[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                     United States            Office of Water            EPA 440-4-90-003
                     Environmental Protection  Washington DC 20460       April 1990
                     Agency


  ^,EPA    National Water Quality

                     Inventory


                     1988 Report to Congress























        ~~~~~~~~~367~~~~~







N38
1990                                   :
                                                              i;aï¿½ S3i i  i    

















This report was prepared pursuant to Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act, which states:
"(b)(1) Each State shall prepare and submit to the Administrator by April i, 1975, and shall
bring up to date by April 1, 1976, and biennially thereafter, a report which shall include-
  "(A) a description of the water quality of all navigable waters in such State during the
  preceding year, with appropriate supplemental descriptions as shall be required to take
  into account seasonal, tidal, and other variations, correlated with the quality of water
  required by the objective of this Act (as identified by the Administrator pursuant to
  criteria published under section 304(a) of this Act) and the water quality described in
  subparagraph (B) of this paragraph;
  "(B) an analysis of the extent to which all navigable waters of such State provide for the
  protection and propagation of a balanced population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife, and
  allow recreational activities in and on the water;
  "(C) an analysis of the extent to which the elimination of the discharge of pollutants and
  a level of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of a balanced
  population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife and allows recreational activities in and on the
  water, have been or will be achieved by the requirements of this Act, together with
  recommendations as to additional action necessary to achieve such objectives and for
  what waters such additional action is necessary;
  "(D) an estimate of (i) the environmental impact, (ii) the economic and social costs
  necessary to achieve the objective of this Act in such State, (iii) the economic and social
  benefits of such achievement; and (iv) an estimate of the date of such achievement; and
  "(E) a description of the nature and extent of nonpoint souces of pollutants, and
  recommendations as to the programs which must be undertaken to control each category
  of such sources, including an estimate of the costs of implementing such programs.
"(2) The Administrator shall transimit such State reports, together with an analysis thereof,
to Congress on or before October 1, 1975, and October 1, 1976, and biennially thereafter."





























                          All photographs are courtesy of individual and or organization listed.
                                                               Cover photo by Steve Delaney



                   United States       Office of
                   Environmental Protection  Public Affairs (A-i 07)
                   Agency              Washington DO 20460


V^1VE PA  Environmental News



            EPA RELEASES 1988 NATIONAL WATER OUALITY INVENTORY

                                 May 9, 1990

                                       Sean McElheny,(202)-382-4387



           Many water quality problems in the United States have been

      reduced as a result of pollution control programs, but serious

      problems remain, EPA told Congress in a recent report. The Agency

      said that non-point source pollution (e.g., runoff from agricul-

      tural lands and urban streets), toxic pollutants, groundwater

      contamination and wetland losses are among the important remain-

      ing problems affecting the nation's waters.

           The report notes that the United States has substantially
      cleaned up many waterways once severely polluted. About three-
      fourths of all surface waters assessed by the states fully meet
      their water quality standards and the beneficial uses for which
      they are designated, such as fishing, swimming and drinking.

           More than $50 billion has been spent in the last 20 years by
      the federal government to upgrade and construct municipal sewage
      treatment plants. The report notes that 87 percent of all munici-
      pal sewage treatment plants and 93 percent of major industrial
       facilities met federal and state water pollution control require-
      ments. The result has been a marked decline in pollution from
       "point sources," such as sewers and industrial discharge pipes.
      Pollutants from point sources include metals, bacteria and
      oxygen-demanding organic materials.

           The leading water quality problems now stem from non-point
      source pollution, according to information developed by the
      states. Non-point source pollution comes from urban and suburban
       stormwater runoff and from activities such as farming, grazing,
      construction, forestry, stream channelization and mining. Non-
      point pollutants include soil, nutrients, toxics and pesticides.
      Some non-point source pollution may be on the rise and some -may
      have b~een made more evident through improved monitoring capabili-
      ties and the decrease in point-source pollution.

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                              -2-

     The report, entitled "National Water Quality Inventory: 1988
Report to Congress," is the seventh in a series of biennial
inventories submitted to Congress since 1975. It is based on
water quality analyses provided 'by 55 states, territories and
jurisdictions on their rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters,
wetlands and groundwater. The 1988 report is derived from data
collected in 1986 and 1987.

RIVERS, LAKES AND ESTUARIES

     The states assessed about 30 percent of river miles, 40
percent of lake acres and 76 percent of estuary square miles for
the 1988 inventory, a substantial increase over the 1986 inven-
tory. Some information was also provided on the status of the
Great Lakes.

     States determine to what extent their assessed rivers, lakes
and estuaries support the designated beneficial use(s) of fish-
ing, swimming and drinking. Assessed waterways are grouped into
one of three categories: fully supporting designated beneficial
use(s), partially supporting or non-supporting. Partially sup-
porting and non-supporting waterways are considered impaired.
States list pollutants and sources of use impairment. (See
attached chart for the above information on rivers, lakes and
estuaries.)

     The most commonly reported pollutants affecting impaired
waters include nutrients, soil, pathogens and oxygen-demanding
materials. Nutrients affect half of impaired lake acres and
impaired estuarine square miles and 27 percent of impaired river
miles. Siltation affects 42 percent of impaired river miles and
25 percent of impaired lake acres. Pathogens affect 48 percent of
impaired estuarine square miles and 19 percent of impaired river
miles. Oxygen-demanding materials affect 29 percent of impaired
.estuarine square miles and 25 percent of impaired lake acres.

     Nutrients, such as nitrates in fertilizers and phosphates in
detergents, can deplete a waterbody's oxygen supply through the
overstimulation of plant and algal growth. Soil from fields,
urban areas and construction sites can smother aquatic habitats
and impair fish respiration and plant productivity. Pathogens are
disease-causing bacteria or viruses from untreated sewage.
Decomposing, organic, oxygen-demanding materials also deplete
oxygen in waterways.

     The states reported that agricultural runoff accounted for
over half of the pollution in rivers and lakes and that municipal
discharges were a leading cause of estuarine pollution.

     Nearly 3,800 coastal shoreline miles, 20 percent of the

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                                -3 -

nation's coastline, were also assessed in 1988. Designated
beneficial uses were supported by 89 percent of assessed coast-
line miles. The report also showed that only 8 percent of the
assessed shoreline miles of theGreat Lakes supported designated
beneficial uses.

WETLANDS

     Water quality reports on wetlands are sparse. EPA and the
states currently are working to improve standards and analyses
affecting wetlands.

     Wetlands are lost at the rate of 458,000 acres per year. EPA
estimates that over half of the country's original wetlands have
been lost. Residential and commercial land development is the
most often cited cause of wetland loss reported by the states;
other causes include agricultural and resource extraction activ-
ities. Some states have enacted legislation effective in protect-
ing wetlands and halting their destruction and degradation.

     Wetlands are marshes, swamps, bogs and similar areas that
are often saturated by water. Once considered wastelands to be
drained or filled, wetlands now are recognized as extremely
productive ecosystems. Wetlands provide multiple benefits such as
flood control, pollution filtration, coastal storm protection,
commercial fish production, waterfowl habitat and recreational
opportunities.

GROUNDWATER

     The states identified several major threats to groundwater
quality such as underground storage tanks, septic systems,
agricultural activities, municipal landfills, surface impound-
ments and abandoned hazardous waste sites. Contaminants of
concern include nitrates, pesticides, volatile organic compounds,
petroleum products, metals and brine.

     Groundwater is a vital natural resource that is used for
drinking water by more than half of the nation's population and
for irrigation, industrial use and livestock watering. In rural
areas, the vast majority of the population relies an groundwater
for domestic water uses.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND AOUATIC LIFE CONCERNS

     States also reported pollution's effects on public health
and aquatic life including fish kills, beach closures and fish
contamination.

     Nearly 1,000 pollution-caused fish kills, totalling roughly

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                                 -4-

36 million fish, were reported by 37 states. Leading causes were
oil, gas, pesticides, ammonia, chlorine and oxygen-demanding
materials from-sources such as agriculture, spills and municipal
and industrial discharges.

     Over 200 beach closures were reported by 31 states. Most
were of short duration and resulted from pathogens such as fecal
coliform bacteria from sewage, urban runoff and spills.

     The states reported that, in general, toxic substances
affect less water area than other types of pollution such as
siltation and nutrients. Where they occur, however, toxic sub-
stances can cause or contribute to locally severe public health
and aquatic life effects.

     States provided specific information on toxic substances in
their rivers, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and coastal waters; in
the bottom sediment of these waters and in fish'and shellfish.
Elevated levels of toxics were reported in one-third of monitored
river miles, lake acres and coastal waters. About a fourth of
monitored estuarine waters and 90 percent of Great Lakes shore-
line miles were reported as having elevated toxic levels.

     Forty-seven states and territories reported a total of 586
fishing advisories and 135 fishing bans. PCBs, chlordane, mer-
cury, dioxin and DDT were the most commonly cited causes. Indus-
trial discharges and land disposal were the most common sources
of such contamination. Thirty-five states reported 533 incidents
of sediment contamination by toxics.

PROGRESS

     The 1988 National Water Quality Report to Congress shows
that the nation's water pollution control programs have achieved
significant results. In 1972, 85 million people were served by
secondary sewage treatment facilities; today, 144 million are
served by such facilities. EPA reports that the vast majority of
municipal and industrial facilities are in compliance with their
discharge permit limits.

     A variety of local, state and federal activities have led to
progress in addressing non-point source pollution. The states are
developing and implementing numerous groundwater protection
programs. States are also implementing control programs for
waterways impaired by toxic and non-point source pollution.

     Reporters interested in a copy of the report should call
Sean McElheny, EPA Press Office, (202)-382-4387. Others can
obtain the report by writing to: Alice Mayic, office of Water
(WH-553), U.S. EPA, 401 M St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460.

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                           DEGREE OF DESIGNATED USE SUPPORT
                  IN THE NATION'S ASSESSED WATERS


                         RIVER                   E                 ESTUARY
                         MILES                ACRES              SQUARE MILES
     ULPPORTING       1 07. (53.449)  L .   0. (1.59 L.391)        67 ( 1.488}
      P.ARTLILLY     A20 (104.632)  17% (2.701.577)                23. (6.078)
      SUPPORTNGC




      FULLY
      SUPPORTING       707 (361.332)        74% (12.021.044)       72X (19.110)





      ASSESSED            519.413             16,314.012              26.676
      TOTAL IN U.S. ï¿½   1.800.000             39.400.000              35.000
       * 'otal waters based on Stat--reported tatorm&lon Ln Amerts&' ClaAn Walte.- The Stite' NoapolnL Source
       As*sesment. ASIVPCA. 1965. Total U.S. stuartne aquar. muss based on 19O66 Stte reported 305(b) daLt and
       excludes Alaska and Island Terrltonlre.





SUMMARY OF CLU8E8S AN7D SOURCES OF POLLUTION, BY WtTERBODY TYPE

Waterbody                 Leading Causes                   Leading Sources
Type                      of Impairment*                   of Impairment*


Rivers                    Siltation                        Agriculture
                         Nutrients                        Municipal discharges
                         Pathogens                        Resource extraction
                         Organic enrichment               Habitat modification

Lakes                     Nutrients                        Agriculture
                         Siltation                        Habitat modification
                         Organic enrichment               Storm sewers/runoff
                         Salinity                         Land disposal

Estuaries                 Nutrients                         Municipal discharges
                         Pathogens                        Resource extraction
                         Organic enrichment               Storm sewers/runoff
                         Oil and grease                   Land disposal

*Four leading causes and sources are listed;  determined by total
size affected.








                    S                ~~~UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
                                                          WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
                                                                                                            THE ADMINISTRATOR

               Dear Mr. President:
               Dear Mr. Speaker:

                   As required by Section 305(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, I am transmitting to the Congress the
               1988 National Water Quality Inventory Report. This report is the seventh in a series of national water-quality
               assessments published since 1975. It is based primarily on reports submitted by the States in 1988; in some cases,
               State-reported information has been supplemented by data developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
               (EPA). Although EPA has analyzed and summarized the water quality information in the State reports, the views and
               recommendations presented are those of individual States, not those of EPA or the Administration. The individual
               1988 State reports are being transmitted to the Congress in their entirety.
                   The message presented by the States in these reports is that many point source-related surface water-quality
               problems, such as bacteria and oxygen-demanding materials discharged by sewage treatment plants, appear to be
               diminishing as a result of pollution control programs. At the same time, the pollution problems that are most difficult
               to assess and control-e.g., sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, polluted runoff from farmlands, and toxic
               contamination of fish tissue and sediments-are becoming more evident.
                   About 30 percent of U.S. river miles, 40 percent of lake acres, and 70 percent of estuarine square miles were
               assessed by the States in 1988, a significant increase over previous years. Of these assessed waters, most are
               supporting the uses for which they have been designated by the States. These uses, such as drinking water supply,
               swimming, and the propagation of aquatic life, were found to be supported in 70 percent of assessed river miles,
               74 percent of assessed lake acres, and 72 percent of assessed estuarine square miles.
                   A variety of pollution problems remain in the Nation's waters. The leading causes of pollution cited by the States
               in impaired rivers and lakes are siltation and nutrients; in impaired estuarine waters, nutrients and fecal coliform
              bacteria are most commonly cited. Agricultural activities are the most extensively reported source of pollution in
               rivers and lakes, and municipal discharges are cited as the leading source of pollution in estuaries. Wetland loss is also
              a significant problem reported by the States. Land development for residential or commercial uses is cited as the
              leading cause of loss of wetland acreage.
                   Major threats to ground-water quality, as reported by the States, include underground storage tanks, septic
              systems, agricultural activities, municipal landfills, surface impoundments, and abandoned hazardous waste sites.
              Nitrates, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, petroleum products, metals, and brine are cited as the leading
              contaminants of concern in ground water.
                   Nevertheless, as this report shows, the Nation's water pollution control programs have achieved significant
              results. Expenditures to construct and upgrade sewage treatment facilities have substantially increased the
              population served by higher levels of treatment. Municipal and industrial facilities are at a high rate of compliance
              with the conditions of their permit limits. A variety of State and Federal programs have led to progress in reducing the
              impacts of diffuse sources of pollution such as agricultural runoff. The States are engaged in a number of ground-
              water protection activities such as development of wellhead protection programs and ground-water mapping.
                   In addition, under the impetus provided by the Water Quality Act of 1987, the States have identified specific
              waters with impairments due to toxic contaminants and diffuse sources of pollution. EPA and the States are beginning
              to develop and implement control programs for these waters. In future editions of this report, EPA will be reporting on
              the progress achieved by these programs.
                   EPA is continuing to work with the States to improve the consistency and comprehensiveness of the Section
              305(b) reporting process. A computerized data system has been developed to better manage State water-quality
              assessments and facilitate State reporting. EPA is developing guidance for the States to help them build effective,
              forward-looking monitoring programs. Future reports in this series should reflect these improvements.

              Sincerely,
                                                                     IPropertyï¿½ of ese xLfbrazy


              Will-iam K.

                                                                   U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NOAA
              Honorable J. Danforth QuayleCOSASEVESENR
              President of the Senate
                 -ï¿½                                               ~~~~~~~~~~COASTAL SERVICES CENTER
              Washiington,DC 20510                                2234 SOUTH  HOBSON  AVENUE

                                                                   CHARLESTON, SC 29405-2413
          /%- Honorable Thomas Foley
            Vpeaker of the House of Representatives
-o   'V   ~/!Washington, DC 20515
x 0    "--



















































  Acknowledgments


    This report is based primarily on water quality assessments submitted to EPA by the States,
  Territories, and Interstate Commissions of the United States. The Environmental Protection
  Agency (EPA) wishes to thank the authors of these assessments for the time and effort spent
  in preparing these reports and reviewing the draft of this national assessment. Additional
  thanks go to the water quality assessment coordinators from all ten EPA Regions who work
  with the States.

    This document was written and edited by Alice Mayio of the Assessment and Watershed
frpteteohL f]jvjsisiq:, Qffiee sfj~ater Regulations and Standards (OWRS), under the direction
  of Bruce Newton, Chief, Monitoring Analysis Section. Key contributions were also made by
  the following individuals in other EPA program offices: Mary Lou Soscia, Office of Marine and
  Estuarine Protection; Caryle Miller, Office of Ground-Water Protection; John Maxted, Office
  of Wetlands Protection; Sandy Braswell, Office of Municipal Pollution Control; Brett Snyder,
  Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation; and Ed Bender and Kathryn Smith, Office of Water
  Enforcement and Permits.

