By Jenna Smith
Originating from saltwater seeps and springs in the Texas Panhandle, beautiful Buck Creek flows through Donley, Childress, and Collingsworth counties in the Red River Basin of Texas. Buck Creek is a subwatershed of the Lower Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. The watershed is almost exclusively comprised of agricultural cropland and native grasslands.
“We want Buck Creek to be a healthy ecosystem suitable for fishing, wading, and other recreational activities,” said John Sij, professor of agronomy at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Vernon. However, water quality testing in the late 1990’s found bacteria levels were sometimes elevated in the Creek. By testing for the presence of indicator organisms such as fecal coliform bacteria and E. coli, scientists at the Vernon Research and Extension Center can monitor whether these indicator organisms are at high enough levels to indicate the potential presence of disease-causing pathogens, which pose a threat to public health.
Buck Creek is considered an impaired water body according to section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Therefore, a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for each pollutant contributing to the impairment within the Creek is being developed. TMDLs are created to determine the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still maintain its beneficial uses.
“The ultimate goal of this TMDL is the reduction of indicator bacteria to levels that constitute an acceptable level for recreational exposure,” said Sij. “This allows recreational activities to be restored to the water body.”
Thirteen sampling sites have been implemented along Buck Creek to collect water samples to test for these indicator organisms. Samples are collected every two weeks at sites where running water is present. Sampling will also be conducted following high rainfall events, when potentially large numbers of fecal bacteria enter the Creek from stormwater runoff.
“The impairment within the water body is due to nonpoint sources, perhaps from livestock production and/or wildlife,” said Sij. “By identifying the source and minimizing the input of fecal material into Buck Creek, we can maintain the water body within water quality standards.”
Bacterial monitoring will be conducted on a flowbased approach, using frequency distributions over a historical range of flows rather than a single target concentration. This method can greatly enhance assessment and load reduction practices within the waterbody.
By using a 65 percent reduction mean criteria, bacterial loadings would be reduced enough to comply with existing water quality standards and restore recreational uses in the Creek.
“The key to restoring Buck Creek is targeting impairment sources and implementing preventative measures,” said Sij. “Educating area stakeholders will help ensure a viable recreational resource for the future.”
