Little Traverse Bay Watershed Protection Plan March 31, 2004 Updated December 31, 2005 MDEQ/ EPA Approved June 26, 2007 Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council 426 Bay Street Petoskey, MI 49770 Table of Contents List of Partners Executive Summary ... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 1 Chapter One: Getting to Know the Little Traverse Bay Watershed ..... ............ ............ ............ 3 1. Introduction... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 3 A. What is a Watershed Management Plan?.. ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 4 B. Geologic History and Geographic Description.........……..... ............ ............ ............ ............ 9 C. Water Quality Monitoring in the Watershed ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 11 D. Interesting Features Around the Bay.......... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 14 E. Fish of Little Traverse Bay ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 15 F. Waves, and Seiches, and Ice........ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 15 2. Designated Uses and Water Quality Summary ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 16 A. Watershed Concerns........ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 16 B. Known and Suspected Pollutants in the Little Traverse Bay Watershed ....... ............ ............ 18 C. Sources of Pollutants in the Little Traverse Bay Watershed ............ ............ ............ ............ 19 D. Pollutant Sources and Causes for the Little Traverse Bay Watershed .......... ............ ............ 21 E. Watershed Goals. ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 23 F. Water Quality Summary ... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 24 3. Defining the Priority Area........ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 26 Chapter Two: Review of Nonpoint Source Pollution Inventories ........ ............ ............ ............ 31 1. Stormwater Inventory ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 31 2. Walloon Lake Shoreline Inventory....... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 41 3. Little Traverse Bay Shoreline Inventory............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 49 4. Road/Stream Crossing Inventory ....... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 53 5. Rivers and Tributaries Erosion Inventory ......... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 55 6. Agricultural Inventory. ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 62 7. Priority (High Value) Parcels Water Resource Protection Inventory....... ............ ............ ............ 64 8. Forestry Inventory...... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 66 9. Zoning Assessment... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 67 Chapter Three: Priority Pollutants and Best Management Practices .. ............ ............ ............ 83 1. Priority Pollutants and their Sources and Causes…………………………….……………………..…83 2. Proposed Best Management Practices (BMPs)………………………………………………………..86 Chapter Four: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Project—Goals, Objectives, and Recommended Actions .......... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 90 1. Goals and Objectives ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 90 2. Recommended Actions to Protect the Little Traverse Bay Watershed... ............ ............ ............ 92 A. Stormwater Recommendations ...... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 92 B. Shoreline Protection, Restoration, and Management Recommendations....... ............ ............ 94 C. Zoning and Land Use Recommendations ... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 98 D. Road/Stream Crossing Recommendations . ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 101 E. Agriculture Recommendations........ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 102 F. Land Protection Recommendations ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 104 G. Forestry and Mining Recommendations...... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 105 H. General Information and Education Recommendations........ ............ ............ ............ ............ 106 I. Water Quality Monitoring Recommendations........... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 107 J. Hydrology Recommendations ........ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 109 K. Evaluation ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 110 3. Information and Education Strategy.... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 111 4. Evaluation Strategy ... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 116 5. Monitoring Plan……………………………………………………………………………………………..118 6. Conclusion.... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ .123 Appendices ..... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 125 Appendix A: Estimating Stormwater Pollutant Export ....... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 127 Appendix B: Specific Stormwater Management Recommendations........... ............ ............ ............ 129 Appendix C: Road/Stream Crossing Severity Ranking Index ....... ............ ............ ............ ............ 131 Appendix D: Priority Parcel Scoring System ........ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 133 Appendix E: Inventory of Potential Wetland Conversion Sites....... ............ ............ ............ ............ 135 Appendix F: Estimating Pollutant Load Reductions……………………………………………………….137 Appendix G: EPA Nine Required Elements………………………………………………………………. 139 Appendix H: Summary of Recommendations…………………………………………………………..... 144 Glossary .......... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 165 References ...... ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 171 List of Tables TABLE 1: Little Traverse Bay 2001 Comprehensive Water Quality Monitoring Results TABLE 2: Walloon Lake 2001 Comprehensive Water Quality Monitoring Results TABLE 3: Little Traverse Bay Concerns and Threats to Designated Uses TABLE 4: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Known and Suspected Pollutants TABLE 5: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Pollutant Sources TABLE 6: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Pollutant Sources and Causes TABLE 7: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Goals to Address Designated Uses TABLE 8: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Storm Sewer Survey Summary TABLE 9: Walloon Lake Cladophora Survey Summary TABLE 10: Walloon Lake Erosion Survey Summary TABLE 11: Resort Township Greenbelt Survey Summary TABLE 12: Summary of Little Traverse Bay Watershed Survey Results TABLE 13: Severity Ranking of Road/Stream Crossings in the Little Traverse Bay Watershed TABLE 14: Pollutant Load Reductions for Severe Road/Stream Crossings TABLE 15: Bear River Erosion Severity Ranking TABLE 16: Bear River Streambank Pollutant Load Reductions TABLE 17: Severity Ranking and Potential Pollutants for Agricultural Sites in the Little Traverse Bay Watershed TABLE 18: Pollutant Load Reduction Estimates for Agricultural Lands TABLE 19: Recommended Agricultural GAAMPS and Frequency of Recommendation TABLE 20: Priority Lands for Protection TABLE 21: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Land Cover Data (1992 USGS) TABLE 22: Zoning Provisions Affecting Water Quality - Charlevoix and Emmet Counties TABLE 23: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Priority Pollutants TABLE 24: Pollutant Priorities for Threatened and Degraded Designated Use TABLE 25: Priority Pollutants and Sources in the Little Traverse Bay Watershed TABLE 26: Pollutant Removal Efficiencies of Stormwater BMPs TABLE 27: General Guidelines for Locating Structural BMPs TABLE 28: Little Traverse Bay Watershed Project Goals and Objectives TABLE 29: Information and Education Strategy Target