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2005 Project Summaries
2005 Project Summaries (PDF) (4 pp, 46K)
Presumpscot River/Casco Bay, Maine (PDF) (2 pp, 599K)
Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition
and the Casco Bay Estuary Project
The Presumpscot River's 205 square mile watershed includes 12 municipalities along with the greater Portland metropolitan area and its rapidly growing suburbs. The proposed projects will build upon recent progress made to restore the river by implementing an array of integrated projects including: stabilization of banks and culverting of streams at 62 sites determined to be critical sediment source areas; reestablishment of forested buffers through a partnership that employs high school students to plant 3,000 trees along river banks; a program to cost share with agricultural landowners who establish streamside fencing and alternative watering systems; a program to certify six golf courses as environmentally friendly; and a yardscaping outreach program to educate homeowners. The project will monitor bacteria, nutrient, and toxic contaminant loads.
Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey (PDF) (2 pp, 648K)
Lake Hopatcong Commission
Situated in the heart of the Highlands Region, Lake Hopatcong is one of New Jersey's premier recreational resources. Covering over 2,600 acres with 38 miles of shoreline, the lake is the State's largest inland waterbody. The Lake Hoptacong Commission will build upon previously funded 319(h) stormwater activities to implement an approved phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL. The proposed projects will address stormwater contributions through the installation of a series of retrofits and best management practices, implement measures that utilize iron oxide to inactivate phosphorus, and demonstrate an alternative wastewater treatment system. The project will focus on quantifying the phosphorus removal efficiency of each restoration measure.
Cheat River, West Virginia (PDF) (2 pp, 652K)
Friends of the Cheat
The Watershed Based Plan recently completed by Friends of the Cheat (FOC) provides the basis to optimize resources in restoration of the Muddy Creek watershed, the largest contributor of acid mine drainage (AMD) to the lower Cheat River. Ongoing assessment and mapping work by FOC, and West Virginia University will be integrated to strategically identify locations for application of a combination of both active and passive AMD treatment technologies. The efficacy (cost and ecological benefit) of the treatment approaches will be evaluated to provide a framework to guide further restoration activity in the Cheat River watershed. Project outcomes include removing six stream segments from the State's list of impaired waters, enhancing ongoing environmental educational activities in the community and restoration of a cold water fishery.
Little River, Tennessee (PDF) (2 pp, 516K)
Blount County Soil Conservation District
Located in the southeastern part of the state, the Little River supports several state and federally protected species, is heavily used for recreational purposes, and provides drinking water to local communities. Funds will be used to address nonpoint source pollution from agricultural and residential areas and assist low-income households repair failing septic systems. Blount County SCD has taken a proactive approach to environmental stewardship using local agricultural producers as educators and encouragers to surrounding agricultural stakeholders. This approach has resulted in a 193% increase in cost-share allowances over recent years. Ambitious goals are to: meet bacteriological standards at all channel sites, reduce geometric mean bacteria concentrations by an average of 30% in priority tributaries, remove at least one tributary from the State's list of impaired waters, and reduce total suspended solid concentrations and turbity levels by an average of 25% in priority tributaries.
Vermillion River, Minnesota (PDF) (2 pp, 562K)
Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization
The VRWJPO proposes to protect water quality in a high quality stream in an urbanizing setting. This 372 square mile watershed is the largest in the Twin Cities region and contains 45.5 miles of designated trout stream. It is both rural and suburban and experiences the typical problems posed by growth and development. Two surrounding counties, Scott and Dakota, are among the nation's fastest growing counties. In the 1990s, the population within the watershed grew 40%. Targeted Watershed Grant funds will be used to establish a framework that balances regulatory controls and trading system to promote land use and runoff management practices to prevent instream flow and thermal loading, and protect this nationally recognized trout stream.
Huff Run, Ohio (PDF) (2 pp, 698K)
Rural Action, Inc.
This relatively small, 14.7 square mile watershed, is situated in central eastern Ohio. Extensive pre-law coal mining has severely damaged the watershed and subsequently degraded the water quality and aquatic wildlife habitat. The Huff Run Watershed Restoration Partnership proposes to focus on one particular site. The Belden site is one of the two most contaminated sites in Reach Four and has the third largest net acid load in Huff Run. The site is in an upstream location and would positively impact water quality in downstream reaches. Restoration plans include surface reclamation and treatment using passive treatment technologies used to remove metals and increase alkalinity. Targeted Watershed Grant funds will be used to build vertical flow wetlands. This technology uses a series of wetland treatment ponds that have been shown to be effective in removing substantial amounts of aluminum and iron from highly acid waters.