    Data analysis, technical assistance, graphics, and word processing were provided by Versar
  Incorporated under Contract No. 68-02-4254. Design, typesetting, illustration, and graphics
  were provided by Research Triangle Institute, Research Services Department, under Contract
  No. 68-C9-0013.

















        K~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pg



                                                    PaeContents
  Highlights ..........................iv
  Figures...........................                                             v
  Tables ............................vii

Part One: Introduction
  Executive Summary......................xi
  Introduction..........................xxi
     Background.........................xxi
     Methodology ........................xxii

Part Two: Surface Water Quality

 1Rivers and Streams.....................                                         1
     Support of Designated Uses ..1............... 
     Causes of Impairment.....................3
     Sources of Impairment....................                                  7
    Attainment of the Clean Water Act Goals..............11

2 Lakes and Reservoirs ....................17
     Support of Designated Uses...................17
     Causes of Impairment.....................18
     Sources of Impairment.....................22
    Attainment of the Clean Water Act Goals..............26
    Trophic Status of Lakes ....................26
     EPA's Clean Lakes Program...................30

3 The Great Lakes.......................33
     Support of Designated Uses ..................33
    Causes and Sources of Impairment................34
    Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals ...............35
    The Great Lakes: A Narrative Assessment.............38

4 Estuaries and Coastal Waters.................4
     Estuaries..........................50
      Support of Designated Uses..................50
      Causes of Impairment ...................51















                                                  Page
      Sources of Impairment....................54
      Attainment of the Clean Water Act Goals.............57
      Understanding Estuarine Water Quality: The Chesapeake
      Bay Perspective ......................59
    Ocean Coastal Waters.....................68
      Support of Designated Uses..................68
      Causes and Sources of Impairment...............69
      Attainment of the Clean Water Act Goals.............69
     New Initiatives for Estuarine and Coastal Waters...........77

5 Wetlands...........................79
     Types of Wetlands ......................79
     Wetland Values .......................80
     Overview of State Reporting...................83
     Wetland Resources......................83
     Wetlands Protection Programs..................89

6 Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns ..101......... o
     Total Size of Waters Affected by Toxics...............102
     Fish Consumption Advisories and Bans ..............106
     Sediment Contamination....................110
     Fish Kills Caused by Pollution..................114
     Bathing Area Closures.....................116

Part Three: Ground-Water Quality
     Introduction.........................119

7 Ground-Water Quality ....................121
     Current Ground-Water Use ...................121
     Ground-Water Quality .....................122

8 Ground-Water Protection Programs..............129
     State Programs .......................129
     Federal Ground-Water Protection Programs.............136

Part Four: Water Pollution Control Programs
     Introduction.........................143
9 Point Source Control Program ................145
     Toxics Control: Section 304(l) of the Clean Water Act .........145
     Treating Municipal Wastewater..................148
     Treating Industrial Wastewater..................152
     Permitting..........................155
     Compliance and Enforcement..................155
     New Initiatives in Point Source Control...............157
















                                                Page
10 Nonpoint Source Control Program ..............161
    The Water Quality Act of 1987..................164
    The State Section 319 Reports..................164
    The NPS Agenda Task Force ..................165
    New Directions........................165

11 Surface Water Monitoring ..................167
    Goals of the Water Monitoring Program ..............168
    The Need for Change .....................169
    New Water Monitoring Initiatives .................171
    Outlook for Water Quality Monitoring ...............172

12 Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control............177
    Costs ...........................177
    Benefits ..........................180

13 State Recommendations...................185

  References .........................189

  Appendix - Excerpts from the State reports..........A-1
























Highlights                                                                                                         Page
                     Sources of Pollution Reported by the States .................10
                      Making Assessment Decisions.....................14-15
                      Green Bay/Fox River Mass Balance Study ................42-44
                      The Potomac River: The Multidecade Recovery of a
                      Chesapeake Bay Tributary ......................62-65
                      Coastal Protection in the Mid-Atlantic Bight ................66-67
                      Port Townsend Bay .........................70-71
                      Red Tide in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico..................74-76
                      National Wetlands Policy Forum ....................92-93
                      The National Wetlands Inventory ....................96-97
                      Citizen-Based Surface Water Monitoring ................174-175
                      Washington's Centennial Clean Water Program ...............183


























iv
























No. Title                                                                        Page  Figures

1-1   Designated Use Support in Assessed Rivers and Streams ........3
1-2   Percent of Impaired River Miles Affected by Each Pollution Cause ......6
1-3   Percent of Impaired River Miles Affected by Each Pollution Source......7
1-4   Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Rivers and Streams ....13

2-1   Designated Use Support in Assessed Lakes and Reservoirs ........18
2-2   Percent of Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Each Pollution Cause ......22
2-3   Percent of Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Each Pollution Source......23
2-4   Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Lakes and Reservoirs.         ...26

3-1  Designated Use Support in Assessed Great Lakes............34
3-2   Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Great Lakes .......36

4-1  Designated Use Support in Assessed Estuaries .............51
4-2   Percent of Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Each Pollution Cause . . 53
4-3   Percent of Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Each Pollution Source . 56
4-4   Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Estuary Square Miles.         ...57
4-5 The Chesapeake Bay Watershed...................59
4-6   Average Summer Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations in Chesapeake
     Bay: 1985-1986 .........................60
4-7   Percent of Maryland Chesapeake Bay SAV Ground Survey Stations
     with Vegetation Present ......................61
4-8 Designated Use Support in Assessed Oceans..............69
4-9   Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Oceans .........72

5-1  Extent of Wetlands in the Lower 48 States ...............80
5-2   Original and Remaining Acreages of Wetlands in the Lower 48 States.....83
5-3  Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation.............83
5-4 Wetlands Acreage Distribution Nationwide ...............96

6-1 Fishing Restrictions Nationwide ...................106
6-2 Fish Kills Distribution Nationwide...................114

7-1   Percentage of State and Territory Populations Served by Ground Water
     for Domestic Supply........................122
















                      No.  Title                                                                       Page
                      7-2 National Breakdown of Ground-Water Withdrawals.............122
                      7-3 National Use of Ground Water 1950-1 985................123
                      7-4  Frequency of Reported State and Territory Concern with Ground-Water
                           Contamination Source .......................126
                      7-5  Priority Ranking of Ground-Water Contamination Sources..........127
                      7-6  Priority Ranking of "Other" Ground-Water Contamination Sources ......127
                      7-7   Number of States and Territories Reporting Ground-Water Contaminant
                           as a Concern...........................128

                      9-1  Status of Permit Compliance for Municipal Facilities............157

                      11-1 States with Citizen Monitoring Programs (CMPs) .............174





































vi

























No.   Title                                                                                 Page   T      b    e

1-1  Designated Use Support in Rivers and Streams...............2
1-2    Impaired River Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution ...........4
1-3    Impaired River Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution ...........                        8
1-4  Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Rivers and Streams    .                   .       ..... . ..12
1-5  EPA-issued Guidelines on Making Use Support Decisions..                          .       ..... . ..15

2-1  Designated Use Support in Lakes and Reservoirs.............19
2-2    Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Causes of Pollution                     ...........20
2-3    Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Sources of Pollution                     ...........24
2-4  Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Lakes and Reservoirs ........27
2-5    General Characteristics of Traditional Lake Trophic Status Classifications .... 28
2-6 Trophic Status of the Nation's Lakes ..................29

3-1 Designated Use Support in Great Lakes..................34
3-2    Impaired Great Lakes Shoreline Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution .. . . ..34
3-3    Impaired Great Lakes Shoreline Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution .. . . ..36
3-4  Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Great Lakes                  .         .          ........ . ..37

4-1 Designated Use Support in Estuaries . ..................50
4-2  Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution   . . .... . ..52
4-3    Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution..                .... .  ..54
4-4 Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Estuaries                   ..                    ............58
4-5  Historical Record of Oyster Harvest from the Chesapeake Bay    . . .... . ..65
4-6 Designated Use Support in Oceans.............I..... 68
4-7    Impaired Ocean Coastal Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution                  .......72
4-8  Impaired Ocean Coastal Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution    . . .... . ..72
4-9 Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Oceans                    ...............73

5-1    Summary of State Permit and Other Selected Nonpermit Programs    .                ... . ..91
5-2 Estimated Wetland Area by State . ....................97

6-1  Size of Surface Waters Affected by Toxic Substances.                .          .         ..........104
6-2  Fishing Restrictions Reported by the States ................107
6-3  Pollutants Associated with Fishing Restrictions                 ...............108
6-4  Sources Associated with Fishing Restrictions                  ................108
                                                                                                              vii

















                      No.   Title                                                                         Page
                      6-5 Fish Kills Caused by Pollution....................115
                      6-6 Pollutants Associated with Fish Kills..................116
                      6-7 Sources Associated with Fish Kills ..................116

                      9-1   Levels of Municipal Wastewater Treatment (1984-1988) ..........148
                      9-2   Needs for Publicly Owned Wastewater Treatment Facilities.........150
                      9-3 Status of Permit Issuance .....................155
                      9-4   National Composite Rates of Facilities in Significant Noncompliance .....156

                      12-1 Spending for Water Pollution Abatement and Control ...........178
                      12-2  Distribution of 1986 State Expenditures for Water QuantitylQuality Programs .  7
                      12-3  Distribution of State Water Quality Program Expenditures 1988 and
                            1988-1990 Estimated Incremental Needs................181




































Viii














Introduction




































                   Executive Summary






                     The State Section 305(b)      thought to have good water
                    reports have become increas-   quality. The reader should
                    ingly comprehensive water       also keep in mind that this
                    quality assessments. More       1988 report summarizes
                    and more information is         water quality data collected
                    becoming available on waters   by the States in 1986 and
                    that were previously            1987.
                    unassessed; on the specific       The information presented
                    causes of impairment and        in this report reveals that
                    sources of pollution; on        many point source-related
                    public health and aquatic life   surface water quality prob-
                    impacts such as fishing advi-    lems-for example, conven-
                   sories; on ground-water         tional pollutants such as
                    conditions; and on efforts      bacteria and oxygen-demand-
                    under way to evaluate and       ing materials discharged by
                    address water quality           sewage treatment plants-
                    problems.                       appear to be diminishing as a
                     However, in reviewing the     result of pollution control
                    information presented, the      programs. On the other hand,
_ -L  I  ~bl        reader should keep in mind      problems that are harder to
                   that not all waterbodies have    assess and control, such as
                   been assessed. Because gov-    sedimentation, nutrient
                    ernmental monitoring efforts   enrichment, runoff from
                    tend to focus on problem        farmlands, and toxic contam-
                    areas, it is likely that        ination of fish tissue and
                    unassessed waters are not as    sediments, are becoming
                    polluted as assessed waters.    more evident. Some of these
                    Many States are just begin-     problems may be on the rise.
                    ning to study nonpoint          Others may just be more
                   source impacts that may         evident as point sources
                    affect areas that have been
                                                                             xi









Executive Summary









                                come under control and as       biologists, predictive water     preted with care and should
                                we develop improved             quality models, and informa-    not be compared to those of
                                monitoring capabilities to      tion from citizens to assess     previous reporting cycles, as
                                identify them. To some          their waters.                    wide variations exist among
                                extent, it is certainly true      The States designate their    States in methods used to
                                that the more we look, the       waterbodies for beneficial      determine support of bene-
                                more we find.                    uses (such as drinking water    ficial uses.
                                                                  supply, contact recreation,       The most extensive causes
                                                                  and warm and cold water         of impairment in the Nation's
                                 What  Do the                    fisheries) as part of their      rivers are siltation (affecting
                                 States Report on                EPA-approved water quality    42 percent of impaired river
                                 the Quality of                  standards. Among the States    miles), nutrients (affecting
                                                                  that reported on support of      27 percent), fecal coliform
                                 Their Rivers?                   these beneficial uses, a         bacteria (affecting 19
                                                                  combined total of about         percent), and organic enrich-
                                   Nearly 520,000 river miles    360,000 river miles were         ment/low dissolved oxygen
                                 were assessed by 48 States,     found to support beneficial      (affecting 15 percent). Agri-
                                 Territories, and jurisdictions    uses, or 70 percent of the     cultural runoff is by far the
                                 in 1988. This reflects 29       river miles assessed             most extensive source of
                                 percent of the total river      in these States (see Figure      pollution, affecting 55
                                 miles in the U.S., or 45        ES-1). Including unassessed      percent of impaired river
                                 percent of the total river      waters, it might alternatively    miles. Other sources include
                                 miles in the States that        be stated that 31 percent of     municipal discharges (affect-
                                 reported. This is an increase    the total river miles in        ing 16 percent of impaired
                                 of nearly 150,000 miles over    these States were known to       waters), resource extraction
                                 the number of river miles       support uses, 14 percent         and hydrological habitat
                                 assessed in 1986. States used    were known to be impaired,      modification (each affecting
                                 chemical/biological monitor-    and the remaining 55 percent   13 percent), and storm
                                 ing and other types of data     were not assessed. These         sewers/runoff (affecting
                                 such as surveys of fisheries    numbers should be inter-         9 percent) (see Table ES-1).



                                            River Miles*                   Lake Acres*                 Estuary Square Miles**
                                          Partially                       Partially                         Not
                                          Supporting                      Supporting                        Supporting
                                          (104,632)   Not                (2,701,577) Not Supporting         (1,488)    Unassessed
                                  Fully             Supporting    Fully            (1,591,391)    Partially          (8,300)
                                  Supporting        (53,449)      Supporting                       Supporting
                                  l361,332)                       (12,021,044)                                   78










                                   Unassessed                                        Unassessed      Fully Supporting
                                   (1.28 million)                                    (23.2 million)  (19,110)

                                 Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                 'Total water based on State-reported information in America's Clean Water; The States' Nonpoint Source Assessment, ASIWPCA, 1985.
                                -Total US estuary square miles based on 19B8 State-reported 305(b) data and excludes Alaska and Island Territories.

                                 Figure ES-1. Degree of Designated Use Support in the Nation's Assessed Waters
 xii









                                                                                                          Executive Summary









                                What  Do  the                     The most extensive causes        About 4,500 Great Lakes
                                States Report on                of use impairment in lakes       shoreline miles were assessed
                                the Quality of                  are nutrients (affecting 49      by six of the eight Great
                                                                percent of impaired acres),      Lakes States in 1988. This
                                Their Lakes?                    siltation (affecting 25          reflects 87 percent of the
                                                                percent), and organic enrich-   total Great Lakes shoreline
                                  About 16 million lake acres   ment/low dissolved oxygen        miles in the U.S. and all the
                                (excluding the Great Lakes)     (also affecting 25 percent)      shoreline miles in these six
                                were assessed by 40 States,     (see Table ES-1). Nutrients      States. This is the first time
                                Territories, and jurisdictions   such as phosphorus and          sufficient use support
                                in 1988. This reflects 41       nitrogen are the main cause      information has been avail-
                                percent of the total lake       of cultural eutrophication-      able for the Great Lakes. A
                                acres in the U.S., or 73        a major alteration of lake       combined total of about 370
                                percent of the total lake       ecology characterized by the    Great Lakes shoreline miles
                                acres in the States reporting.    excessive growth of aquatic    were found to support desig-
                                This is an increase of about    weeds and algae. The States      nated beneficial uses, only 8
                                3.8 million lake acres over     reported that about a third of   percent of assessed shoreline
                                the number assessed in 1986.   all lakes assessed for trophic    miles. This low rate of use
                                  Among the States that         status are classified as         support is attributed largely
                                reported on support of desig-   eutrophic. The most exten-       to fish consumption restric-
                                nated beneficial uses, a        sive sources of pollution in     tions in place throughout
                                combined total of about 12      lakes are agriculture (affect-    nearshore waters of the
                                million lake acres were found   ing 58 percent of impaired       lakes. The most extensive
                                to support those uses, or 74    lake acres), hydrologic/         causes of nonsupport are
                                percent of the assessed lake    habitat modification (affect-    synthetic organic chemicals,
                                acres in those States (see      ing 33 percent), storm           metals, and nutrients.
                                Figure ES-1). Including         sewers/runoff (affecting 28
                                unassessed waters, it might     percent), land disposal
                                alternatively be stated that    (affecting 26 percent), and
                                about 53 percent of the total   municipal discharges (affect-
                                lake acres in those States are    ing 15 percent) (see Table
                                known to support uses, 19       ES-i).
                                percent are known to be
                                impaired, and the remaining
                                28 percent were not
                                                                                                  Agricultural activities are the
                                assessed.                                                         most extensive sources of
                                                                                                  pollution in lakes.



