Luxapallila Creek Watershed Alliance

Luxapallila Creek is a multi-state watershed (8-digit Hydrologic Unit – 3160105). It stretches across six counties, two in Mississippi and four in Alabama. The Lux flows through four Alabama Counties; Lamar, Marion, Fayette and Pickens. In Mississippi, the Luxapallila lies within Monroe and Lowndes County. Within these six counties, 12 sub-watersheds (11-digit Hydrologic Units) make up the Luxapallila Watershed. Luxapallila Creek is not an impaired water body, so the Luxapallila Creek Watershed Alliance will pursue a protective strategy to maintain that water quality. To achieve this, the Luxapallila Creek Watershed Alliance will be a forum for stakeholders to:

  • Identify existing geospatial data and data users in the watershed
  • Identify data gaps and prioritize data need
  • Closely collaborate with the Tennessee-Tombigbee Basin Team and the Alabama Clean Water
  • Partnership to develop and implement a Watershed Implementation Plan to protect water quality

Mission

The Alliance will assist the Mississippi Department of Environment Quality (MDEQ) and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in developing and implementing watershed management strategies to address water quality threats, particularly those from non point sources in the Lux watershed and the larger Tennessee-Tombigbee River Basin.

Objectives

The Alliance will be a forum to bring together stakeholders in the Luxapallila Creek watershed to identify, prioritize and address non point source pollution through a variety of projects. The Alliance will also be a means to discuss and pursue available technical and financial support to implement water management strategies in a larger, basin-scale context.

Goals

First off, it is important to note that this effort is being driven by the adaptive management concept. Accordingly, we will use a collaborative process to prioritize and address issues in the Luxapallila Creek Watershed. The priority goals identified in the 2004 Luxapallila Creek Watershed Implementation Plan were:

  • maintain existing populations of threatened and endangered native mussel species in the watershed
  • prevent loss of good quality habitat for threatened and endangered native mussel species and their host fish species.
  • improve the quality of marginal or poor quality habitat for threatened and endangered mussel species and their host species
  • continue to achieve or exceed state water quality standards in the Luxapallila Creek and its tributaries

 

The following actions are needed to achieve these goals:

A collaborative Alabama/Mississippi Luxapallila Creek Watershed Alliance

Reduce nutrient and sediment loads to streams

  • reduce livestock access to streams
  • cropland BMPs
  • pasture BMPs
  • silviculture BMPs

Address unsewered communities and failing septic systems

Manage point source discharges

Research threatened and endangered species

Collaborators

Alabama Clean Water Partnership

Tenn-Tom Waterway Development Council

Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, Tennessee -Tombigbee Waterway Project Office, (Mobile District),

Tennessee Valley Authority

Center for Economic Development and Resource Stewardship

 

For more information please contact::

Jeff Ballweber
Box 9680
Mississippi State, Ms. 39762
662-325-3295jballweber@cfr.msstate.edu

Rita Jackson
Box 9652
Mississippi State, Ms. 39762
662-325-3116rjackson@gri.msstate.edu

Ashley Henderson, Alabama-Tombigbee Facilitator
Alabama Clean Water Partnership
429 Holly Brooks Dr. S,
Montgomery, AL 36109
334-270-8236ahendersonCWP@charter.net