are Comprehensive biological, chemi- tion. They include an upstream cal, and physical data were collected by impaired by municipal sewage. Ohio EPA scientists in 1998 and 2002 Communities with combined along 220 miles of the Huron River and sanitary and storm sewer systems may its tributaries. Samples from 63 sites have untreated human and industrial were evaluated, including monitoring the waste overflowing to the river during abundance and diversity of fish and heavy rainstorms. Fuel leaks and aquatic insect communities, measuring pesticide spills have been a problem in the physical habitat of the stream and Jacobs Creek and the tributary to East adjacent land use, and analysis of water Branch Huron River near North Fairfield, samples to determine the chemical respectively. Rapid development along quality of the water and sediments. the US 250 corridor north of the Ohio The conditions of the watershed Turnpike resulted in a high number of were compared with state water quality package plants (pre-manufactured Division of Surface Water, 122 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 (614) 644-2001 www.epa.state.oh.us Huron River Watershed TMDL Program wastewater treatment facilities for small communi- ties or individual property), some seasonal and poorly maintained, discharging to the low flowing headwaters of Mud Brook. The lower 10 miles of the Huron River are impaired by excessive nutrients and siltation deposits from upstream, and are further degraded by harbor and marina development. What else degrades the Huron River? Many small streams and the headwater segments of the three main rivers (East Branch, West Branch and Mainstem of the Huron) are impaired by physical changes to the land. Stream channeli- zation, tiles and loss of floodplains and streamside vegetation have impaired portions of the East Branch Huron River, West Branch Huron River, Mud Run, Shiloh Ditch, Marsh Run and tributaries to Marsh Run and Frink Run. When streams are widened and deepened for agricultural drainage, they contribute excess soil to the stream which destroys habitat for fish and other aquatic life. Soil carried through ditches degrades the Huron Harbor and Lake Erie. When trees are removed from along the stream banks, the lack of shade allows the water temperature to in- crease, decreasing the amount of dissolved oxygen for aquatic organisms. This Map of Huron River Watershed is made worse by manure runoff and untreated sewage flowing from failing home septic systems. 2 Huron River Watershed TMDL Program Excessive nutrients or siltation from ment (leaving soybean stubble and corn enrichment are also needed in the agricultural lands also contributed to husks on the field after harvest), Huron River watershed. Estimates of impairment in many of the same planting winter cover crops, and creating the existing pollutant load of sediment streams, including the headwaters of buffer strips (small areas or strips of and nutrients (nitrate+nitrite and the two Huron River branches, Mud land in permanent vegetation) have been phosphorus) show that reductions are Run, Shiloh Ditch, Marsh Run, upper adopted to reduce soil erosion. needed throughout the watershed in Norwalk Creek and tributaries to Marsh The TMDL program identifies order to alleviate water quality impair- and Frink Run. measures to reduce pollution further. ments. (See Table 1) While the results Lack of water in the small headwa- Some actions are already occurring. in Table 1 show overall percentage ter streams, especially in the summer, Two previous state/federal grants reductions are necessary for these large makes it hard for pollutants to be provided cost share for agricultural watershed areas, the need for reduc- absorbed and treated by the natural conservation practices, home septic tions in some of the small drainage stream biology. Natural drought, along system replacements, livestock areas severely impacted by agriculture with drainage tiles and crop irrigation exclusion fencing and farm chemical is even greater. withdrawals, contribute to uneven water containment structures in targeted flow in the streams. While recognizing areas of the watershed. Programs the value and function of drainage in an funded through the U.S. Department of What additional steps agricultural watershed, it should be Agriculture have helped provide animal must be taken to reduce noted that low water makes it harder for waste storage facilities and additional pollutant loads? these small streams to support good erosion control buffer practices. aquatic communities. The City of Norwalk is required to To reduce pollutant loadings and Drought conditions in 2002 contrib- address combined sewer overflow the severity of their impact, Ohio EPA uted to impairment in Slate Run, East events by developing a long-term plan to recommends an approach that directs Branch Huron River headwaters and control combined storm water and resources to improve the overall habitat segments of West Branch Huron River. sewage overflows to the streams during and physical stability of streams The Holiday Lakes Tributary is impaired rainfall. The Huron Basin wastewater throughout the watershed. Traditional by a dam, which results in low concen- treatment plant in Erie County is best management practices and land trations of dissolved oxygen and is a working to eliminate sewage bypasses management measures such as barrier to fish movement. and reduce discharge of ammonia by riparian buffer initiatives, agricultural July 2006. conservation practices, and manure What is being done to improve management plans should be targeted How much pollution at the stream segments most vulner- the water resource? able to erosion during high-flow storm load must be reduced? events. Recommendations also include The community is taking steps better management of urban storm toward reducing pollution in the Huron Due to the large percentage of land water, sanitary waste from unsewered River basin. In the late 1980s, large in crop production in Ohio’s agricultural communities, septic systems, and municipal wastewater treatment plants watersheds, including the Huron River, agricultural drainage, and a number of modernized and water quality improved sediment and excessive nutrients are loan and grant opportunities that as a result. the most pervasive pollutants that need support conservation and water quality- Many conservation