Table ES-1. Leading Causes and Sources of Impairment
 Type of             Leading                   Leading
Waterbody            Causes*                   Sources'
Rivers              Siltation            Agriculture
                    Nutrients           Municipal Discharges
Lakes               Nutrients            Agriculture
                    Siltation           Hydro/Habitat Mod.
Estuaries           Nutrients            Municipal Discharges
                    Pathogens           Resource Extraction
*Determined by size affected.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                                                                                                             xiii









Executive Summary









                                What Do States
                                                                 54 percent of total estuarine    Nearly 3,800 coastal shore-
                                Report on the                    square miles in these States      line miles were assessed by
                                Quality of Their                 are known to meet desig-          12 States and Territories in
                                Estuaries and                    nated uses, 21 percent are        1988. This reflects only about
                                                                 known to be impaired, and        20 percent of the Nation's
                                Coastal Waters?                  the remaining 25 percent          19,200 miles of ocean coast-
                                                                 were not assessed.               line, and 73 percent of the
                                  About 26,700 square miles        The most extensive causes    coastline miles in these
                                of estuaries were assessed by    of use impairment in estu-        States. The 1988 reporting
                                23 States, Territories, and      aries are nutrients and           cycle is the first time suffi-
                               jurisdictions in 1988. This      pathogens (affecting 50           cient use support informa-
                                reflects about 76 percent of     and 48 percent of impaired        tion has been available for
                                the estuarine area assessed      square miles, respectively)       the Nation's coastal shore-
                                in these States. Roughly         and organic enrichment/low        line. Among the States that
                                9,000 more estuarine square    dissolved oxygen (affecting         reported on support of
                                miles were assessed in 1988      29 percent). The most exten-    beneficial uses, a combined
                                than in 1986.                    sive sources of pollution in      total of about 3,300 miles
                                  Among the States that          estuaries, as cited by the        were found to fully support
                                reported on support of           States, are municipal             uses, or 89 percent of
                                designated beneficial uses,      discharges (affecting 53          coastline miles assessed in
                                a combined total of about        percent of impaired               these States.
                                19,000 square miles were         estuarine square miles),
                                found to support uses, or 72     resource extraction (affect-
                                percent of estuarine square      ing 34 percent), and storm
                                miles assessed in those States   sewers/runoff (affecting 28
                                (see Figure ES-1). Including     percent) (see Table ES-1).
                                unassessed waters, it might        Coastal shoreline water
                                alternatively be stated that     quality is reported separately
                                                                 from estuarine water quality.
























Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
xiv








                                                                                                             Executive Summary








                                  What  Do the                   activity increases in all these    What  Public
                                  States Report on   areas.                                       Health/Aquatic
                                  the Status of Their   By far the most often cited  Life Impact s A re
                                                                   cause of wetland loss           LifeImpactsAre
                                  Wetlands?                      reported by the States is land    Reported  by the
                                                                   development for residential States?
                                    State reporting on their     or commercial purposes.
                                  status in 1988 was sparse and   Second-home development
                                                                                                       In general, the information
                                  uneven. Roughly one-quarter   and urban encroachment are         era        the Sat     o
                                                                                                     reported by the States shows
                                  of the States and Territories    commonly cited. Other
                                                                                                     that toxic substances are
                                  provided information on        reported causes include          that toxic substances are
                                                                                                     somewhat less prevalent, in
                                  wetland acreage, causes of     agricultural and resource        tes    real ent,    n
                                                                                                     terms of areal extent, than
                                  loss, wetland legislation, and   extraction activities; agri-     er      s of  lltn t
                                                                                                     other types of pollution prob-
                                  State programs. Further-       culture is reported as a major   lems such as siltation and
                                  more, even where informa-      historical cause of wetland       utin a
                                                                                                     nutrients. However, where
                                  tion was provided, it was      loss but appears to be a lesser   te or, we
                                                                                                     they occur, toxic substances
                                  often incomplete. States       current threat.                          e o  oibtet
                                                                                                     can cause or contribute to
                                 generally did not report on      A variety of State wetland       ca   ser ut           t
                                                                                                     locally severe public health
                                 wetland quality (i.e., support   protection legislation and     an    uic  e at
                                                                                                     and aquatic life impacts.
                                  of designated uses).           programs are discussed by    a          u    t i    f t
                                                                                                       Our understanding of the
                                    This incompleteness can be   the States. In many cases,revalence of toxic sub-
                                                                                                     prevalence of toxic sub-
                                  attributed to the complexity    these State efforts appear to
                                                                                                     stances, exposure routes, and
                                  and expense of wetland         be effective in protecting       levels of concern is limited by
                                                                                                     levels of concern is limited by
                                  monitoring, the lack of        wetlands and halting their       the difficulty and expense of
                                                                                                     the difficulty and expense of
                                  a complete data base on        destruction and degradation.   monitoring and conducting
                                                                                                     monitoring and conducting
                                  wetland acreage, the lack of                                    long-term health effect
                                                                                                     long-term health effect
                                  State water quality standards
                                                                                                     studies. Nevertheless, we
                                 for wetlands, and insufficient                gie  nerle
                                                                                                     have gained considerable
                                 EPA guidance on wetland
                                                                                                     experience over the last
                                 reporting. Future State
                                                                                                     decade in monitoring for
                                  305(b) reporting on wetlands
                                 should be improved as















                                                                                                              4




Wetlands provide many 
benefits including food and
habitat for fish and wildlife. 
                                                                                                                                xv









Executive Summary









                               toxic substances and in tar-    State water quality stand-      37 States. Five hundred
                               geting monitoring to areas      ards; criteria developed by     thirty-three incidents were
                               most likely to be contami-      EPA under Section 304(a) of    reported, primarily caused
                               nated. In 1988, the number      the Clean Water Act; Water      by heavy metals, PCBs, and
                               of States providing data on     Quality Advisories developed   pesticides.
                               toxic substances in their       by EPA; or "levels of State       Nearly a thousand pollu-
                               waters increased substan-       concern" where numeric cri-   tion-caused fish kills were
                               tially compared to previous     teria do not exist. The States    reported by 35 States, with
                               reporting cycles.               reported elevated levels of     roughly 36 million fish killed.
                                 States provided specific      toxics in one-third of moni-    Biochemical oxygen demand-
                               information on toxic            tored river miles, lake acres,    ing substances/low levels of
                               substances in their rivers,    .and coastal waters. About a     dissolved oxygen, oil and gas,
                               lakes, wetlands, estuaries,     fourth of monitored estua-      pesticides, temperature
                               and coastal waters; in the      rine waters and 90 percent of   changes, ammonia, and
                               bottom sediments of these       Great Lakes shoreline miles     chlorine were leading
                               waters; and in the tissue of    were reported as having ele-    causes cited by the States.
                               fish and shellfish. Toxics-     vated levels of toxics.         Commonly cited sources
                               related impacts such as fish      Forty-seven States and        include agriculture, spills,
                               consumption advisories and      Territories reported on         and municipal and industrial
                               other public health or          fishing advisories and bans;    discharges.
                               aquatic life impacts (such as   586 fishing advisories and        Information on the closure
                               fish kills and beach closures)    135 bans were identified.     of swimming areas due to
                               were also discussed by the      PCBs, chlordane, mercury,       pollution is limited in the
                               States.                         dioxin, and DDT were the        State reports. Over 200 beach
                                 Where States monitored        most commonly cited causes;   closure incidents were
                               for toxic substances (usually    industrial discharges and      reported, most of short-term
                               a subset of waters most likely   land disposal were the most    duration and attributed to
                               to have problems with           common sources of contami-   pathogen indicators such as
                               toxics), they were asked to     nation leading to fishing       fecal coliform bacteria from
                               report on the extent to which   restrictions.                   sewage treatment plants,
                               elevated levels were found.       Sediment contamination        combined sewer overflows,
                               These elevated levels are       by toxics was discussed by      urban runoff, and spills.
                               defined as exceedances of
























xvi








                                                                                                       Executive Summary








                                What  Do the                     Many States and TeLrritories   nitrates, pesticides, volatile
                                States Report on               are engaging in studies to       organic compounds, petro-
                                                               better understand the           leum products, metals, and
                                Grou nd-Wate r                 quality of their ground water,   brine as contaminants of
                                Quality?                       identify and map their           concern (see Tible ES-2).
                                                               ground-water resources,         Other contaminants reported
                                 Ground water is a vital       identify potential sources of    include bacteria, solvents,
                                natural resource that is        contamination, and deter-       acids, and tanning wastes.
                                withdrawn for drinking          mine the vulnerability of the    These findings generally
                               water, irrigation, industrial   resources to pollution. Many    parallel the findings of the
                                use, and livestock watering.    States have also begun          1986 reports except for a
                                In many parts of the United     developing more innovative      reduction in the number of
                               States, ground water is the     approaches to ground-water      States reporting ground-
                                only reliable source of water.   protection, such as Wellhead    water impacts from sewage.
                               As result of a growing aware-   Protection (WHP) Programs.
                               ness of the important nature      Over half of the States and
                               of this resource and its        Territories classified under-   What  Is the Status
                               vulnerability, many States      ground storage tanks, septic    of Ground-Water
                               and Territories are develop-    systems, agricultural activ-
                               ing and expanding legisla-      ities, municipal landfills,     Progemi?
                               tion, regulations, and          surface impoundments, and Programs?
                               programs to protect ground      abandoned hazardous waste
                               water Ground-water protec-   sites as major threats to            The States and lbrritories
                               tion is especially important    ground-water quality. With      are currently engaged in a
                               because of the difficulty and    very minor differences, these   number of ground-water
                               expense involved in cleaning    are the same sources of         protection activities to
                               up contaminated aquifers,       concern reported in the 1986    address identified contami-
                               providing alternative water     State Section 305(b)reports.    nants and their sources. At
                               supplies, or adding treatment   More than half of the States    least 49 States and Territories
                               to public water systems.        and Territories identified      have developed or are in the









Table ES-2. Leading Sources and Contaminants Affecting
            Ground Water
    Leading Sources of            Leading Ground-Water
Ground-Water Contamination        Contaminants of Concern
ï¿½ Underground Storage Tanks  a  Nitrates
* Septic Systems               * Pesticides
* Agricultural Activities      * Volatile Organic Compounds
* Municipal Landfills          * Petroleum Products
ï¿½ Surface Impoundments         * Metals
ï¿½ Abandoned Hazardous      a     Brine
  Waste Sites
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.                     0
                                                                                                                       Xvii








Executive Summary








                               process of developing            Since the reauthorization        In recent years, the Federal
                               Ground-Water Protection        of the Safe Drinking Water       Government has joined the
                               Strategies. Many of these      Act in 1986, many State and      States in their efforts to
                               State Strategies have also     local governments have been    protect the Nation's ground
                               been accompanied by            actively moving to develop       water through programs
                               changes in State laws or       and implement WHP                mandated by the Clean
                               regulations to bolster         Programs. Section 1428 of        Water Act, the Safe Drinking
                               ground-water protection        the Safe Drinking Water Act      Water Act, the Resource
                               activities. At least 31 States  specifies that each State       Conservation and Recovery
                               have adopted specific          must prepare a WHP               Act, the Comprehensive
                               ground-water protection        Program and submit it to         Environmental Response,
                               legislation. Other States rely    EPA by June 19, 1989. Many    Compensation, and Liability
                               on generic water or public     of the States and local          Act, and the Federal Insecti-
                               health statutes. This legisla-    governments are already cide, Fungicide, and Rodenti-
                               tion has led to the promulga-   conducting specific WHP         cide Act. In 1984, EPA
                               tion of regulations, which,     activities. Twenty-seven        developed a Ground-Water
                               in many States, stipulate       States submitted WHP            Protection Strategy that
                                controls for the management    programs by the deadline,        provides an approach to
                                of specific sources of          and additional States are       integrating source-specific
                                contamination and standards   pursuing other wellhead           control and cleanup
                                for ground-water quality        protection initiatives. programs into a comprehen-
                                protection. Sources of            Over 40 States and            sive policy and institutional
                                ground-water contamination   'Ibrritories report active         framework for protecting the
                                have historically been regu-    programs to classify their      resource from unacceptable
                                lated by many different         ground waters and to map        levels of contamination. EPA
                                agencies within the States.     vulnerable sources of          is also working to strengthen
                                Coordinating the activities of   ground-water supply. Many      ground-water data manage-
                                these agencies to ensure an     of the State classification     ment through activities such
                                effective ground-water          programs have been designed   as developing a minimum set
                                protection program is a         to support the application      of data elements for ground
                                priority in at least 12 States.    of ground-water quality      water, thus facilitating entry
                                                               standards.                     and retrieval of ground-water
                                                                                               data.


















 Abandoned hazardous waste  
 sites are among the many
 threats to ground-water quality. 
 xviii









                                                                       Executive Summary









Are the Nation's               CWA authorized EPA to           strategies must be developed
                                provide grants and loans to    for plants contributing to
Surface Water                  the States. Expenditures        toxic problems in surface
Pollution Control              under the construction          waters; EPA is directed to
Programs                       grants program have             develop numerical limits for
                               produced significant gains     toxic pollutants of concern in
Working?                       for wastewater treatment. In   sludge, the residual material
                                1972, 85 million people were    from the wastewater treat-
 The Clean Water Act (CWA)   served by secondary treat-       ment process; timetables
of 1972 provided the basic     ment or better; today, treat-    were established for EPA to
framework for Federal and      ment facilities serving 144     develop permits for storm
State programs to regulate     million people have second-     water management; and a
point and nonpoint sources     ary or more advanced levels    State Revolving Fund
of pollution. Although         of treatment. According to      program was developed as a
revised by amendments in       EPA data, 87 percent of the     new financing mechanism
1977, 1981, and 1987, the      Nation's municipal sewage       for wastewater treatment.
basic framework embodied in   treatment plants were in           In the early 1980s,
the original Act continues to    compliance with existing      significant backlogs of
guide the Nation's water       permit limits as of July 1,     unissued permits for indus-
pollution control programs.    1988. The States provide a      trial dischargers had an
 Point sources of pollution   number of examples of water    adverse effect on water
are regulated through          quality improvements            quality in the United States.
permits issued by either EPA    resulting from municipal       EPA data reveal that efforts
or the States. These permits   construction and upgrading.     to remedy these backlogs
contain limits on the amount     The Water Quality Act of      have been largely successful;
and types of pollutants that   1987 includes a number of       a 13 percent backlog cur-
may be discharged.             provisions to further improve    rently exists for major
 'lb control pollution from   municipal wastewater treat-    sources. The data also show
municipal dischargers, the     ment. For example, control      that industrial permittees
                                                               have achieved a higher rate
                                                               of compliance than munici-
                                                               pal permittees: 93 percent of
                                                               major industrial facilities
                                                               were meeting their permit
                                                               limits as of December 1988,
                                                               compared to 87 percent of
                                                               major municipal facilities.
                                                                 Nonpoint sources of
                                                               pollution are primarily
                                                               addressed through programs
                                                               at the State and local levels
                                                               of government. Nonpoint
                                                               source (NPS) management
                                                               activities focus primarily on
                                                               pollution prevention, as
                                                               opposed to restoration.
                                                               Approaches range from land
                                                               use management to the
                                                              implementation of structural
                                                              and cultural practices
                                                               designed to reduce the
                                                              environmental impacts of
                                                              human activities. Examples

                                                                                       xix








Executive Summary








                               of NPS management activ-        report to Congress entitled A    State and local governments
                               ities include preserving        Report to The Congress:         overcome barriers to the
                               wetlands; managing              Activities and Programs         successful implementation
                               nutrients and pesticides on     Implemented Under Section    of NPS measures.
                               farms; creating wet deten-      819 of the Clean Water Act-       EPA has also initiated an
                               tion basins in urban areas;     Fiscal Year 1988, EPA           NPS Agenda Tabsk Force to
                               controlling stream acidifi-     reports that a variety of State   explore new and creative
                               cation caused by abandoned      and Federal activities have     approaches to achieving the
                               coal mines; protecting          led to progress in reducing     goal of the Agenda. Likely
                               salmonid fisheries from         the impacts of NPS in           approaches include raising
                               sediment entering streams       specific waters. At the same    public awareness of NPS;
                               from logging areas; and         time, several States have       providing States and local
                               protecting and reestablishing   identified constraints          governments with informa-
                               riparian habitats. These        affecting the implementation   tion on NPS solutions and
                               activities may be imposed       of NPS programs.                incentives for their imple-
                               through regulatory or             In January 1989, EPA          mentation; and developing
                               voluntary programs and are      completed a National NPS        water quality criteria and
                               generally developed and         Agenda that will serve as the   monitoring protocols
                               applied on a site-specific      framework for the Agency        specifically designed to
                               basis.                          NPS program over the next 5   assess NPS problems and
                                 Section 319 of the Water      years. The goal of the Agenda   evaluate NPS control
                               Quality Act of 1987 included    is to protect and restore the   activities.
                               provisions for the assessment   quality of U.S. waters
                               and management of nonpoint   through strong National
                               sources. In its second NPS     leadership and by helping





















