The 303(d) List of Waters reports on streams and lakes identified as impaired for one or more pollutants and do not meet one or more water quality standards. Impaired waters are identified through assessment and monitoring programs conducted by Kentucky Division of Water personnel, volunteer networks and other local, state and federal agencies.
Examples of information on impaired waterbodies on the 303(d) list are:
- A description of the watershed basin.
- The location of the impaired stream (using river miles) or number of acres of an impaired lake.
- Causes that are likely contributing or causing the impairment, e.g., excessive algal growth or low pH.
- Sources that are likely causing or contributing to the impairment, e.g., wastewater treatment plant overflows or surface mining.
The 303(d) list is produced every other year for Kentucky. Every 303(d) list that is published includes a status of previously listed waters and any new waters assessed since the last report. Impaired water status categories include:
- Water is impaired - no change from a prior report, or a new listing.
- Impaired water with a TMDL under development.
- Impaired water with an approved TMDL.
- Water no longer impaired and proposed for delisting.
Beginning in 2006, the 303(d) and 305(b) reports were combined into an Integrated Report (IR) in two volumes, following guidance by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All information on impaired waterbodies remains, but in a different format.
A major difference in the IR was the creation of five primary categories - four of the categories classify waters as meeting one or more designated uses based on various circumstances (Volume I), and one category includes all impaired waters, or the 303(d) list (Volume II).
Details on IR report guidance and the 2006 water categorization process can be found at EPA's Web site.
The "2006 Integrated Report to Congress on Water Quality in Kentucky Volume I. 305(b) Assessment Results with Emphasis on the Kentucky River Basin Management Unit and Salt-Licking Rivers Basin Management Units," can be accessed at the 305(b) Monitoring and Assessment Web site.
Volume II of the IR contains comprehensive information from previous 303(d) lists. For the first time in the watershed basin assessment cycle, the report covers assessments from all five of Kentucky's major watershed basins.
View or download all electronic 303(d) reports from the links provided below. For the year 2000, a 303(d) report was not completed.
All reports use the Adobe Reader software.
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