Superior Environmental Performance. The City of Xxxxxx intends to utilize the flexibility granted by the XL Project to develop a watershed protection program for Pecan Creek. The ultimate goal of an effective watershed protection program is the preservation and improvement of the habitat of the tributaries to sustain the life cycle of the indigenous aquatic organisms and the ecosystem in which they exist. The accomplishment of this goal would also result in the improvement and protection of a primary source of drinking water in the region. The initial project will focus on establishing baseline ambient conditions of Pecan Creek with monitoring designed to assess the impact of pollution control measures. The information learned in the Pecan Creek watershed can be transferred to Hickory, Xxxxxx, and Clear Creeks. These creeks are all tributaries of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and drain into Lake Lewisville, a major water supply reservoir for the cities of Denton and Dallas as well as other customer cities. The XL project will enable the City of Xxxxxx to develop the watershed protection program years earlier than would have normally occurred. City of Xxxxxx has been monitoring Pecan Creek for ten (10) years at a site upstream from the wastewater treatment outfall. Other sites in the Pecan Creek drainage have been monitored quarterly. Parameters include ammonia, nine 99) toxic metals, fecal coliform concentration or heterotrophic plate counts and general characterization parameters. The accumulated baseline data for Pecan Creek will be supplemented with priority pollutant scans. Full priority pollutant scans (126 Section 307 (A) Toxic Pollutants) will establish baseline pollutants of concern. The list of 126 priority pollutants will be revised to reflect emphasis upon pesticides and herbicides detected with greatest frequency by USGS and other organizations participating in the National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Detectable concentrations of potentially toxic pollutants will be used as indicators for assessment of effectiveness of control measures. The impact of efforts to control Storm Water runoff and pollution can be assessed with elements of TNRCC Receiving Water Assessments (RWA) and Clean Rivers Program (CRP). Water quality and aesthetic indicators will be documented to assess the effectiveness of BMPs, buffer zones, and public education. The impact of public education may be reflected as a reduction in retail sales of pesticides and herbicides of concern. The effectiveness of all proposed protective methods will be assessed by the measurement and analysis of water quality parameters. In situ field conditions will supplement the analysis of water samples for total suspended solids (TSS), alkalinity, phosphorous, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), sulfates, and the nine (9) metals listed as TNRCC Water Quality Standards (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, silver, and zinc). City of Xxxxxx intends to implement the use of remote monitoring equipment to detect real-time temperature, pH, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen (DO) as means of establishing baseline conditions and to indicate real-time changes as they occur. Remote Monitoring Program One of the greatest environmental benefits derived from this project will be the development of an effective automated monitoring program which reduce the demand for manpower and provide a greater degree of safety. This type of program once perfected can be replicated and utilized by other municipalities. The opportunity for innovation is enhanced by an EPA award to the City of Xxxxxx and UNT of a $485,000 EMPACT grant to set up an electronic monitoring program for the Pecan Creek Watershed. A satellite down link will be set up at UNT Environmental Education Science and Technology(EEESAT) building which can provide real time and near real time stream data linkage to UNT's web site at the EEESAT building. One innovative feature of this program will be the experimental use of biosensors (freshwater clams) to detect pollutants of biological significance to alert personnel of the need to collect samples or to trigger automated monitoring equipment. A watershed monitoring plan will be developed with GIS to document location of sampling sites and drainage areas to sampling sites Buffer Zone Development The City of Xxxxxx Department of Utilities is planning to initiate the creation of an organizational mechanism for developing buffer zones along the undeveloped watersheds in this area. City of Xxxxxx have an opportunity to protect water quality by establishing conservation easements or by purchasing strips of land along both Hickory and Clear Creeks located in the less urbanized and more agricultural areas of the watershed. Maps will be developed to document protective buffer zones along drainage areas. BASELINE ASSESSMENT
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Superior Environmental Performance. The City of Xxxxxx intends to utilize the flexibility granted by the XL Project to develop a watershed protection program for Pecan Creek. The ultimate goal of an effective watershed protection program is the preservation and improvement protection of the aquatic habitat of the tributaries to sustain the life cycle of the indigenous aquatic organisms and the ecosystem in which they existecosystem. The accomplishment of this goal would also result in the improvement and protection of a primary source of drinking water in the region. The initial project will focus on establishing baseline ambient conditions of Pecan Creek with monitoring designed to assess the impact of pollution control measures. The information learned in the Pecan Creek watershed can be transferred to Hickory, Xxxxxx, and Clear Creeks. These creeks are all tributaries of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and drain River. This watershed drains into Lake Lewisville, a major water supply reservoir for the cities of Denton and Dallas as well as other customer and several surrounding cities. The XL project will enable the City of Xxxxxx to develop the watershed protection program years earlier than would have normally occurred. The ultimate goal of this project is to investigate the possibility of developing