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TMDLs 101

TMDLs 101. An Explanation of the Federal Clean Water Act’s TMDL Requirements and How they Impact Carter Lake. What is a TMDL?. Just another 4-letter Word T oo M any D arn L awyers T otal M aximum D aily L oad All of the above. What is a TMDL?. c) T otal M aximum D aily L oad.

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TMDLs 101

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  1. TMDLs 101 An Explanation of the Federal Clean Water Act’s TMDL Requirements and How they Impact Carter Lake

  2. What is a TMDL? • Just another 4-letter Word • Too Many Darn Lawyers • Total Maximum Daily Load • All of the above

  3. What is a TMDL? c) Total Maximum Daily Load

  4. Why Are TMDLs Necessary? • Part of the original 1972 Clean Water Act • Section 303(d) • Maximum amount of a pollutant that could be discharged to a waterbody without violating water quality standards • Expanded in 1992 Federal Regulation • Include a “plan” to manage pollutant • Continued attempts to rework regulation • July 2000 Regulations rescinded • Work continues on the “Watershed Rule”

  5. What’s the Big Deal about TMDLs? • Litigation and Lawsuits • EPA and States have been and are being sued for (alleged) inadequate 303(d) listing or not developing TMDLs fast enough • Courts dictate and set schedule for TMDL development • Things have “quieted down” as of late

  6. How Have TMDLs Evolved? • Original focus was on point source discharges • Municipal and Industrial Discharges • Regulate with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System • Shifted focus to include all sources • New focus to consider watersheds vs. waterbodies

  7. Goal of TMDL Program “Swimable” “Fishable”

  8. Components of Section 303(d)/TMDL Program • Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters • TMDLs required only for waters identified as “impaired” • Total Maximum Daily Loads

  9. Section 303(d) List • NDEQ must assess all surface waters • Definition of Surface Water in Chapter 1, Title 117 Nebraska Surface Water Quality Standards • Use all existing and available data • Compare to assigned beneficial uses • Complete and submit by April 1 of even numbered years (i.e. 2004, 2006)

  10. So what’s the status of Carter Lake?

  11. Carter Lake Data and Assessments-2006 • Recreation: E. coli Bacteria, Blue Green Algae • Aquatic Life: Nutrients, Toxics, Fish Tissue • Aesthetics: Sediment • Results: Impaired • BG Algae, PCBs in Fish, Nutrients • Remove bacteria impairment

  12. Carter Lake Impairments

  13. Where are the pollutants coming from? • Stormwater runoff • Urban and residential • Legacy loading • Historic river bed

  14. What is a TMDL? • Definition found in 40 CFR part 130 “The sum of the individual wasteload allocations for point sources and load allocations for nonpoint sources and natural background….TMDLs can be expressed in terms of either mass per unit time (kg/day) toxicity or other appropriate measure” • Simply defined: slicing and serving the pie

  15. Pieces of the Pie Wasteload Allocation: portion of pollutant loading capacity allocated to point source discharges Load Allocation: portion of pollutant loading capacity allocated to nonpoint source discharges Background: pollutant load that would be there anyway Margin of Safety: a reserve, set aside to account for error and uncertainty

  16. Wasteload Allocation Load Allocation Pollutant Loading Capacity Background Margin of Safety

  17. How are loads determined?

  18. Where do we go from here? • EPA Region 7 to complete TMDL • Oversight over both NE and IA • IA and NE to handle public participation • Regulate sources • NPDES permits for stormwater • Use pollutant loading information for water quality plan development and implementation

  19. What does all this mean? • TMDL provides a target for water quality planning • Reductions necessary • Increases opportunities for funding • Organized Plan

  20. Questions???

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