Bill Carter Nonpoint Source Program Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Trade Fair and Conference, May 2015

Buck Creek Colorado River Below E.V. Spence Reservoir quality/tmdl/nav/32- colorado/32-colorado.html Geronimo Creek crp/meetings/2014/GeronimoAllig atorCreeksWPP.pdf Lake Granbury Lampasas River Plum Creek Upper Cibolo Creek mentCenter/View/3690 Upper San Antonio River (Update) ed_protection_plan/FinalWPP_ pdf

 Road map to preserve or restore water quality  Problem: Sources  Effect: Impairment of uses  Potential Solutions: Management Measures  Starting Point: What are stakeholders already doing and interested in doing to address the problem?  End Point: Water body meeting water quality standards

Schedule For Action Load Reductions Measureable Milestones Criteria for Success Best Management Practices Engagement & Education Resources Needed Monitoring Progress Pollutant Load & Sources

Can be summarized in a “Nine Key Element Table” (Upper San Antonio River WPP Update)

 Treat the plan as a set of distinct, manageable tasks.  Get a stakeholder work group to work on each task.  Focus on the first 3 elements as the core: pollutant loads and how they will be reduced.  The other elements show how the needed reductions will be achieved and verified.

 Source and Implementation Categories Urban Stormwater Agriculture  Key Elements Public Education and Involvement Monitoring / Water Quality  Special Concerns Habitat Ground/Surface Water Interactions

 In-stream Pollutant loads Measured in the field Combined pollutant load from all sources  Watershed Source loads Where is pollution coming from? Determine:  Type of source  Number of sources  Location of sources  Pollutant loading per source Animals Septic Systems Waste water

 SELECT Analysis and Load Duration Curves Plum Creek, Upper Cibolo Creek, Buck Creek, Geronimo and Alligator Creek, and Colorado River Below E.V. Spence Reservoir WBPs Estimated POTENTIAL loading and actual water quality data  Watershed Modeling Upper San Antonio River and Lake Granbury WBPs Analytical models simulate effects of source loads on water quality

(Upper San Antonio River WPP)

(Upper San Antonio River WPP Update)  Identify monitoring locations in watershed  Use color to represent pollutant concentrations  Helps identify critical areas for implementation

 Actions that reduce pollution  Chosen from tested practices with quantifiable results  Can include point and nonpoint source BMPs B M P

(Upper Cibolo Creek WPP)  Reference for key facts about each BMP  Scope/components  Extent and critical areas  Goal  Implementation facts  Load reduction  Effectiveness  Difficulty

 Basic timeline  Realistic timeframes  Take into account when resources will be available

(Upper Cibolo Creek WPP)  Management Measures  Responsible Parties  Unit Costs  Numbers Implemented (by time increments)  Total Costs

 Ambient conditions (concentrations at index sites)  BMP performance can be estimated in plan  In some cases, consider BMP effectiveness monitoring

 Establish detailed monitoring schedule  Set schedule with targets for progress (Plum Creek WPP)

 Full-time watershed coordinators meeting frequently with stakeholders and based in the watershed (e.g., Plum Creek, Upper Cibolo Creek WPPs)  Creek or lake clean-up events to mobilize public awareness and involvement (e.g., Geronimo Creek WPP)  Websites providing clearinghouse for water quality, planning and implementation info (e.g., Lake Granbury WPP)

 Short and Simple: technical material in appendices  Center the plan around elements A to C — pollutants, load reductions, and BMPs  Build the plan as a set of manageable parts  Highlight stakeholder priorities to increase buy-in  Adapt

Bill Carter Nonpoint Source Program Texas Commission on Environmental Quality