                       XX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


































                                       Introduction






                                       Background
                                               ~~Background     ~      of fish, shellfish, and wildlife
                                                                       and provides for recreation
                                         The Federal Water Pollu-      in and on the water be
                                       tion Control Act (commonly      achieved by July 1, 1983."
                                       known as the Clean Water         In response to the Act, in
                                       Act or CWA) has been the        the early 1970s the Federal
                                       primary regulatory force        government and the States
                                       protecting the Nation's water   developed new water pollu-
                                       resources. A number of other   tion control programs and
                                       statutes-for example, the       strengthened existing efforts
                                       Safe Drinking Water Act, the    to deal with the myriad
                                       Marine and Estuarine Protec-   sources adversely affecting
                           ..:.. ~     tion Act, and the Resource      water quality. The problems
                           ?:~   ~Conservation and Recovery            were daunting: industries
                                       Act-also directly address       and municipalities were
                                       water quality issues. The      discharging inadequately
                                       objective of the Clean Water    treated or raw wastes into
                                       Act is to "restore and          rivers, lakes, and estuaries;
                                       maintain the chemical,          the disposal of hazardous
                                       physical, and biological        materials in landfills and
                                       integrity of the Nation's       dumpsites occurred without
       -: ._  a~~--:   . ~             waters." An interim goal        regulation or control; and
                                       established to achieve this     little or no consideration was
0Ile~~~~~~~ ~~~objective is that "wherever                              given to methods to control
                                       attainable... water quality    surface runoff of pesticides,
                                       which provides for the         fertilizers, and sediments.
                                       protection and propagation



                                                                                                 xxi








Introduction








                                 Significant progress was     which, because of their        these reports and transmit
                               achieved under the CWA in      characteristics and uses,      them and this national report
                               the 1970s and 1980s in clean-   required unique approaches    to Congress. This report
                               ing up the most pressing and    to pollution control.         summarizes the States' 1988
                               obvious pollution problems.      Amendments to the Clean    reports, which contain data
                               Industries and municipal       Water Act, passed in 1987,     collected in 1986-1987.
                               sewage treatment plants        sought to address these          A number of variables are
                               were brought under regula-    problems. Among other           involved in defining water
                               tion and achieved increas-     things, the amendments         quality, collecting monitoring
                               ingly more stringent levels of   require identification of    data, and compiling and
                               control. State water pollu-    specific degraded waters,      reporting on that informa-
                               tion abatement and assess-     development of strategies to   tion. EPA seeks to establish
                                ment programs grew more        control pollution in those     consistency among these
                                comprehensive. Yet along       waters, and application of     variables by preparing guide-
                                with the rising sophistication   additional resources to      lines for States' use in
                                of these efforts came the      impaired estuaries and lakes.   reporting water quality
                                realization that some          First-stage results of these   information. For example,
                                problems were not being        new initiatives are included    these guidelines promote the
                                adequately addressed.          in this report.                use of a consistent measure
                                Among these problems were                                     of water quality based on the
                                sources of pollution that      Methodology                    degree to which a waterbody
                                were difficult to identify and                                is in compliance with the
                                manage, such as runoff from     Section 305(b) of the Clean    State water quality standards
                                agricultural lands and city   Water Act requires States to    established for that water-
                                streets; toxic contaminants   report to EPA on the extent     body. State water quality
                                for which methods of detec-    to which their surface waters   standards consist of the
                                tion and control were highly   are meeting the goals of the   water quality objective,
                                expensive; and degradation    Act and to recommend how        expressed as the "beneficial
                                of waters such as lakes,      the goals can be achieved.      use," and numeric and narra-
                                estuaries, and wetlands,      EPA, in turn, is to analyze     tive "criteria" designed to
                                                                                               ensure maintenance of the
                                                                                               beneficial use. EPA's Section
                                                            , ~ ~ L~~~ i~~~ j~~ ~305(b) reporting guidelines
                                                                                               require that States report on
                                                                                               water quality in terms of the
                                                                                               degree that beneficial uses
                                                                                               are supported. Degree of use
                                                                                               support is divided into four
                                                                                               categories: fully supporting,
                                                                                               fully supporting but threat-
                                                                                               ened, partially supporting,
                                                                                                and not supporting uses.
                                                                                                Limited criteria for defining
                                                                                                these categories have been
                                                                                                developed, but States have
                                                                                                considerable discretion in
                                                                                                determining exactly how
                                                                                                decisions about the degree of
                                                                                                use support are made. Thus,
                                                                                                the data reported by the
                                                                                                States should be considered
                                                                                                to represent State judgments
                         g~~~~~                                                  ~ ~ i~~~~~~~-ï¿½ ~~~~~~~~~about water quality.

 xxii








                                                                               Introduction









 Another method of defin-      reporting cycles, consider-   ï¿½ 48 provided information
ing water quality, as          ably more emphasis will be     that could be used to derive
mentioned above, is by         placed on waterbody-specific  the overall degree of desig-
determining progress toward    information that will be       nated use support for 519,412
the goals of the CWA-that      managed using a computer-    stream miles, or 45 percent
waters be of fishable and      ized data system.              of the stream miles in these
swimmable quality. EPA           Some of the major data       States;
guidelines encourage report-    elements that were used in
ing on this measure and seek    this report include the       ï¿½ 40 provided information
to establish baseline defini-  following:                     on designated use support
tions of fishability and                                      for 16,313,962 acres of lakes
swimmability.                  ï¿½ Total sizes of assessed      and reservoirs, 73 percent of
  Ideally, the State assess-   waterbodies (in river miles,    lake acres in these States;
ments should contain two       lake acres, estuarine square
types of water quality infor-    miles, coastal and Great Lake  ï¿½ 23 out of 27 coastal States
mation: waterbody-specific    shoreline miles) per State      provided information on
and summary. This dual         that are fully, partially, or  designated use support for
approach allows the State      not supporting designated      26,628 square miles of
reports to serve various       beneficial uses, and those     estuaries, 76 percent of the
functions. The identification    that are threatened;         estuaries in these States;
of specific problem areas and
pollutants increases the       ï¿½ Major causes of use          ï¿½ 15 States provided infor-
usefulness of the reports in   impairment (i.e., pollutants    mation on their existing
determining State manage-      or processes such as siltation  wetland acreage and State
ment needs and pollution       causing degradation);         wetland programs (no States
control priorities; summary                                   assessed the quality of their
data permit a "big picture"    ï¿½ Sources of pollution in     wetlands);
of State and national water    those waters not fully
quality to be drawn. In        supporting their uses; and     ï¿½ 38 reported on causes
general, it is the State                                     of nonsupport in impaired
summary information that       ï¿½ Number of waters            rivers, 33 reported on causes
has been extracted and         adversely affected by toxic    in impaired lakes, and 16
analyzed for this 1988         pollutants.                   reported on causes in
National Water Quality                                        impaired estuarine waters;
Inventory. In future 305(b)      Although many States have
                                provided most or all of the   ï¿½ 37 reported usable infor-
                                summary data requested in    mation on sources of pollu-
                                the guidelines, others have   tion in impaired rivers,
                                not done so. For example, out  28 reported on sources in
                                of the 53 States, Territories,    impaired lakes, and 14
                                and jurisdictions that        reported on sources in
                                submitted water quality       impaired estuaries;
                                assessments in 1988 in time
                                for their inclusion in this   ï¿½ 12 States reported on the
                                AWreport:                     extent of their wetland
                                                               resources and the factors
                                                               affecting those resources,
                                                               10 reported on their wetland
                                                               protection programs; and

                                The goal of the Clean Water
                                Act is that the waters of
                                the U.S. be fishable and
                           -    swimmable.
                                                                                         xxiii








Introduction








                               * 35 provided data on the      more cost-effective monitor-    supported in a given water-
                               total number of river miles    ing techniques. EPA is also     body. Determining the
                               affected by toxics; 28         in the process of examining     degree of use support
                               reported on the number of      EPA and State monitoring        involves a considerable
                               lake acres affected by toxics,    efforts as part of planned   amount of judgment,
                               and 13 reported on the         revisions to program            particularly for the aquatic
                               number of estuarine square     guidance for monitoring.        life uses. It also may involve
                               miles affected by toxics.        Nevertheless, the absence     going beyond examination of
                                                               of data for some States limits   the specific chemical criteria
                                 However, despite incom-      EPA's ability to analyze the    contained in State water
                               plete reporting, the contin-   data over time and creates      quality standards. Such
                               uing effort to improve and     gaps in our understanding of    criteria are designed to
                               better manage water quality    water quality conditions        support the use but are often
                               data is succeeding. In 1988,   nationwide. Another obstacle   incomplete compared to the
                               the States provided more       arises because of inconsis-     range of potential pollutants
                               data on many topics of         tencies among States in how    and phenomena that
                               concern than in previous       these data were generated.      adversely affect water
                               years. The number of waters    These inconsistencies are       quality and, ultimately, the
                               assessed by the States has     themselves the result of        degree of use support.
                               risen significantly. Current   different State approaches to     A wide degree of variation
                               State and EPA initiatives to   monitoring, different pollu-    is evident among States in
                               further improve water moni-    tion problems and program       the number of river miles,
                               toring and reporting include    needs, and the lack of         lake acres, and estuarine
                               implementing a computer-       generally accepted assess-      square miles assessed for
                               ized water quality data        ment methodologies.             designated use support (see
                               system to manage State           For example, as mentioned    Table 1). Some States
                               information on the causes,     previously, the standard        provided rather low esti-
                               sources, and magnitude of      measure for evaluating water   mates of their total number
                               degradation in individual      quality is the degree to        of waters; therefore, their
                               waterbodies, and developing    which designated uses are       percentages of total waters























 The number of waters
 assessed by the States has
 risen significantly.
 xxiv









                                                                                                                              Introduction








Table 1. Percentage of Waters Assessed for Rivers, Lakes, and Estuaries*

                                     Rivers                                    Lakes                                   Estuaries
                            Total              Percent                Total               Percent               Total              Percent
State                      Miles              Assessed               Acres               Assessed             Sq. Miles           Assessed
Alabama                     40,600                   28               504,336                   97                 625                    8
Arizona                       6,671                  34                     -                    -                  NA                   NA
Arkansas                    11,508                   36                     -                    -                  NA                   NA
California                  26,970                   37              1,417,540                  76                1,598                  69
Colorado                    14,655                   68               265,982                   47                  NA                   NA
Connecticut                  8,400                   10                 82,900                  26                 601                  100
Delaware                       500                   93                     -                    -                   -                   -
Delaware River
Basin                          206                  100                     -                    -                 866                  100
District of Columbia            36                   72                   377                   36                    6                 100
Florida                     12,659                   63              2,085,120                  45               4,298                   62
Georgia                     20,000                  100               417,730                  100                 594                  100
Hawaii                         349                  100                     -                    -                 134                  100
Illinois                    14,080                   92               247,188                   74                  NA                   NA
Indiana                     90,000                    6               104,540                  100                  NA                  NA
Iowa                        18,300                   45                81,400                   99                  NA                  NA
Kansas                      19,791                   35               175,189                   99                  NA                  NA
Kentucky                    18,465                   47               228,385                   94                  NA                  NA.
Louisiana                   14,180                   60               713,719                   73               7,656                   64
Maine                       31,672                  100               994,560                  100                1,633                 100
Maryland                     9,300                  100                 17,448                 100                1,981                 100
Massachusetts               10,704                   15                     -                   -                  171                  100
Michigan                    36,350                  100               840,960                   50                  NA                   NA
Minnesota                   91,944                    5              3,411,200                  42                  NA                   NA
Mississippi                 15,623                  100               500,000                  100                 133                  100
Missouri                    19,630                  100               288,012                  100                  NA                   NA
Montana                     20,532                   95               756,450                   88                  NA                   NA
Nebraska                    10,212                   56               145,300                   59                  NA                   NA
New Hampshire               14,544                    9               151,000                   99                  27                   63
New Jersey                       -                   -                      -                   -                  420                   62
New Mexico                   3,500                   33               126,500                   95                  NA                   NA
New York                    70,000                  100               750,000                  100                1,564                 100
North Carolina              37,378                   89               305,367                  100               3,200                  100
North Dakota                11,284                   87               625,503                   99                  NA                   NA
Ohio                        43,917                   16               117,323                   77                  NA                   NA
Ohio River Valley              981                  100                                         -                   NA                   NA
Oklahoma                    19,791                   47                     -                    -                  NA                   NA
Oregon                      90,000                   31               610,808                   83
Pennsylvania                50,000                   26                     -                   -                   NA                  NA
Puerto Rico                  5,373                  100                11,146                  100                   -
Rhode Island                   724                   80                 16,520                  97                 192                  100
South Carolina               9,900                   38               525,000                   78               2,155                   29
South Dakota                 9,937                   38              1,598,285                  41                  NA                   NA
Tennessee                   19,124                   49               538,657                  100                  NA                   NA
Texas                       80,000                   17              1,410,240                 100                1,990                 100
Vermont                      5,162                  100               229,146                   99                  NA                   NA
Virgin Islands                   -                   -                      -                    -                  29                  100
Virginia                    27,240                   13                161,562                 100                2,382                  76
Washington                  40,492                   11               613,582                   26                2,943                  72
West Virginia               28,361                   50                 19,171                 100                  NA                   NA
Wisconsin                        -                   -                971,000                  100                  NA                   NA
Wyoming                     19,437                  100               427,219                  100                  NA                   NA
Totals                   1,150,482                   45            22,486,365                   73              35,198                   76
'Based on State estimates of total waters.                 - Not reported.                        Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                                                                                                                       XXV









Introduction








                              assessed may appear high by    have more severe water         or those that are intensively
                              comparison with other          quality problems. States       used for recreational
                              States. Some States actually    heavily affected by diffuse   purposes-the remaining
                              assessed a very high percent-   and difficult-to-locate       unassessed waters may be of
                              age of their waters because    nonpoint sources may have      better quality. EPA is encour-
                              they used best professional    to rely on other than tradi-    aging increased water quality
                              judgment, information from    tional fixed station monitor-    assessment in order to verify
                               citizens and other State       ing of chemical pollutants     this and gain a more accurate
                               agencies, and computer         to determine water quality     picture of the Nation's waters
                               modeling to supplement         conditions.                     as a whole. EPA has also
                               actual chemical, biological,     On the other hand, States     asked States to identify
                               and physical monitoring        with high concentrations of     which of their waterbodies
                               data. Other States assessed a   industries and cities may find   were assessed using biolog-
                               smaller percentage of their    it more effective to rely on    ical or chemical data (termed
                               total stream miles because     biological surveys and          "monitored") and which
                               they preferred to rely almost    various chemical monitoring    were assessed using other
                               exclusively on actual water    methods to assess water         types of data (termed
                               quality monitoring data such   quality. Traditionally, then,   "evaluated").
                               as chemical and biological     each State weighs its needs       In addition to the problem
                               information from fixed         and judges how it can best      of variations in the number
                               stations and special surveys,    use its monitoring resources.    of waters assessed, there are
                               and may have excluded            One drawback of this          basic inconsistencies involv-
                               supplemental sources of        approach is that it results in a   ing how support of desig-
                               information.                   relatively small percentage     nated uses is determined.
                                 Why do State monitoring      of the Nation's waters being    Variability exists among
                               strategies vary? Clearly, some   assessed. We assume that      States in defining the charac-
                               States have more funds than    since States generally focus    teristics a waterbody must
                               others for these activities,   their monitoring resources      have to be fully, partially, or
                              just as some have more         on waters most likely to have    not supporting its uses and
                               waters to deal with and some   problems-e.g., urban waters    even what those uses should
























