WSP11270

• File Number: 8273.500
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control - Federal Agencies - EPA
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 1/1/1990
• Title: EPA - Rural Clean Water Program - RCWP
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

water qualitydala and sound statistical analyses, begin to fill the voids in
f-lo our understandi~g of how BMPs affect water quality In watersheds.
C~ The RCWP BMPs (a complete list appears on page 18) are intended to
Cl both Improve and/orpreserve water quality and sustain producer profits by
",0:::. improving or maintaining the efficiency and conservation aspects of farm-
ing, Voluntary ap)lroaches to agricultural non point source programs will not
succeed unless aMPs meet both the water quality and profitability objec-
tives.

. Animal wastl. management dramatically Improved water quality In
two projects: Snake Creek, Utah""": phosphorus concentration declined
90 percent; fecai coliform bacteria, 99 percent, as a result of using BMPs
in all 4 dairies arid all 4 beef feedlots in the 700-acre project area.
Tllfamook Bay, Oregon- With approximately SO percent ofthe animal
waste now underlBMP control, the mean fecal coliform bacteria counts have
been reduced by "40 to 50 percent in lillamook Bay, the targeted resource of
this 3S0,000-acre watershed project.

. Keeping animals out of streams Improves water quality: Taylor
Creek-NubbIn 9,lough BasIn, Florlda- phosphorus levels in tributaries
to Lake OkeechObee were reduced by fencing streams to prevent dairy
cows fromloung!ng In the water. In one tributary within this 110,000-acre
project area, phosphorus concentrations declined by more than 50 per-
cent despite an increase in the number of cows in the sub-watershed.

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. Irrigation water management, sedimentation basins, and conser-
vation tillage re~uce sediment and phosphorus: Rock Creek, Idaho
- with 75 perc.rit of the 28,000-acre irrigation tract under treatment,
suspended sedlr(lent has decreased significantly in five of six sub-basins,
with the sixth experiencing increases in the last two years, Total phos-
phorus loads halle decreased at all three Rock Creek stations below the
treated sub-basins, but further analyses are required to sort out the rela-
tive impacts of BMPs and other variables, most notably natural stream-
bank erosion and weather.

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Fences keep animals out of
streams, reducing direct input of
pollutants and protecting riparian,
zones from physical damage,

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