Success Spotlight: Buttahatchee River
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
EPA's Clean Water Act Section (CWA) 319 Program provides funding for restoration of nonpoint source-impaired water bodies. This week's success spotlight shines on Buttahatchee River, Mississippi. Animal waste from livestock and wildlife, as well as failing septic systems, contributed to the increased presence of fecal coliform bacteria in the river. As a result, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality placed a 29-mile segment of the Buttahatchee River on its list of impaired waters in 1998. Using CWA section 319 and matching funds from partnering agencies, project partners installed 59 best management practices on 4,702 acres within the watershed, including pasture and hay land planting, stabilization of heavy-use areas, prescribed grazing, nutrient management practices, livestock exclusion fencing and water trough installation . Bacteria levels declined and now meet water quality standards, prompting Mississippi to remove the segment from its list of impaired waters in 2012. Click here for more information.
Source: US EPA
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