Crook CountyWater Quality Monitoring
2010 WATER QUALITY MONITORING SEASON BEGINS!
As you probably know, for the last nine years, CCNRD has been monitoring water quality on the Belle Fourche River and Donkey Creek. The district’s monitoring activities are part of a comprehensive effort to address local water quality issues as outlined in the locally developed Belle Fourche River Watershed Plan. The 2010 monitoring season began in May and will continue through September, with samples being collected from various sites along the streams throughout the primary recreation season. The collected data is intended to indicate the general health of the Belle Fourche River watershed and to monitor identified pollutants of concern in local water bodies.
“Background- Water Quality Issues Identified in Crook County”
In
1996, after detecting high numbers of Escherichia coli (E. coli) or
fecal coliform bacteria, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
(WDEQ) deemed two reaches of the Belle Fourche River as impaired and in
need of a TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) or a watershed plan.
Subsequent monitoring by WDEQ, in 1998 and 1999, identified the extent
of the impaired reaches as from Keyhole Reservoir to above Rush Creek
and between Hulett and Arch Creek. Monitoring results from 1998 also
indicated that Donkey Creek, from below Stonepile Creek to its
confluence with the Belle Fourche River, was impaired by fecal coliform.
These reaches remain on the WDEQ 303(d) threatened and impaired streams
list.
Fecal coliforms and E. coli are indicators of general fecal contamination and can pose serious health risks. Microorganisms such as fecal coliforms are present in all terrestrial and aquatic systems. Most types are beneficial and are important for decomposition. On the other hand, some microorganisms are harmful, and if taken into the body they can cause sickness, disease and even death. These harmful organisms are known as pathogens, and understanding and addressing their presence in local water bodies is critical to ensuring public health. Because there are often only a few pathogenic organisms in polluted waters, they are difficult to identify and isolate. There are, however, non-pathogenic bacteria usually associated with pathogens transmitted by fecal contamination and more easily sampled and measured, and these can be monitored. High numbers may indicate fecal contamination from leaky septic tanks, animal manure, or faulty waste water treatment facilities.
According to the Clean Water Act, protection from pathogenic contamination is very important for waters designated for recreation, public water supplies, aquifer protection and protection and propagation of fish and wildlife. Excessive amounts of fecal bacteria in surface water have been known to indicate an increased risk of illness to humans, and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WYDEQ) has set acceptable level standards for both fecal coliform and E. coli. These standards depend on the time of year, class of water and location relative to sewage treatment plant outfalls (WYDEQ 1990) and are used in determining whether or not a water body is impaired.
“Local Response- Formulating and Implementing a Watershed Plan”
To address these issues at a local level, the Board of Supervisors of the Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD), through a series of community meetings throughout the watershed, formed the Upper Belle Fourche Watershed Advisory Group comprised of local citizens with a vested interest in the integrity of the natural resources found within their watershed. The group’s objective was to address the impairment issue, while maintaining community values and culture, through science based land use planning on a watershed scale. To begin to working toward that objective, the group developed a grant proposal for submission to the Governor’s Non-point Pollution Task Force. The proposal, if funded, would provide the resources required to: 1) inventory existing historical water quality data, 2) develop a comprehensive water quality monitoring program within the Belle Fourche Watershed to supplement existing historical water quality data and, 3) with the results of implementation of that program, develop a locally supported watershed plan which when implemented would address the fecal coliform impairment.
In
2000, the proposal was approved. Subsequently a sampling and analysis
plan (SAP), the initial step in developing a local watershed management
strategy, was developed through a series of meetings with members of the
Upper Belle Fourche Watershed Advisory Group with technical assistance
from the CCNRD. The SAP both addressed local concerns and issues while
meeting the Wyoming State legislative requirements (Enrolled Act 47) for
credible data, as well as the Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC)
requirements of the WDEQ, Water Quality Division, and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). In 2006, a new SAP was written
to include a more comprehensive and consistent monitoring plan. This
involves sampling once a week during the entire recreation season (From
May 1st to September 30th) and includes sampling for discharge (flow)
and turbidity. Since 2008, when sections of the Belle Fourche River were
found by WDEQ to have higher than acceptable levels of two other
pollutants, ammonium and chloride, the District has started sampling for
them as well.
If you would like to learn more about the Belle Fourche River Watershed Plan, Water Quality Monitoring please call the office at 283-2501.