States use a variety of methods :
to monitor their waters.      
xxvi








                                                                               Introduction








be. In part, this variability  activities include developing   completed in late 1987, and
arises from the range of       a consistent and accepted      eight States were able to use
methods the States use to      baseline of total State waters   the WBS for their 1988
assess water quality. In many    and encouraging the use of   reports. Those States
cases, biological, chemical,   the Section 305(b) reporting    reported that the system was
and evaluative data must all    process as a tool in managing   useful for organizing and
be weighed before a use        toxicants, nonpoint sources,    analyzing their information
support decision can be        and lake/estuary/wetland       and simplified the prepara-
made. Other factors contrib-    protection programs.          tion of waterbody listings
uting to inconsistencies         To further improve the       required by the Water
include widely divergent       Section 305(b) reporting       Quality Act.
natural conditions among       process and to manage the
States and vast differences in   various new assessments
the States' monitoring capa-    required by the Water
bilities and resources. Ib     Quality Act of 1987, EPA has
address these problems, EPA    developed a data system for
is working with the States to    managing water quality
develop improved guidance      information for specific
on making use support deci-    waterbodies. Design of the
sions. This guidance should    system-called the Section
greatly increase the consist-    305(b) Waterbody System
ency of State assessments of    (WBS)-began in 1986. The
water quality. Other EPA       system was partially


































                                                                                      xxvii















                          Surface
                          Water
                          Quality



/1~~~~~~~'l



































Rivers and Streams






Support of                        Of those assessed waters,
Designated  Uses               361,332 miles, or 70 percent,
                                were found to be fully
                                supporting their designated
 The standard measure of       uses. Ten percent of those
water quality reported by the   fully supporting waters, or
States is the degree to which    36,038 stream miles, were
waters support the uses for     identified as threatened
which they have been desig-    waters that could soon
nated, such as high-quality     become impaired if pollution
cold water fishery, contact     control actions were not
recreation, or drinking water    taken. Twenty percent of
supply. In their 1988 State     assessed waters, or 104,632
Section 305(b) reports, 48      miles, were reported as
States, Territories, jurisdic-  partially supporting uses,
tions, and Interstate Commis-   and 10 percent, or 53,449
sions (referred to, hereafter,  stream miles, were reported
as States) provided this        as not supporting uses (see
information (see Thble 1-1).    Figure 1-1). Thirty-eight
These States assessed a total    States specified the basis of
of 519,413 river miles-45       their assessment decisions. In
percent of the total stream     these States, 60 percent of
miles estimated for these       assessed waters were eval-
States and 29 percent of the    uated using mathematical
Nation's estimated 1.8 million   models, citizen complaints,
stream miles.*                  questionnaires, etc., and


Estimate from ASIWPCA, America c Clean Water: The States' Nonpoint
Source Assessment, 1985.









Rivers and Streams







Table 1-1. Designated Use Support in Rivers and Streams

                          Total              Miles Assessed                  Miles                        Miles          Miles
                          River                 Percent      Percent         Fully         Miles         Partially        Not
State                     Miles       Total    Evaluated   Monitored   Supporting   Threatened*  Supporting    Supporting
Alabama                    40,600     11,174           85           15         10,118             -             625            431
Arizona                     6,671      2,279           -            -           1,583            400            207            489
Arkansas                   11,508      4,107           46           54          1,714             -              29          2,364
California                 26,970      9,885           -            -           6,578             -           2,219          1,088
Colorado                   14,655     10,000           54           46          8,605            403            708            687
Connecticut                 8,400        880           33           68            582            238            239             59
Delaware                      500        467            0          100            280             -             156             31
Delaware River Basin          206        206           -            -             194             -               0             12
District of Columbia           36         26            0          100              0              0              0             26
Florida                    12,659      7,943           27           73          5,287             -           2,021            635
Georgia                    20,000    20,000            66           34         19,443             .             383            174
Hawaii                        349        349           28           72            265              0             80              4
Illinois                   14,080     12,970           23           77          5,783            172          7,001            186
Indiana                    90,000      5,181           28           72          3,519           636            982             680
Iowa                       18,300      8,235           75           25             69             69          6,503          1,663
Kansas                     19,791      6,888           57           43          3,994          3,994           760           2,134
Kentucky                   18,465      8,653           63           37          6,176           719            878           1,599
Louisiana                  14,180      8,483           -            -           5,730            141          2,146            607
Maine                      31,672     31,672           -            -          31,278             -               0            394
Maryland                    9,300      9,300           84           16          8,635             -            504             161
Massachusetts              10,704      1,646            0          100            713             -            598             335
Michigan                   36,350     36,350           -            -          35,567             -               0            783
Minnesota                  91,944      4,443            0          100          1,553             -            564           2,326
Mississippi                15,623     15,623           87           13         13,850           359           1,331            442
Missouri                   19,630     19,630           77           23         10,147             -           9,445             38
Montana                    20,532      19,505          85           15         12,261           359           6,630            614
Nebraska                   10,212      5,690           -            -           3,244             -           1,202          1,244
New Hampshire              14,544      1,331           77           23            950             -            210             171
New Mexico                  3,500      1,152           -            -             576             -            554              22
New York                   70,000     69,988           95            5         53,394          3,740          8,087          8,507
North Carolina             37,378    33,275            45           55         22,375         10,427          9,152          1,748
North Dakota               11,284      9,850           44           56          6,834          5,992          3,016              0
Ohio                       43,917      7,045            0          100          2,256             -           1,501          3,288
Ohio River Valley             981        981           17           83              0             -            981               0
Oklahoma                   19,791      9,248           36           64          3,306          2,442          3,512          2,430
Oregon                     90,000    27,738            -            -          12,546             -           8,497          6,695
Pennsylvania               50,000     13,242           39           61          9,642             -           1,770          1,830
Puerto Rico                 5,373      5,373           67           33          2,459           478           1,143          1,771
Rhode Island                  724        581           43           57            489           271              14             78
South Carolina              9,900      3,795            0          100          2,824             -            395             576
South Dakota                9,937      3,750           18           82          1,387           484           1,260          1,103
Tennessee                  19,124      9,428           -            -           5,976          1,598          2,484            968
Texas                      80,000     13,998            0          100         12,169              0              0          1,829
Vermont                     5,162      5,162           83           17          4,534            908           379             249
Virginia                   27,240      3,532            0          100          1,210             -           1,401            921
Washington                 40,492      4,621           22           78          2,295          1,269          1,608            718
West Virginia              28,361     14,301           46           54          2,862            128         10,107          1,332
Wyoming                    19,437     19,437           67           33         16,080            811          3,350              7
Totals                  1,150,482   519,413                                   361,332         36,038        104,632         53,449
 Miles Threatened is a subset of Miles Fully Supporting.      -Not reported.                 Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
 2









                                                                                                       Rivers and Streams








                              40 percent were monitored      waters assessed and different   the number of stream miles
                              using ambient chemical and     methodologies than to radi-    affected by the different
                              biological data (see Making    cally different water quality.    causes of nonsupport (see
                              Assessment Decisions for         Caution should therefore      Table 1-2).
                              further discussion).           be used in interpreting these    Any given stream mile can
                                TaIble 1-1 illustrates some  numbers: they should not        be affected by many causes.
                              of the inconsistencies that    be compared to those of        Therefore, States were asked
                              hamper the Section 305(b)      previous 305(b) reporting      to include each stream mile
                              reporting and assessment       cycles, nor should they be     under each of the cause
                              process. First, ten States     used to draw comparisons        categories that contributes to
                              failed to provide usable       among States. Differences in    impairment, also assigning a
                              information on support of      any given State's summary      degree of impact, reported
                              designated uses. Second, of    information from one year to   here as major or moderate/
                              those States that provided     the next may be due to the     minor. (Data from States that
                              data, variations exist in the  State's reporting on different   did not specify degree of
                              percent of total State waters    waters or to changes in      impact are depicted in Figure
                              assessed and in the methods    methods of assessing use        1-2 as "unspecified." In Table
                              of assessing use support. For    support.                      1-2, they are included under
                              example, four States assessed                                 the "Major" heading.) There-
                              10 percent or less of their    Causes of                      fore, a single river mile is
                              total waters, while ten States                                counted under several cate-
                              reported that they assessed    Impairment                     gories if it is affected by
                              all or nearly all of their                                    multiple causes. The values
                              waters. Similarly, miles fully    States were asked to iden-   reported are the total
                              supporting uses ranged from     tify the causes of nonsupport  number of river miles
                              zero to 99 percent of assessed    in waters not fully support-    affected by a particular
                              State waters, a variation       ing uses. Causes of non-      cause of impairment, accord-
                              more likely attributable to     support are those pollutants   ing to whether the cause is
                              the portion of the State's      (such as pesticides or        a major or moderate/minor
                                                               nutrients) or pollution       contributor to impairment.
                                                               processes (such as habitat    The relative extent of each
                      Not Supporting                          destruction) that are impair-   cause of nonsupport can be
                                                               ing the waterbodies. In 1988,   determined by dividing the
  Partially Supporting                                       38 States provided data on
  (20%)











     Fully Supporting
     (70%)

                      Assessed Miles (519,413)

Source:1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                                               Sediments and nutrients, both predominantly from diffuse
Figure 1-1. Designated Use Support in Assessed Rivers         sources such as agriculture, are leading causes of impairment
           and Streams                                        in streams.
                                                                                                                          3









Rivers and Streams









                                 Table 1-2. Impaired River Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution

                                                        Total                                                          Organic
                                                      Impaired     Siltation        Nutrients        Pathogens       Enrichment
          11"1 ~1 ~|~~ |         State                Waters*  Major  Mod/Min  Major  Mod/Min  Major  Mod/Min Major Mod/Min
                                 Alabama** 1,056                    57        -     879        -       -        -    931         -
                                 Arkansas                2,393      -         -      -         -   1,759       199    56         -
                                 Colorado                1,395      . -              -         -     176       505    21         -
                                 Connecticut               298      -        12    119         44    112        64    85        71
                                 Delaware**                187      -        -      126        -     144        -      76        -
               .... ~ ~ ~District of Columbia                26      -        -       -         -       7        18    -          -
                                  Florida**               2,656    376        -      992        -     376        -    990        -
                                 Georgia                   557      -        -       -         -       9       183   163       192
                                  Illinois                7,187    129    6,660    375    7,095    147          241   155    1,270
                                  Indiana                 1,662      14      167      82      173    413        375   192       320
                                  Iowa                    8,166  6,751     1,408      42    8,107  1,190        141    25    1,431
                                  Kansas                  2,894      -        35      -        49  1,238        741    81       406
                                  Kentucky                2,477    724       126    100          4    969        -    300       114
                                  Louisiana               2,753      -        22    513       808    405    1,451   514    1,086
                                  Maryland                  665    157        16    259        93    102        144    43        42
                                  Minnesota**             2,890  1,870        -   1,567         -   2,196        -  1,999         -
                                  Mississippi             1,773    415       181    595       911      -         28    78       423
                                  Missouri                9,483       6    8,299      -         -      -         -       1       58
                                  Montana                 7,244    394    6,441    310    2,895        79       410    22        92
                                  New Hampshire             381      -        -       -         -     136       232    69        62
                                  New Mexico                576    108       313      31      193      11        71    -         -
                                  NewYork                16,594    126        44       8      151      15       144    66       122
                                  North Carolina**       10,900  6,299        -       -         -      77        -    115        -
                                  North Dakota            3,016  1,396       748  1,286    1,725    289    1,110   210          156
                                  Ohio River Valley         981      -       981      -         -     162        26    -        250
                                  Oklahoma**              5,942  2,804        -   2,582         -   1,180        -    518         -
                                  Oregon**               15,192  1,260        -      745        -     885        -    603        -
                                  Pennsylvania**          3,600      -        -      368        -     194        -    278         -
                                  Puerto Rico             2,914    224       151      91      368    383        228    34       283
                                  Rhode Island               92      -        -       16         4     20        33    17        18
                                  South Carolina**          971      -        -       -         -     618        -    321         -
                                  South Dakota            2,363    110       275      -       232    150    1,003    -          161
                                  Tennessee               3,452  1,426       952    245       969    546        831   504    1,224
                                  Vermont                   628    342       123    205       122      64       174   132       256
                                  Virginia                2,322      -        -       -         -     820    1,016    20         90
                                  Washington              2,326    425       376    238       251    805        865   184       364
                                  West Virginia          11,439    846    4,405    383    1,602        57       363   627    2,948
                                  Wyoming                 3,357      -     2,623      -         -       -       273    -          -
                                  Totals                142,808 26,259   34,358 12,157   25,796 15,734   10,869 9,430   11,439
                                  Combined Totals                         60,617           37,953            26,603          20,869
                                  Percent of Impaired Waters              42.4%            26.6%             18.6%            14.6%
                                   'The sum of partially and nonsupporting river miles (Table 1-1).
                                   * These States did not specify the degree of impact (i.e., Major or Moderate/Minor); river miles were placed in the "Major"
4                                   column for national reporting purposes.









                                                                                                   Rivers and Streams










                               Suspended                                              Habitat                            Thermal
   Metals         Pesticides          Solids           Salinity      Flow Alteration  Modification             pH          Modification
Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min
  51    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  155    -  -    -  21    -  -    -
  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    15  -    -  -    -  56   62  -    -
 527   767                                                               -         -   -             -   -             -   -             -
  69    29  -                 -   -            11  -             -   -             -   10   101  -                     -   -            -
  24    -  19    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  16    -  -    -
  24    3-    --    --    --    --    -  -    7  -    -
 280   -  -    -  -    -259    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -
  -    8  -    -  -    -  -    -  -   .   _    _  _    _  _    _
  23       908     -         131    -          -       -         18     -         701   371       1,242    14        141      -         -
  66       194    68         232    -          -       -         -       4         13     14         -      44        113    -           6
2,358    213  545  7,603  -                      -   -            -   -             -    3            86  92            -   -             -
 114        -   -             -   -             -  800    141  89    294   -                         -   22    30   -                   -
 370    125  28               -   -             -   158          50   -            -   111           20  185           -    -            -
  26         5   -           103 339    646  18    323   -                         22   -            -   -             -   -            20
  -    -  -    13  -    -  -    -  -                                                7  -    -  49   67  -    -
  -   -  -   -  -   -  -   -  -   -  -   - 354   -  -   -
  83    306  162   628  -                      -   11             5   -            -   -             -   -            172  -            -
  -         24  -    883  -                    -   -             -   -                             180  15    40  -                     -
 284       606      -         -      -          -     140     2,981   231       2,312     -       1,510   614          97   213       1,441

  82        35   -            -   -            -   56            -   72            30  275    108  27                 60   -            -
  11        88      5         47    -          -        9        13    56          95     -          -      60        -     103         10
 246   -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  48   -  -    -
 255       321      31        --1,041         363   426         459   234         100     -          -      -          -      -          -
 981    -   -    981  -    -   -    -   -    -   - 
 684         - 2,381    --1,969                 - 1,154          -   22            -   -             -   22            -   -            -
  -         -   52            -   -            -    -            - 1,355           - 1,480           -  455           - 1,320           -
 834    -  175    -  544    -   -                                -   -             -   -                   730    -   16    -
  12    33  14    86  -                        -    1            -  300             1  43            -   -            -   -             -
  70    4  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -
  . .              .       .        .        .        .          _      _          -      -          -       2        -      -          -
  11    -   -                 -  772   964  -                    -   -             -   -             -   -    656   5                    4
  87       548     60        205   848        706       8        11   144         250    113        172   150        336      14        39
  10        17     -          -      -         -      -          -     168         89   259        150      16         3    116        358
  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  -    -  81  256  -    39
 187       632   120          43   224        469      -         58   201          65   289          26   135        136   248         874
1,308     1,544      -          2    -          -      80        648   356        538    135        724  1,031        866     94        665
   7        -   -    130  -                    -   -            811  -    347  -                   741  -             -   -             -
9,084     6,410 3,660   11,087 5,737          3,159  3,120     5,533  3,387      4,864  3,103      5,060 4,239       3,042 2,129      3,456
       15,494           14,747             8,896             8,653             8,251             8,163            7,281             5,585
        10.8%            10.3%              6.2%              6.1%              5.8%             5.7%              5.10/%            3.9%
- Zero or not reported.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.