Tangipahoa River, Louisiana (PDF) (2 pp, 593K)
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
Located north of New Orleans, the Tangipahoa River is 61 miles long and cover a 520 square mile watershed. Water quality on the river is impaired due to the presence of pathogens. The bacterial pollution comes from dairy farms, and municipal and individual wastewater treatment plants. This project proposes to reduce fecal coliform/E. Coli counts by 20% within 3 years. To do this, LPBF and its partners will provide technical assistance and education to dairy farmers. It will offer education, technical assistance as well as permit assistance to owners/operators of rural wastewater treatment plants who are unable or unknowingly fail to properly treat raw sewage before it enters the stream. The Foundation will also assist municipalities with the operations and inspection of collection systems. It will work with plant operators to install flow-proportional disinfection as a means to reduce bacterial loading.
Tuttle Creek Lake, Nebraska and Kansas (PDF) (2 pp, 537K)
Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality
Tuttle Creek Lake was originally built in 1962 by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, irrigation, water supply, recreation, fish and wildlife management, and flow augmentation. The watershed covers 9,628 square miles with three-fourths of the drainage area in Nebraska and the remainder in Kansas. The project is a collaborative effort between the two states to address multi-jurisdictional water quality problems of excessive sediment runoff, nutrients, herbicides and bacteria. It will demonstrate a process for achieving water quality goals in a large agricultural watershed by targeting and implementing best management practices in critical sub-watersheds. EPA grants funds will be used to implement existing watershed management plans, install no-till systems, establish riparian buffer strips and other conservation measures, and enhance educational efforts. Market-based incentives will be used to encourage and support landowner adoption of best management practices.
Upper Sevier River, Utah (PDF) (2 pp, 644K)
Utah Department of Environmental Quality
Encompassing 2, 031 square miles in south-central Utah, the Upper Sevier River Watershed is predominantly public lands with 15% private agricultural land concentrated in the lower elevation valleys. The goal of this project is to establish a coldwater fishery by restoring impacted stream reaches and correct habitat alteration, and by reducing phosphorus loading and sediment levels through improved irrigation practices. The project will also provide landowners with tools and training for the conservation of water resources and maintenance of a sustainable fishery through proper grazing management. Water quality, biological, and physical habitat parameters will be monitored. In addition, UDEQ's Division of Water Quality will monitor changes in fish populations under their current surveying program.
Trinity/Lower Klamath Rivers, California (PDF) (2 pp, 740K)
Yurok Tribe
The headwaters of the Trinity River begin 9,000 feet in elevation within the California Coastal Range, flow 172 miles to join with the Klamath River, continue another 43 miles through the Yurok Reservation before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. This river system once teemed with bountiful fish runs which have since declined due to damming of the upper watersheds, water diversions, and land management activities that have resulted in degraded watershed conditions. The principle anadromous fish species within the river system have been Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Steelhead, and green sturgeon. The Yurok Tribe will use the Targeted Watershed Grant funds to address the issues affecting fisheries resources. It will rehabilitate 3 sites using methodologies such as decommissioning roads, stabilizing streambanks, and planting native tree species. All projects will allow for full release of the flows to improve fish habitat connectivity as called for in the Watershed Plan.
Skagit River, Washington (PDF) (2 pp, 607K)
The Nature Conservancy
The Skagit River contributes nearly one-third of the freshwater to Puget Sound and is the only river basin in the state that has all six species of Pacific Salmon. Despite its tremendous natural resource value, ongoing conflicts between farming and fisheries interests have prevent the recovery of the salmon stocks while farmland continues to be developed as a result of expanding population. The Nature Conservancy will use funds to implement market-based tools to support both the conservation of prime agriculture lands and restoration of estuary wetlands and habitat values. The first tool is a land bank strategy to purchase land for habitat restoration while preserving the agricultural land base through acquisition of conservation easements. Second is habitat-friendly farming, where farmers are paid to grow wildlife-friendly cover crops as well as manage their fields for better habitat protection during fallow years.
Willamette River, Oregon (PDF) (2 pp, 636K)
The Willamette Partnership
The Willamette River flows 190 miles through western Oregon before reaching the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. This 11,478 square mile watershed is home to over two million Oregonians and is also within the ceded lands of the Confederate Tribes of Grand Ronde. The state and tribe's proposal will institute a water quality trading program to address temperature problems within the basin. The Willamette Partnership will create a marketplace for investments that implement the temperature Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL. Trading and banking programs will provide the necessary mechanisms and incentives to direct financial and in-kind resources to priority projects at critical locations. The marketplace will conduct business in several individual credit "currencies", such as pollutant units or environmental services (e.g., flood plain or habitat restoration), and will work toward developing a common "currency."