The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Section publishes pre- and post-monitoring reports that seek to educate people about the Clean Water Act and relay scientific information about water quality to communities that are within studied watersheds.
The TMDL process begins with a list of waters that do not meet their designated uses – for example, swimming, fishing or aquatic habitat -- and are thereby “impaired.” Waters on this list require a year-long study to collect the necessary data for TMDL development.
If a stream is selected for TMDL development, the watershed is assessed to understand the potential sources of pollution and determine where the study sites will be located. This pre-monitoring process is described in the Initial Watershed Report. Once the year-long study is complete, the data is used to determine the current state of the watershed. This post-monitoring process is described in the Watershed Health Report, which not only highlights where improvement is needed within the watershed, but also highlights the strengths of the watershed in hopes of protecting areas that are not yet impaired. To see if these reports are available for a watershed in your community, click on the basin that includes your city or town.
Pre-monitoring Reports: The Initial Watershed Reports describe why the watershed is being monitored, where the impaired streams are within the watershed, and where the TMDL Section will monitor the watershed.
Post-monitoring Reports: In the Watershed Health Reports, both signs of water quality and signs of biological health receive a grade, A – F, based on numeric criteria or ecologically significant values. These grades are then averaged to achieve an overarching watershed grade to demonstrate the overall health of the system.
For more information on TMDL Health Reports e-mail Katie McKone.
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Click on a basin in the map to view its health reports.
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