Rivers and Streams








                              total number of miles          tion (cited as the third       and pesticides (such as chlor-
                              affected by each cause         leading cause of impairment    dane, dieldrin, and DDT),
                              category by the total miles    nationwide) may impair         respectively. Other signif-
                              impaired (see Figure 1-2).     drinking water supply and      icant causes include
                                Figure 1-2 illustrates that  contact recreation uses. Such   suspended solids, salinity,
                              siltation, the smothering of   contamination may come         flow alteration, other habitat
                              stream beds by sediments       from inadequately treated      modification, pH, and
                              (usually from accelerated      sewage or runoff from          thermal modification.
                              soil erosion), is the most     pastures, feedlots, and urban    These national summary
                              commonly reported cause of   areas. These pathogen indi-    figures should be interpreted
                              nonsupport in the Nation's     cators were found to affect    with care, as a close look at
                              rivers and streams, affecting    19 percent of impaired       'Tible 1-2 reveals that certain
                              42 percent of impaired river    waters.                       States are reporting a large
                              miles. Nutrients, the second    The next most common          proportion of the impact
                              most commonly reported         cause is organic enrichment/   from these causes of impair-
                              cause, affect 27 percent of    low dissolved oxygen, affect-   ment. For example, Iowa
                              impaired river miles and       ing 15 percent of impaired     alone accounts for over half
                              most often consist of          river miles. This cause may    of the total river miles
                              phosphorus and nitrogen        be closely linked to sewage    affected by pesticides, and
                              compounds such as those        treatment plants, feedlots,    Montana accounts for about
                              used in agricultural fertil-   and nutrients. Nutrients can    a third of all stream miles
                              izers. Both siltation and      stimulate the growth of        affected by salinity and flow
                              nutrients are predominantly    algae, which often leads to a    alteration. Reporting incon-
                              from diffuse sources. drop in levels of dissolved             sistencies influence these
                                Fecal coliform bacteria are    oxygen.                      findings.
                              organisms commonly moni-        The fifth and sixth most        Twenty-nine States speci-
                              tored as indicators of possible   commonly reported causes of   fled the degree of impact
                              pathogen contamination of      impairment are metals (such   (i.e., major or moderate/
                              waters. Pathogen contamina-  as lead, copper, and mercury)   minor) of the causes affect-
                                                                                            ing their rivers and streams.
    POLLUTION CAUSES                                                                        For most categories of
                                            Siltatio  ..... ...................causes, there were more
                 Siltation          :.:...    : :                                            waters in which the cause
                                                  '....                                     was a moderate/minor
                Nutrients mai~~:{ ~ ~ ~~~~~ii~~:::~ :~ :
                                                                                            contributor to impairment
              Pathogens ll{     l  ii i:':!-"
                                                                                            than a major contributor.
                                      ,1/      I                                            For only two categories
    Organic Enrichment    :              I                                                   of causes-metals and
                                                                                            suspended solids-did major
                   Metals                                                                    impacts outweigh moderate/
                            Pesticides ;.~ ~minor impacts. In 52 percent
                          Pesticidesj*'~  "~~ ]                                             of the waters affected by

      Suspended Solids                                                                       metals, the impact of metals
                                                                                            wasconsidered major, as was
                  Salinity   ~                                                               the impact of suspended
                                                                Salinity Unspecified        solids in 51 percent of
          Flow Alteration   "                                   E9 Moderate/Minor Impact     affected waters.
                                                                Hi   Major Impact             Other causes with a high
                                                                                            percentage of major impact
                                    0  10       20           30          40          50     include pathogens (major
                                                    Miles Affected ()  2impact in 48 percent of
                                           Impaired                     Miles Affected affected waters), pH (major
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) Reports. impact in 46 percent), and
 Figure 1-2. Percent of Impaired River Miles Affected by Each Pollution Cause                 siltation (major impact in 28
6                                                                                            percent).








                                                                                                   Rivers and Streams








                              Sources of                     source category that contrib-   total miles impaired (see
                              Impairment                     utes to impairment, also       Figure 1-3.)
                                                             assigning a degree of impact,    Some ambiguity occurs
                                In their 1988 State Section    reported here as major or     when defining the source
                              305(b) reports, 37 States      moderate/minor. (Data from      categories used in Table 1-3.
                              provided information on the    States that did not specify     For example, States were
                              various sources of pollution   degree of impact are            asked to report separately on
                              contributing to use impair-    depicted in Figure 1-3 as      stream miles affected by
                              ment in rivers, such as        "unspecified." In Thble 1-3,   storm sewers and miles
                              municipal discharges and       they are included under the    affected by urban runoff
                              agricultural runoff. Sources   "Major" column heading.) As   (primarily surface runoff).
                              of impairment are those        a result, a single river mile  Some States made this
                              activities that contribute     will be counted under several   distinction, while others did
                              pollutants or result in        categories if it is affected by    not and chose to report only
                              harmful processes such as      multiple sources. The values    in the urban runoff category.
                              siltation (see Highlight-      reported are the total number   Since separate storm sewers
                              Sources of Pollution Reported   of river miles affected by a  are designed to convey urban
                              by the States). Table 1-3      particular source of impair-   surface runoff, it is very
                              displays the categories of     ment according to whether      difficult to distinguish
                              sources and the size of        the source is a major or       between storm sewer
                              waters affected by each.       moderate/minor contributor    discharges and urban runoff.
                                As with causes of impair-    to impairment. The relative     Therefore, for purposes of
                              ment, any given stream mile    extent of each source of        analysis, these numbers were
                              can be affected by many        nonsupport can be deter-        combined into one category
                              sources. Therefore, States     mined by dividing the total    reflecting waters affected by
                              were asked to include each     number of miles affected by    storm sewers/runoff. Entries
                              stream mile under each         each source category by the    in this category in 'able 1-3
                                                                                           may also reflect additional
                                                                                           information provided by
  POLLUTION SOURCES                                                                          some States subsequent to
                                                                                          their 305(b) submission. This
             Agriculture  i n::::             .:                                             problem has been corrected
                                                                                          for the next reporting cycle.
              Municipal Table 1-3 reveals that the
      Resource Extract   ~i'~:itA~                                                           most extensive source of
                                                                                          pollution reported for the
     Hydro/Habitat Mod        ........Nation's rivers is agricultural
                                                                                          runoff, which affects 55
  Storm Sewers/Runoff                                                                         percent of impaired river
                                                                                          miles. Other extensive
             Silviculture :"'"~dJ~i~                                                         sources include municipal
               Industrial                                                                    dischargers, affecting 16
                                                                                          percent; resource extraction
                                                                                          and hydrologic/habitat
                                                              Construction Unspecified     modification, affecting 13
         Land Disposal  i                                       . Moderate/Minor Impact      percent; and storm sewers/
                                                              C i   Major Impact           runoff, industrial discharg-
                                                                Combi n  e        d         Sewers I  ers, and silviculture, each
                         0        110       20        30        40        50         60      affecting about 9 percent of
                                         Impaired Miles Affected (%)impaired river miles.
                                                                                            As was the case with
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) Reports. causes of impairment, this
Figure 1-3. Percent of Impaired River Miles Affected by Each Pollution Source                source information should be
                                                                                                                    7








Rivers and Streams









                    Table 1-3. Impaired River Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution
                                                                                                                     Hydrologic/
                                            Total                                                Resource             Habitat
                                          Impaired      Agriculture          Municipal          Extraction         Modification
                    State                 Waters*   Major   ModlMin   Major   Mod/Min   Major   ModlMin   Major   Mod/Min
                    Alabama**                1,056       35         -       694         -        76         -       160         -
                    Arkansas                 2,393    1,722        174      294         -       117         85       -          -
                    California**             3,307      395         -        51         -       301         -        -          -
                    Connecticut                298        -        102      212         52       -          44       10         69
                    Delaware**                 187      146         -        35         -        -          -        -          -
                    District of Columbia        26       -          -         4         -        -          -        -           3
                    Florida**                2,656    1,711         -       785         -       464         -       880         -
                    Georgia                    557       -          -       140        189       -          -        -          -
                    Illinois                 7,187      144      6,964      371      2,405       14      1,211      223      3,526
                    Indiana                  1,662       47        934      285        217       49        121       -          -
                    Iowa                     8,166    7,395        753      524        828       -         103       -          86
                    Kansas                   2,894      918        677      512        546      229         12       89        280
                    Maryland                   665      172        133       33         94       49         84       -           5
                    Mississippi              1,773      933        288      135        345       -          -        19         -
                    Missouri                 9,483       -       8,267       16         58       22         88       -         189
                     Montana                  7,244      420      5,603       43        118      319      1,385      171      1,299
                     Nebraska**               2,446    1,394         -       441         -        -          -       196         -
                     New Hampshire              381       -          -        92        190       -          -        -          -
                     New Mexico                 576       36        374       34         -        37         21       87         13
                     New York                16,594       33         22      153        130        1         16       97         41
                     North Carolina**        10,900    5,559         -       635         -        19         -        -          -
                     North Dakota             3,016    1,539      1,472       12      1,339       -         255    1,228        589
                     Ohio                     4,789      917       1,724   2,831        929      649        328      931      1,203
                     Ohio River Valley          981      350        280       -          -       350        280       -          -
                     Oklahoma**               5,942    3,986         -        -          -    2,302          -     1,103         -
                     Oregon* *               15,192    7,605         -     1,062         -    2,280          -        -          -
                     Pennsylvania**           3,600      464         -       378         -    1,775          -        31         -
                     Puerto Rico              2,914      294        684       79         34       -          -        49         -
                     Rhode Island                92       16          2       18         32       -          -        -
                     South Carolina* *          971      364         -       170         -        -          -         2         -
                     South Dakota             2,363    1,187      1,022       11         43       -          62       -          -
                     Tennessee                3,452    1,289      1,269      628        924      360        700      847      1,102
                     Vermont                    628      510         -        86         -        42         -       326         -
                     Virginia                 2,322      453        801      229        145       -          -        -          -
                     Washington               2,326    1,049        564      143        694       27         54      522        581
                     West Virginia           11,439      517      2,748      535      2,281      645      2,953      220      1,501
                     Wyoming                  3,357    2,192        734        6        110       54        770      569        378
                     Totals                 143,835   43,792    35,591   11,677    11,703  10,181         8,572   7,760    10,865
                     Combined Totals                             79,383              23,380              18,753              18,625
                     Percent of Impaired Waters                  55.2%               16.3%               13.0%               12.9%
                      *The sum of partially and nonsupporting river miles (Table 1-1).
                      *These States did not specify the degree of impact (i.e., Major or Moderate/Minor); river miles were placed in the "Major" column for national
 8                     reporting purposes.









                                                                                                                Rivers and Streams













  Storm Sewers/                                                                           Land              Combined
      Runoff            Silviculture          Industrial         Construction           Disposal              Sewers
 Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   ModlMin   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min

     69         -    -               -   406              -          6         -    -               -    -               -
     -          -    -               -    115    39   -                        -    -               -    -               -
     . .                  _          -          8         -    -               -    -               -    -               -
     -         148        -          -        69          48       -           16       13         111      126          11
    99         -    -               -    37              -          4         -    -               -    69              -
     -          26    -              -          1         -        -            1    -              13    -             26
  1,786         -         63         -    578             -    792             -    947             -        -           -
      9        183    -              -        24          11                   -        -           -        -           -
    38        112        -          -         14      1,201        -         470        14         16       113       692
   145        112        -          -        165        225       26          56        12          1      386         130
   680      1,234        -          -        219        221        -          16         3        165       -           -
    37         13    -              -    124    92    -                       -    -               -    -               -
     15    108    -                  -          2         -        -           -        22          -        -           12
    46         97    -              -    103    214    -                      -         -          -    -               -
     -         154   -               -    -               10   -               -    -                1   -              -
     27         61       44         806        -         233         5        762       22         154       -           -
     24    -    -                    -   49    -    -                          -    -               -    -               -
     -          -         -          -        38          36    -              -        -          92   10    78
     -          -          3         76    -              -         3          87        3          15    -             -
      1         98       -           32       28          90       -          32        62        133        36         70
   274         -         48         -    159             -         79         -        59          -        -           -
     12    31    -                   -    -               91    -              -    -               -    -              -
   503        883         9         29    1,061         629         9         85      243         977        10         26
   150         -    -               -    -                                                                     
   853         -    20              -         -          -    271             -    666             -        -           -
     -          -      7,580         -       368          -     1,420          -        -           -     1,675         -
     49         -         -          -    201             -        -           -    169             -    39              -
   302        223        -          -         58        126        -          -       208        466        -            1
     62          9        -          -          1         69        16         -         16          2       15           3
   157         -          4         -    55              -          4         -    -               -    -               -
    47    215    -                  -         11         -        -           26    -              26    -              -
   252        796        76         64       191        386       110        822        14        155       78          22
    55         -        23          -         16         -    142             -        32          -        -           -
    87         69    -              -    48              13    -              -        -           -        -            4
   354        103       100        138       113        246      239          89      201        228        12          31
   489      1,133      426       2,728      856       2,674      446       1,769      224         878      428       1,233
     10        282       58          65      334         169      362        858        -           -        -          -
 6,632      6,090    8,454       3,938    5,452       6,823    3,934       5,089    2,930       3,433    2,997      2,339
            12,722               12,392               12,275                9,023               6,363                5,336
             8.8%                 8.6%                 8.5%                6.3%                 4.4%                 3.7%

- Zero or not reported.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                                                                                                                    9








Rivers and Streams




                                                 :                                          :    I                s











                                 Point and npontsuce             ArsubectopeitsSource Categories
                                re                           iss ed by the State or EPA       Used in This
         ....^; :4*-Jcs imy ouce categore of  polu tt .                                :xi

                              i       '                                                                   (e'g. pulp and
                               and nonpoint elements. For    * Are also subject to            paper mills, chemical manu-
                               example, storm sewers/         enforcement action if their     facturers, steel plants, textile
                               runoff and resource extrac-    permit limits are violated.      manufacturers, food process-
                               tion are sources that may be                                   ing plants, etc.);
                               addressed both via point       Nonpoint Sources                  Municipal (e.g., publicly
                               source control measures                                        owned sewage treatment
                               (i.e., permits) or nonpoint    a     Enter waterways generally   plants which may receive
                               source best management         as runoff from widespread       indirect discharges from
                               plans. The following cate-     (i.e., "nonpoint") areas.       small factories or
                               gories were used in the                                        businesses);
                               analysis of State data and     U Are addressed via volun-        Combined   Sewers
                               are not intended as legal      tary controls, best manage-     (storm and sanitary sewers
                               definitions.                   ment practices, incentive       combined, which may
                                                              programs, demonstration         discharge untreated wastes
                               Point Sources                  programs, and to some extent    during storms);
                                                              by regulatory programs at         Storm sewers/runoff
                               - Discharge into waterways   State or local level.             (runoff from streets, paved
                               via a discrete "point" such                                    areas, lawns, etc., that enters
                               as a pipe or ditch.                                            a sewer, pipe, or ditch before







                                                                                               RConstuction   (eg., highway
                                                                                               bui ding land feedlots pment);
                                                                                               road construction);
                                                                                                 Construction (e.g., highway

                                                                                                 Resource extraction
                                                                                               (e.g., mining, petroleum
                                                                                               drilling, runoff from mine
                                                                                               tailing sites);
                                                                                                 Land disposal (e.g., leach-
                                                                                               ate or discharge from septic
                                                                                               tanks, landfills, hazardous
                                                                                               waste disposal sites); and
                                                                                                 Hydromodification
                                                                                               (e.g., channelization,
                                                                                               dredging, dam construction,
                                                                                               streambank modification).