an efficient and economically feasible approach to watershed protection for communities of population <100,000. This will require the identification and prioritization of pollutants which pose the greatest threat to aquatic and human health. Once the pollutants are identified, the next step will be attempts to identify the sources and implement site-specific BMPs to control the pollutants at their source. As stated in section V, Baseline Assessment of Ambient Water Quality, City of Xxxxxx has been monitoring Pecan Creek for ten (10) years at a site upstream from the wastewater treatment outfallyears. Other sites in the City of Xxxxxx will focus on Pecan Creek drainage have been monitored quarterlyto develop and test the initial stages of the watershed monitoring program. Parameters include ammoniaVarious technologies will be tested to determine most effective, nine 99least costly, and most efficient equipment: automatic samplers, remote water quality detection equipment, solar power technology, placement and installation of equipment, and data transfer. Aerial photography of county-wide development will provide visual reference upon which to focus and correlate remote monitoring of storm event runoff to land use. GIS will be used to manage the anticipated large volume of water quality and rainfall data. This data will be layered onto maps of the watershed, tributaries, location of water level gauging stations, and sampling stations. The concentrations of site-specific contaminants resulting from urban, suburban, and commercial site development will be identified. The magnitude of contaminant concentrations in Storm Water runoff from these sites will be evaluated by comparison to water quality parameters in tributaries of undeveloped watersheds. Site specific BMPs will be prioritized to control runoff in areas contributing greatest loads. The City of Xxxxxx proposes to create buffer zones and conservation easements in undeveloped sections of watersheds. The potential impact of these protective measures will be evaluated by comparison of WQ parameters to baseline data. The City of Xxxxxx will investigate the possibility of combining Storm Water and industrial user permit requirements. As Industrial user permits are renewed, the information currently required on applications will be supplemented with requests for pollution prevention procedures implemented by users, estimates of impervious surface area. The revised discharge permits will require the development of pollution prevention procedures and measurable limits to assess the quality of Storm Water runoff from sites. As stated previously in sections III and V, superior environmental performance (SEP) toxic metals, fecal coliform concentration or heterotrophic plate counts and general characterization parameterswill be assessed quantitatively in a variety of ways. The accumulated baseline data for Pecan Creek will be supplemented with priority pollutant scans. Full priority pollutant scans (126 Section 307 (A) Toxic Pollutants) will establish baseline pollutants of concern. The list of 126 priority pollutants will be revised to reflect emphasis upon pesticides and herbicides detected with greatest frequency by USGS and other organizations participating in the National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Detectable concentrations of potentially toxic pollutants will be used as indicators for assessment of effectiveness of control measures. The impact of efforts to control Storm Water runoff and pollution can be assessed with elements of TNRCC Receiving Water Assessments (RWA) and Clean Rivers Program (CRP). Water quality and aesthetic indicators will be documented to assess the effectiveness of BMPs, buffer zones, and public education. The impact of public education may be reflected as a reduction in retail sales of pesticides and herbicides of concern. The effectiveness of all proposed protective methods will be assessed by the measurement and analysis of water quality parameters. In situ field conditions will supplement the analysis of water samples for total suspended solids (TSS), alkalinity, phosphorous, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), sulfates, and the nine (9) metals listed as TNRCC Water Quality Standards (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, silver, and zinc). City of Xxxxxx intends to implement the use of remote monitoring equipment to detect real-time temperature, pH, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen (DO) as means of establishing baseline conditions and to indicate real-time changes as they occur. Remote Monitoring Program One of the greatest environmental benefits derived from this project will be the development of an effective automated monitoring program which reduce the demand for manpower and provide a greater degree of safety. This type of program once perfected can be replicated and utilized by other municipalities. The opportunity for innovation is enhanced by an EPA award to the City of Xxxxxx and UNT of a $485,000 EMPACT grant to set up an electronic monitoring program for the Pecan Creek Watershed. A satellite down link will be set up at UNT Environmental Education Science and Technology(EEESAT) building which can provide real time and near real time stream data linkage to UNT's web site at the EEESAT building. One innovative feature of this program will be the experimental use of biosensors (freshwater clams) to detect pollutants of biological significance to alert personnel of the need to collect samples or to trigger automated monitoring equipment. A watershed monitoring plan will be developed with GIS to document location of sampling sites and drainage areas to sampling sites Buffer Zone Development The City of Xxxxxx Department of Utilities is planning to initiate the creation of an organizational mechanism for developing buffer zones along the undeveloped watersheds in this area. City of Xxxxxx have an opportunity to protect water quality by establishing conservation easements or by purchasing strips of land along both Hickory and Clear Creeks located in the less urbanized and more agricultural areas of the watershed. Maps will be developed to document protective buffer zones along drainage areas. BASELINE ASSESSMENT.
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