News Releases from Region 04

EPA acknowledges federal, state and local partners for Improving Water Quality in the Bear Creek Watershed

ATLANTA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) commends the efforts of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) along with other federal, state and local partners for improving water quality in the Bear Creek Watershed.

Implementing numerous best management practices (BMPs) within the watershed, from 2000 to 2005, decreased aluminum loading in the watershed. This allowed the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) to remove Bear Creek from its list of impaired waters in 2014 for aluminum impairment.

This project was a cooperative nonpoint source pollution control endeavor involving at least four soil and water conservation districts (Colbert, Franklin, Marion and Winston), the Tennessee Valley Authority, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, ADEM, the Bear Creek Outdoor Environmental Education Center, Alabama Water Watch, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama Cattleman's Association, Alabama Poultry and Egg Association, Southeastern Poultry and Egg Consortium, Gold Kist, and the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. A total of $336,947 in CWA section 319 funding was used, with an additional $375,973 in matching funds provided by project partners for the restoration efforts.

"EPA Applauds ADEM along with other federal, state and local partners for improving water quality in Bear Creek and providing additional recreational opportunities in the area," said EPA Regional Water Division Director Jim Giattina. "EPA's funding of this type of work helps us to accomplish our goal of making a visible difference in the health and the environment of communities in the southeast."

Watershed partners launched a 5-year Bear Creek Watershed Project in August 2000. The overall goal of the project was to effectively focus federal, state, local and special interest group resources on solving the nonpoint source pollution problems in the Bear Creek watershed. Before the project, formal and informal discussions among citizens, landowners, special interest groups and agency representatives took place concerning actual and perceived pollution sources and impacts in the related subwatersheds. One primary concern identified during stakeholder discussions was accelerated erosion in the watershed. As a result, the Bear Creek project required a focus on controlling erosion along different streambanks, pastures, croplands, abandoned surface mining land and timber harvest areas. Because aluminum is positively charged and bonds with the soil, efforts to reduce erosion in the watershed provides the added benefit of decreasing aluminum loading in Bear Creek. The BMPs that were implemented from 2000 to 2005 included filter strips, streambank protection, exclusion fencing and resource extraction area restoration.

States report that nonpoint source pollution (NPS) is the leading remaining cause of water quality problems in the United States. Unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, NPS pollution comes from many diffuse sources and is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters. Under Clean Water Act Section 319(h), EPA awards grants for implementation of state NPS pollution management programs. More information on NPS pollution: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/whatis.cfm

More information on the Bear Creek project: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/al_bear.cfm

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