 10









                                                                       Rivers and Streams








interpreted with care; a close   Attainment of the             In some cases, the
look at Table 1-3 reveals that   Clean Wat    Act            achievement of the CWA
some States appear to                         er             goals is precluded by physical
predominate over others in     Goals                          constraints, irrevocable
the number of miles with                                      water quality impacts, and
impacts due to the various      As stated at the beginning    severe socioeconomic
sources. For example, 61       of the Clean Water Act, "It    impacts. In these cases, State
percent of the river miles    is the national goal that,      water quality standards may
with silvicultural impacts are   wherever attainable, an     exclude the fishable or swim-
in Oregon alone.              interim goal of water quality   mable goal based on the
  Twenty-seven States          which provides for the         results of a special study of
specified the degree of       protection and propagation      use attainability. Thus, there
impact (i.e., major or        of fish, shellfish, and wildlife   are three possible outcomes
moderate/minor) of the        and provides for recreation    for any waterbody when the
pollution sources affecting   in and on the water be         question of CWA goal support
their rivers. For no source   achieved by July 9, 1983."     is considered, as follows:
category did major impacts    Most U.S. waters are classi-
outweigh moderate/minor       fled to reflect these bench-    ï¿½ Fishable and/or swim-
impacts. The two sources      marks, which are commonly    mable goals are supported;
that had the greatest         referred to as the fishable
percentage of miles with      and swimmable goals of the      ï¿½ Fishable and/or swim-
major impacts are municipal   Clean Water Act (CWA).          mable goals are not supported
and agricultural sources,     Support of CWA goals is         but are attainable; and
with 39 and 38 percent,        considered a separate and
respectively. In 35 percent of   independent criterion from   * State water quality
the miles with storm sewers/   the degree of designated use    standards do not include
runoff impacts, these          support.                       fishable and/or swimmable
impacts are considered          Meeting the fishable goal     uses (i.e., the CWA goals are
major, as they are in 34       is defined by EPA for the      not attainable).
percent of the miles in the    purpose of the 305(b) process
industrial category. Other     as providing a level of water    In their 1988 water quality
sources with a high percent-    quality consistent with the   assessments, 44 States
age of major impacts include   goal of protection and propa-   provided data on the attain-
combined sewer overflows       gation of a balanced popula-    ment of the fishable and
and hydrologic/habitat modi-   tion of shellfish, fish, and   swimmable CWA goals in
fication, with major impacts    wildlife. Fishing advisories,  their rivers and streams (see
in 34 percent and 33 percent    consumption bans, and high    Table 1-4). A total of 480,503
of impaired river miles,       incidences of fish abnormali-   river miles were assessed for
respectively.                  ties are indications that      the fishable goal; 86 percent
                               waters are not supporting      were found to be attaining
                               healthy aquatic populations    the use, 11 percent were
                               and do not support the fish-    currently not attaining but
                               able goal. Meeting the swim-    could sometime in the
                               mable goal is defined by EPA   future, and 3 percent were
                               as providing a level of water    determined to be "not
                               quality that allows for        attainable" (see Figure 1-4).
                               recreational activities in and   Progress toward the CWA
                               on the water.                  swimmable goal was assessed
                                                               in 414,923 stream miles.
                                                               Eighty-five percent were
                                                               found to be attaining the
                                                               swimmable goal, 11 percent
                                                               were currently not attaining









Rivers and Streams




Table 1-4. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Rivers and Streams
                                       Fishable Goal (miles)                               Swimmable Goal (miles)
                                                      Not          Not                                      Not          Not
State                    Assessed      Meeting      Meeting    Attainable    Assessed        Meeting      Meeting      Attainable
Alabama                     11,174        9,925         801            448        11,174        9,925          801           448
Arkansas                    10,820       10,581         239             -         10,099        8,107        1,992             -
Colorado                    10,823        8,960        1,040           823        10,000        9,474         526              0
Connecticut                    880          738         140              2           880          682          196             2
Delaware                       467          349         118             -            467          309          158            -
Delaware River Basin           206          206            0             0           206          194           12            -
District of Columbia            26            0          26              0            26            0           26             0
Florida                      7,943        7,308         600             35         7,943        7,308         600             35
Georgia                     20,000       19,443         557             -              -           -            -              -
Hawaii                         349          349            0             0           349          349            0             0
Illinois                    12,970       12,488         482              0         2,994          730        2,189            75
Indiana                      5,181        4,089        1,015            77         5,181        4,269         835             77
Iowa                         8,235        6,714        1,497            24         8,235        1,638         580          6,017
Kansas                       6,910        6,590         320             -          5,079        4,027        1,052            -
Kentucky                     8,633        7,841         792             -          2,406        1,308        1,098            -
Louisiana                    8,483        8,458          25             -          8,483        8,390           93            -
Maine                       31,672       31,377         295              0        31,672       31,377         295              0
Maryland                     9,300        8,660         640             -          9,300        9,286           14            -
Massachusetts                1,646        1,498         148             -          1,646          760         886             -
Mississippi                 15,622       15,200         422              0        15,622       14,785         837              0
Missouri                    19,630       10,147        1,037         8,446        19,630       10,147        1,037         8,446
Montana                     19,505       18,891         614              0        19,505       19,505            0             0
Nebraska                     5,690        4,476        1,214            -          2,264          810        1,454            -
New Hampshire                1,331        1,160         171              0         1,331          950         334             47
New Jersey                   1,867        1,463         404             -            592           91         501             -
New Mexico                     576          554          22              0           576          576            0             0
New York                    70,000       53,700      15,000          1,300        70,000       69,200         800              0
North Carolina              33,275       22,375      10,900             -         33,275       22,375       10,900            -
North Dakota                 9,851        9,389         462              0         9,851        9,287         564              0
Ohio River Valley              981          941          40              0           981          819          162             0
Oklahoma                    19,791       18,834         436            521        19,791       17,663        2,128             0
Oregon                      27,738       26,197        1,541            -         27,738       26,772         966             -
Pennsylvania                13,242        9,642       3,600             -         13,242        9,642        3,600            -
Puerto Rico                  5,373        3,687        1,359           327         5,373        3,650        1,151           572
 Rhode Island                   581          465          27             89           581          465          27             89
South Carolina               3,795        3,477         318             -          3,795        2,199        1,596            -
South Dakota                 3,750        2,840         910              0           939          659         280              0
Tennessee                   11,081       10,857         224             -         11,081       10,420         661             -
Texas                       13,998       13,843         155             -         13,998       12,616        1,382            -
Vermont                      5,162        4,990         172              0         5,162        4,787          132           243
 Virginia                     3,532        1,210        2,322            -          3,532        1,210        2,322            -
 Washington                   4,637        3,168        1,469             0         4,637        2,898        1,739             0
 West Virginia               14,340       13,005        1,335             0        14,340       13,005        1,335             0
 Wyoming                     19,437       19,430            7             0           947          947            0             0
 Totals                     480,503      415,515      52,896         12,092       414,923      353,611       45,261        16,051
 - Not reported.                                                                            Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
 12








                                                                        Rivers and Streams







the swimmable goal but could   zero to 100 percent. For
sometime in the future, and    example, some States do not
4 percent were categorized      adhere to EPA's definition of
as "not attainable" (see       fishability and consider
Figure 1-4). Fewer waters      waters fishable if they
were assessed for the swim-    support aquatic life (thereby
mable goal than for the        excluding fish consumption
fishable goal, at least in part    considerations). EPA is
because some States do not     working to better define
include swimming uses in       attainment of the CWA goals
their standards. for future reporting.
  From these figures, it         Eleven States reported that
appears that proportionately   the fishable goal was not
more waters meet each Clean   attainable in 12,092 stream
Water Act goal than fully      miles, and 11 States found
support their designated       the swimmable goal not
uses. This may be because      attainable in 16,051 miles.
some States are reluctant to    Reasons cited include
indicate that a waterbody is    naturally occurring physical
not fishable or swimmable      limitations and extensive
when impacts in that water-    land uses such as row crop
body are slight or moderate.    agriculture that would be
Clearly, definitions of CWA    prohibitively expensive to
goal attainment vary among    control.
States as widely as do
definitions of use support:
the percent of waters
meeting goals varies from


                        Not Attainable                        Not Attainable
          Not Meeting   (3%)                     Not Meeting   (4%)














               Meeting                               Meeting
               (86%)                                 (85%)
                 Fishable Goal                          Swimmable Goal
                 (480,503 Assessed Miles)               (414,923 Assessed Miles)
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
Figure 1-4. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Rivers and Streams

                                                                                          13








Rivers and Streams









                               Making Assessment Decisions







                                 How do we know what it         States collect a broad range   procedures or involve site-
                               means for a waterbody to       of information on conditions    specific sampling. Examples
                               support or not support its     in their rivers, lakes, and     of this type of data include
                               designated uses? What kinds   estuaries. EPA asks the          information provided by
                               of data are used? How are      States to report based on two   citizens, reports of pollution-
                               these data interpreted? Do     categories of assessment        caused fish kills, predictive
                               all States use the same        data. Monitoring data can       modeling based on knowl-
                               methods?                       be provided by networks of      edge of sources, land use
                                 The answers to these ques-   chemical or biological          types, etc., surveys of
                               tions are key to understand-    sampling stations located      fisheries personnel, and
                               ing the water quality findings   near dischargers or at other  certain kinds of volunteer
                               reported by the States and     strategic points along water-    monitoring.
                               summarized in this docu-       bodies, and by short-term or      The degree to which States
                               ment. In many cases, the       one-time intensive or speci al    use these different types of
                               answers are not simple: State   surveys designed to provide    data varies greatly. Some
                               methodologies vary widely      water quality "snapshots"       States rely almost exclusively
                               and may not be clearly         for discrete areas or to        on fixed station monitoring
                               documented. However, EPA    answer questions about             data or a combination of
                               is engaged in efforts to       specific problem sources or     fixed station and intensive
                               catalog State methodologies    conditions. The data            survey data. Other States
                               and develop recommended        collected may be chemical       may use rotating basin
                               guidelines which, if followed,  (e.g., the concentration of a  surveys in which a limited
                               should result in more uniform   given pollutant in water,      number of basins are studied
                               water quality assessments      sediment, or fish/shellfish     intensively. Others with
                               among States.                  tissue) or biological (e.g.,    limited monitoring resources
                                                               counts of the number of        may find that their evalua-
                                                               certain indicator species in a    tive data provide a more
                                                               given sample or testing the    realistic picture of water
                                                               toxicity of river or waste-    quality conditions than does
                                                               water samples). Their          a small network of infre-
                                                               common elements are that       quently sampled stations.
                                                               they are scientifically        Most States use a combina-
                                                               collected by the State         tion of data types to reach
                                                               pollution control agency,      their assessment decisions.
                                                               local governments, or Federal    Designated use support
                                                               authorities using quality      information for rivers shows
                                                               control procedures and         that in the 38 States that
                                                               involve actual observations    specified data types, 386,530
                                                               and water/sediment/tissue/     stream miles were assessed,
                                                               organism samples from          40 percent using monitoring
                                                               aquatic sites.                 data and 60 percent using
                                                                 Evaluative data, on the      evaluative approaches. Of
                                                               other hand, are collected      the 258,060 miles supporting
                                                               from a variety of sources that uses in these States, 67
                                                               may not use quality control    percent were evaluated and

14








                       :d~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rvr and Streams~ 




                                                                 33 percent wee monitored. Once data arecollected by guidelines donot allow fo
                                                             However,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: nerl the reese teStts te us e  uhflxbliyi mkn
                                                                of this pplies i the 41147  analzed usig establshed  deerminatins wher
  :~~~~~~~~:~ie no   uprin  ss                                       rtei  nodr o  eiins               ceia   at   ln   r
                                                               32 percent of waters were   to be made on support of   used; do not address the~~~~~~~~:

                                        evlae   n   8pret               eintdue.I n                      isu o   owt  eihcota
  ï¿½~~~~~~~~~wremntrd.Todfer    tep t noraecni-   itr viec eg. eut
                                                         entcoclsinscoldbe   eny  mog  taesin  ow         ofbiloicl tudies tha
                                                               draw  frm tesefining:  tesedecsios ae mde, disgre  wih te rsuls o
                                                          that~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sttscnetaeter EAhsisedgnrlceia  nlss;add
                                                           moitrig ffrt i tei   gidliesoncrteiaStte       nt ddes hw  an  dt
     ::::':;': ~ ~       ~        os  derddwtr  o  ht               mgtus  odtrie                      onsaeatulyrqie
                                                             where ~ ~ ~ ~      ~       ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~Ut~ Sttsmnio hy dereo sespot.Tbe bfoeadcsincnb
                                                                ten  tofin prbles.Man   1- ilustats ky eemets  ad. Utilmor  wiel

 Iï¿½~ ~~~~~~~ttshaeidcte ht                                          o heegieins hc                     ccpal ndcmrhn
 :~~~~~~~~:~~h fon:    agmnti  ru,                                  wredvloe  ontywth                 sbe udlie  redvl
                                                 Faced with diminishing   the Association of Stean        opdnddpedbth

 i~ ~~~~~~~~eore o mntrn,                                           ItesaeWtrPolto                     ttsSaet-tt
 ~~~~~~a~~~Mï¿½Stte haetrdtinly                                        otrlAmiitrtrsfra                  nonitnce i  s
                                                           focusd montorin  statons  184 asessmet of rendsin    suport  etermnatios wil

                      ~~~aditesv  uveso                               aerqaiy                          dutescotnet

                                                            thsearasmotliel t   Sae dotin f hse           hape  ntonl nayss
                                                hav  poblms  Neerhelss  gudeine hs benlimte.               EA s tkig sep t
 ~~~:::: ~ ~     ~       ~       prhp a::   cobnto   fte            Apeiiaysreyo  h                    eeo   sesetgiac
              -ï¿½i-:ï¿½ï¿½womyaplsic  elac                               18   taeScto   05b                 ha  il rvdeabsi  o

                                                             on~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ moes qetonars    rprsshw ha bu 1    ratrcnisec. eea

                                             an   itzn oplit my       Stts sdths gielns,                 nwdeeopetshv
 i:-a~ ~ ~~~~~fi torva erantpsofnmru Sae sdocurdtatne ob
                                                              watr qalty robem. I   vaiats f hes gudeine,  cnsderd,  ucasto ico
 !ï¿½::~ ~~~~~~~n cae P  otne o                                       ada adu i o pcf   ogclseiiain o h
                                              supr bt   ypso ass-      whc   riei te   se   n            drainan   rqunyo
                                    i --  entacivtie a te bst         maingthirusesupot                 cncntatinsofcheicls
       kdnS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ avilbl an   otpatcl                         deiin.Mn   tte  el                teicese   s   ftxct
                                             waytoexpndcoerae f       tatths e rtraaeto                 tsigadbooia  o
      :: ~ ~ ~     ~    ~ ~ h Nainswtrrgdadd   o  ea  otrn;adagetraae

                                ~~---ï¿½--:_- ~ ~ ~      ~      ~      aou  wae  quait condi              imat cue   yaia
Table~~:::~~~     1-.EAIsudGieieso aig s upr                        tos lary h P                      atrtos










                                   Basis for  Full, Partial, or Nonsupport of Uses ~~~~                    ~         ~        ~        aa~~8a~~~ ~~~














                                                                          2
















At V: Lakes and Reservoirs





                           ~~Support of    ~        partially support uses, and 10
                   13  0   |  8  Designated  Uses   percent, or 1,591,391 acres,
                   Designated Uses                  do not support uses (see
                                                   Figure 2-1).
                                                     Thirty-two States specified
                     In their 1988 State Section    the basis of their assessment
                   305(b) reports, 40 States,       decisions. In these States,
                   Territories, and jurisdictions   11,844,582 acres were
                   (referred to hereafter as        assessed. Sixty-eight percent
                   States) provided information    were monitored; the remain-
                   on support of designated         ing 32 percent were eval-
                   uses in their lakes and reser-    uated. (See Making
                   voirs (see hable 2-1). A total   Assessment Decisions for
                   of 16,314,012 acres were         further discussion.)
                   assessed, 73 percent of the        As for rivers and streams,
                   lake acres estimated for         these data should be inter-
                   these States and 41 percent      preted with caution because
                   of the Nation's total            of inconsistencies in data
                   39,400,000 acres.                analysis and reporting. First,
                     Of those assessed lake         a number of States did not
                   acres, 12,021,044 acres, or      provide usable summary
                   74 percent, were found to be    information on designated
                   fully supporting their desig-    use support in lakes. Second,
                   nated uses. Of these,            the percentage of total lake
                   2,897,711 acres are threat-      acres assessed varies widely
                   ened and may not fully           among States, from a quarter
                   support uses in the future if    of total acreage to all State
                   action is not taken to control    acreage. Third, the percent
                   pollution sources. Seventeen    of assessed lake acres
                   percent of assessed lake         supporting designated uses
                   acres, or 2,701,577 acres,      also shows wide variations
                                                                             17








Lakes and Reservoirs







                                among States, ranging from     under each of the cause         category by the total acres
                                zero to nearly 100 percent.    categories that contribute to    impaired (see Figure 2-2).
                                These variations should        impairment. This allows a         The most commonly
                                probably be attributed more    single lake acre to be counted   reported cause of use
                                to different State methodol-    multiple times if it is affected    impairment in lakes is
                                ogles than to wide differ-     by multiple causes. The         nutrients, which affect 49
                                ences in lake water quality.   values reported are the total    percent of impaired lake
                                                                 number of lake acres           acres. Nutrients, in turn, can
                                Causes of                      affected by a particular        lead to organic enrichment
                                                                 cause of impairment,           and low levels of dissolved
                                Impairment                     according to whether the        oxygen, which were identi-
                                                                 cause is a major or            fled as affecting 25 percent
                                  In 1988, 33 States provided    moderate/minor contributor    of impaired lake acres.
                                data on the causes of non-     to impairment. (Data from       Siltation also affects 25
                                support in their lakes (see    States that did not specify     percent, and salinity, the
                                Table 2-2). As described in     this degree of impact are      fourth most commonly
                                Chapter I for rivers, any      included under the "major"    reported cause, affects 14
                                given acre of lake can be      column heading in Thble 2-2.)   percent. Habitat modifica-
                                affected by many causes (i.e.,   The relative extent of each   tion, pathogens, and priority
                                specific pollutants or         cause of nonsupport can be      organics affect approxi-
                                pollutant processes). There-    determined by dividing the     mately 11, 9, and 8 percent
                                fore, States were asked to     total number of acres           of impaired lake acres,
                                include any given lake acre    affected by each cause          respectively.








