- Albion River
- Big River
- Eel River, North Fork
- Eel River, Upper Main
- Eel River, Middle Fork
- Eel River, South Fork
- Elk River
- Freshwater Creek
- Garcia River
- Gualala River
- Klamath River
- Laguna De Santa Rosa
- Lost River, Upper
- Lost River, Lower
- Mattole River
- Navarro River
- Noyo River
- Redwood Creek
- Russian River
- Salmon River
- Scott River
- Shasta River
- Stemple Creek
- Ten Mile River
- Trinity River
- Trinity River, South Fork
- Van Duzen River
Total Maximum Daily Loads
The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process leads to a "pollution budget" designed to restore the health of a polluted body of water. The TMDL process provides a quantitative assessment of water quality problems, contributing sources of pollution, and the pollutant load reductions or control actions needed to restore and protect the beneficial uses of an individual waterbody impaired from loading of a particular pollutant. More specifically, a TMDL is defined as the sum of the individual waste load allocations for point sources, load allocations for non-point sources, and natural background such that the capacity of the water body to assimilate pollutant loading (the loading capacity) is not exceeded (40 CFR §130.2). In other words, a TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards which will insure the protection of beneficial uses. This calculation also includes a margin of safety and consideration of seasonal variations. In addition, the TMDL contains the reductions needed to meet water quality standards and allocates those reductions among the pollutant sources in the watershed. The Clean Water Act of 1972 gave the State Water Resources Control Board and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to establish TMDLs under Section 303(d). The Clean Water Act can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/cwa.htm. Section 303(d) can be found at 33 USC §1313.
Technical TMDLs and Technical Support Documents
A technical TMDL presents background and analysis to support calculations of the loading capacity and load allocations for an impaired waterbody. A technical TMDL does not include implementation or monitoring plans.
A technical support document, or TSD, is a report developed by Regional Water Board staff which meets all federal requirements for a TMDL, but with no implementation or monitoring plan and no action on the part of the Regional or State Board. Upon completion by the Regional Water Board, the TSD is forwarded to the US EPA, who then develops the TMDL based upon the information contained in the TSD.
Implementation
Upon completion of the technical TMDL and/or TSD, the State is charged with ensuring the necessary actions are taken so that the loading of the pollutant of concern does not exceed the TMDL and associated load allocations.
There are several mechanisms available to implement the actions necessary to meet a TMDL. These mechanisms include:
- Regulatory action(s) of the Regional Water Board, such as a permit, waiver, or enforcement order.
- Regulatory action(s) of another state, federal, or local agency. A Memorandum of Understanding may be appropriate to describe the specific regulatory actions to be taken.
- Non-regulatory action(s), such as third party agreements and self-determined pollutant control.
- Amendments of the Water Quality Control Plan for the North Coast Region (the Basin Plan), in the form of an Action Plan, which describes the steps that are necessary to meet the TMDL. A Basin Plan amendment is necessary when rule making is required to address the pollutant(s) and meet the TMDL. Additionally, TMDLs shall be incorporated into the State’s continuing planning process, of which the Basin Plan is the primary venue, in accordance with Sections 303(d)(2) and 303(e)(3) of the federal Clean Water Act.
Monitoring
Monitoring is necessary to ensure information is available to assess progress toward attainment of the desired water quality conditions. A monitoring plan is a vital component of any implementation strategy.