                       Not Supporting
                       (1 0%)
 Partially Supporting
 (17%)                                                                             I'











    Fully Supporting
    (74%)

                  Assessed Acres (16,314,012)
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
 Figure 2-1. Designated Use Support in Assessed Lakes and
             Reservoirs
18









                                                              Lakes and Reservoirs








Table 2-1. Designated Use Support in Lakes and Reservoirs

                             Acres Assessed
                                               Acres Acres Acres
           Number Acres Percent Percent Fully Acres Partially Not
State of Lakes of Lakes Total Evaluated Monitored Supporting Threatened* Supporting Supporting
Alabama 43 504,336 491,566 2 98 405,486 -- 0 86,080
California 4,955 1,417,540 1,076,891 --                                      -- 568,739 -- 95,505 412,647
Colorado 4,069 265,982 124,973 91 9 123,300 7,172 1,673                                                                                 0
Connecticut 6,000 82,900 21,701 39 61 9,312 8,176 12,389 0
District of Columbia 8                377 136 0 100 0 0 0 136
Florida 7,712 2,085,120 947,200 13 87 309,760 -- 536,320 101,120
Georgia 175 417,730 417,730 0 100 412,357 140 5,347 26
Illinois 2,940 247,188 183,572 41 59 22,931 22,455 100,591                                                                         60,050
Indiana 560                       104,540 104,540 39 61 104,361                                           -- 63 116
Iowa 282 81,400 80,249 81                                                     19 26,801 18,902 52,058 1,390
Kansas 232                        175,189 173,911 8 92 116,655 116,655 48,141 9,115
Kentucky 92 228,385 214,483 0 100 179,335 152,544 31,471 3,677
Louisiana 101 713,719 517,476 93 7 376,335 87,034 141,141 0
Maine 5,779 994,560 994,560 --   -- 958,080 -- 36,480 0
Maryland 59 17,448 17,448 45 55 14,838 4,606 2,603 7
Michigan 35,000 840,960 424,021 --   -- 304,185 161,894 62,834 57,002
Minnesota 12,034 3,411,200 1,435,554 54 46 1,198,709 -- 67,622 169,223
Mississippi -- 500,000 500,000 51 49 481,740 -- 18,260 0
Missouri 362 288,012 288,012 --                                              -- 285,701 --                           2,311 0
Montana 4,018 756,450 663,363 81 19 345,367 129,500 305,396 12,600
Nebraska 412 145,300 85,518 --   -- 82,304 -- 2,779 435
New Hampshire 1,300 151,000 149,854 0 100 130,708 4,603 18,756 390
New Mexico -- 126,500 119,666 52 48 72,358 -- 47,308 0
New York 7,500 750,000 750,000 11 89 454,668 29,942 267,343 27,989
North Carolina 1,500 305,367                   305,367 12 88 293,470 50,330 2,075 9,822
North Dakota 216 625,503 619,333 5 95 571,208 570,170 48,125 0
Ohio 2,500 117,323 90,771 --   -- 30,936 25,733 50,988 8,847
Oregon 6,095 610,808 504,928 85 15 374,303                                                                -- 58,918 71,707
Puerto Rico 38 11,146 11,146 52 48 3,801 1,745 4,240 3,105
Rhode Island 113 16,520 16,089 29 71 14,688 11,425 787 614
SouthCarolina 1,418 525,000 410,407 0 100 409,242 -- 840 325
South Dakota 789 1,598,285 662,532 17 83 567,812 548,000 17,984 76,736
Tennessee 117 538,657 538,657 --                                             -- 452,009 75,828 50,830 35,818
Texas 5,700 1,410,240 1,410,240 O 100 1,225,629 332,145 0 184,611
Vermont 719 229,146 227,121 3 97 177,915 153,319 37,713 11,493
Virginia 248 161,562 161,089 64 36 147,352 -- 13,737 0
Washington 808 613,582 156,518 2 98 122,834 116,210 33,104 580
West Virginia 94 19,171 - 19,171 0 100 0 0 17,441 1,730
Wisconsin 14,998 971,000 971,000 --   -- 249,000 179,300 478,000 244,000
Wyoming 2,629 427,219 427,219 85 15 396,815 89,883 30,404 0
Totals 131,615 22,486,365 16,314,012 12,021,044    2,897,711 2,701,577 1,591,391
*Acres Threatened is a subset of Acres Fully Supporting. -- Not reported. Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.









Lakes and Reservoirs









                                   Table 2-2. Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Causes of Pollution

                                                         Total                                                 Organic
                                                           Impaired   Nutrients            Siltation         Enrichment           Salinity
                                   State                Waters'      Major  Mod/Min    Major Mod/Min   Major Mod/Min   Major Mod/Min

                                   Alabama*               86,080    -               -        -         -        -         -        -          -
                                   Colorado                 1,672       -         500        -         -        -        650       -          -
                                   Connecticut            12,389    9,612       2,777       812    7,914   1,462    8,930          -          -
                                   District of Columbia      136        -                                                             
                                   Florida**             637,440   75,520          -  171,520          -  175,360         -  272,000         -
                                   Georgia                 5,373    5,373          -                                                  
                                   Illinois              160,641   44,552   108,699  69,364   90,500  56,645   90,484              -         -
                                   Indiana                   179       122         12        -         -        82        52       -         -
                                   Iowa                   53,448   19,048    34,278  46,112    2,268            44   16,815        -         -
                                   Kansas                 57,256         7      3,491        10   34,736        -         -    9,230   13,167
                                   Kentucky**             35,148    6,707          -      4,517        -                              
                                   Louisiana             141,141        -    121,262         -        986       -    42,548        -    46,394
                                   Maryland                2,610    2,610          -         15        -                              
                                   Minnesota**           236,845 236,845           -         -         -        -         -        -         -
                                   Mississippi            18,260        -      18,260      724   17,060         -         -        -      1,200
                                   Missouri                2,311                   -                                                  
                                   Montana               317,996    5,750      17,449   19,022    5,600         -         -   13,250   14,509
                                   New Hampshire          19,146        95      4,281        -                                        
                                   New Mexico             47,308    2,338    40,346    1,178    8,665           -                     
                                   New York              295,332 101,663    27,928           -      3,507      306   61,103        -      2,944
                                   North Carolina"* 11,897    2,015                -       707         -     1,900        -        -         -
                                   North Dakota           48,125  37,467    10,555    6,288   12,800  11,984   30,663   5,000    1,750
                                   Oregon**              130,625 115,965           -   15,594          -   69,147         -        -         -
                                   Puerto Rico             7,345    1,448         447      135         -       891       581      348        -
                                   Rhode Island            1,401       246         -         60        -                              
                                   South Carolina**         1,165       -           -        -         -        50        -        -          -
                                   South Dakota           94,720   75,190      13,574  55,629    5,287         130        28       -         -
                                   Tennessee              86,648  35,383    35,647  21,123   30,445  34,655   43,575               -          -
                                   Vermont                49,206    2,953       9,089    1,102   16,184        684   13,878        -          -
                                   Virginia               13,737        -      12,518        -      2,698       -      8,001       -          -
                                   Washington             33,684        -      33,104        -         -        -        580       -        580
                                   West Virginia          19,171    1,236       2,933    2,047    9,136         -        642       -          -
                                   Wyoming                30,404        -      17,749        -    12,919        -         53       -        459
                                   Totals              2,658,839 782,145   514,899 415,959  260,705 353,340  318,583 299,828   81,003
                                   Combined Totals                          1,297,044            676,664             671,923            380,831
                                   Percent of Impaired Waters                  48.8%               25.4%              25.3%              14.3%
                                     *The sum of partially and nonsupporting lake acres (Table 2-1).
                                   **These States did not specify the degree of impact (i.e., Major or Moderate/Minor); lake acres were placed in the "Major" column









20









                                                                                                                   Lakes and Reservoirs











                                         Priority         Suspended                                                                       Flow
  Habitat Mod        Pathogens              Organics              Solids             Metals           Pesticides              pH            Alteration
 Major ModlMin   Major Mod/Min             Major  Mod/Min   Major Mod/Min   Major Mod/Min   Major Mod/Min   Major Mod/Min  Major Mod/Min
    -         -    -              -   84,230             -    -             -1,850    -    -                       -  1,850    -   -                    -
    -         -   -               -         105          -    -    -   102  410  160    -    -    -   -    -

                     -    -   -    136                                             -    -   -    -   -   136  -    -
              -   640            -           -          -    -              -41,600    -    -                     - 11,520    -

    --       --  2,437        4,845       2,937      2,228  74,401   83,665   5,196   17,355  13,395    1,070               -         -       -         -
    -         -    45    89                  27          -    -             -    15   45   12    -    30    -   -                                       -
   222         - 15,300           -           -          -         -         -        -                  -  49,400            1    -    10    -
    -    -                        -           -          -    -             -9,040   757   -                       -    -             -    3  5,694
    -    -   -    -                          -    -   -    - 23,584   -   -    -   -    -   -    -
                     -  100,352            -           -        -  22,490    -               -        -   1,229    -                           



                                                                                              -  17,060    -               -          
                                                                                               .....-    561    -          20   -            -
    -  284,000 1,423   1,300                 -           -        -         -        - 9,750                       -        -         -          
              .......... -                       -         -                                   -        -     .   -      296    5,135        -         -
    10  200                                                                                     -    -    -    -    -   -    -
    -         -    3,355   22,939   102,060            434        -         -       326    7,597  24,716           -   16,569         - 33,877        600
              -  -   -           -          -           -                        9,680             -    -                  -    -   40 
    67    -   -                   -          -           -   220                     -    -    -    -    -    -                                     5,469
    -         - 13,248                       -           -    -    -    -    -                               -    81,365    -   -    -
   300         16  354    137                 -          -    836    251    47                  -        -        350   141           10   -            -
    -    -  966   -    -    -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  -   -
    -    -  865   -    -    -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  -   -
    -    -   -    -                          -    -   359  593   -    -   -    -   -    -   -    79
    16        -        -     25,130    18,508        6,149       383   17,041        69   29,257         -         -        69   11,924       -    24,905
 7,205     9,318    741          131          -          -        -          -        -         -        -         -        44        69  1,887    4,173
    -         -    -    129                  -           -    -             -    - 1,034   -                      79   -   2,810   -                   -
    -         -   580  33,104    580                     -        -         -    580 33,104    -  33,104    -                         -   580          -
    .-        -    -              -          -           -        -         -2,930  3,475    -                    -  2,973  1,761   -                  -
                                         .............._9-                                 -        -         -        -             -       9,420
 7,820  293,534 39,954  188,292   208,447             8,811  76,199  124,040  95,019  102,784  38,283  102,853 114,858   21,86536,397   50,340
        301,354            228,246                217,258            200,239             197,803            141,136            136,723            86,737
          11.3%               8.6%                   8.2%               7.5%                7.4%               5.3%               5.1%              3.3%
                                                                                                       - Zero or not reported.
for national reporting purposes.                                                                                   Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.









                                                                                                                                        21








Lakes and Reservoirs








                                Care should be taken in       in their lakes and reservoirs.    Sources of
                              interpreting these figures, as    As in rivers, for most cause
                              a close look at 'able 2-2       categories there were more      Impairment
                              reveals that certain States     lake acres in which the cause
                              report a large proportion of    was a moderate/minor              Information on the various
                              the impacts from these          contributor to impairment       sources of pollution contrib-
                              causes of impairment. For       than a major contributor. Of    uting to use impairment in
                              example, Florida alone          the leading causes, only the    lakes and reservoirs was
                              accounts for 71 percent of      priority organics category      provided by 28 States. Table
                              the lake acres affected by      showed more major than          2-3 displays the categories of
                              salinity; New York accounts     minor impacts: in 93 percent    sources and the size of
                              for 47 percent of the acres     of the lake acres affected by   waters affected by each.
                              affected by priority organics    priority organics, their         Since an acre of lake can be
                              and 40 percent of the lake      impact was considered major.   affected by many sources of
                              acres affected by flow          Among the other causes of       pollution, States were asked
                              alteration; and Louisiana       use impairment, those with      to include any given lake
                              accounts for 44 percent of      the greatest percentage of      acre under each of the
                              the lake acres affected by      major impacts include pH        source categories that
                              pathogens. Reporting incon-    (major impact in 48 percent      contribute to impairment.
                              sistencies influence these      of affected acres), siltation   This allows a single lake acre
                              findings.                      (major impact in 46 percent),    to be counted multiple times
                                Twenty-six States specified   flow alteration (major impact   if it is affected by multiple
                              the degree of impact of the    in 42 percent), and nutrients    sources. The values reported
                              various causes of nonsupport   (major impact in 40 percent).    are the total number of lake






                                    POLLUTION CAUSES
                                               Nutrients           _

                                               Siltation

                                   Organic Enrichment |
                                                 Salinity   lj I
                                    Habitat Modification '

                                             Pathogens   '"t:4

                                       Priority Organics ] 1

                                     Suspended Solids                                              Unspecified

                                                  Metals                 -  Moderate/Minor Impact
                                              Pesticides   E                                       Major Impact

                                                         0          10          20           30           40           50
                                                                           Impaired Acres Affected (%)
                               Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) Reports.
                               Figure 2-2. Percent of Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Each Pollution Cause
22








                                                                    Lakes and Reservoirs








acres affected by a particular   percent of impaired lake     storm sewers/runoff and 82
source of impairment,          acres. Other leading sources    percent of the lake acres
according to whether the       in lakes include hydrologic/   affected by land disposal.
source is a major or           habitat modification             Twenty-two States speci-
moderate/minor contributor    (affecting 33 percent of        fied the degree of impact
to impairment. The relative    impaired lake acres), storm    (i.e., major or moderate/
extent of each source of       sewers/runoff (affecting 28    minor) of pollution sources in
nonsupport can be deter-       percent), land disposal        their lakes. Only in the
mined by dividing the total    (affecting about 26 percent),    agricultural category did the
number of acres affected by    and municipal dischargers      number of acres with major
each source category by the    (affecting 15 percent).        impacts exceed those with
total acres impaired (see        These numbers should be       moderate/minor impacts
Figure 2-3).                   interpreted with care, as a     (major impact in 51 percent
  As with rivers, certain      close look at Thble 2-3 reveals   of impaired lake acres).
ambiguities apply to the       that certain States predomn-   Other source categories with
"definitions" of sources of   imate in the number of lake     a high percentage of major
pollution in lakes (see discus-   acres they report as affected    impact include combined
sion on p. 7). Tahble 2-3      by the various sources of      sewers (major impact in 45
shows that agricultural        pollution. For example,        percent of affected lake
runoff is reported as the      Florida alone accounts for 85   acres) and municipal
most extensive source of       percent of the total number     dischargers (major impact
pollution, affecting 58        of lake acres affected by       in 25 percent).








  POLLUTION SOURCES
             Agriculture                :x.4c:x<y..c'

     Hydro/Habitat Mod

  Storm Sewers/Runoffr 

          Land Disposal 

               Municipal

               Industrial EIZ

   Resource Extraction

            Construction                     ~npcfe

             Siliviculture ]E:Moderate/minor impact

     Combined Sewers                         a                    Major Impact
                                                                   I         I
                          0       1 0       20         30        40        50        60
                                          Impaired Acres Affected(%
Source: 1985s state Section 305(b) Reports.

 Figure 2-3. Percent of Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Each Pollution Sour-co
                                                                                        23









Lakes and Reservoirs









                    Table 2-3. Impaired Lake Acres Affected by Sources of Pollution

                                            Total                                  Hydro/               Storm
                                          Impaired        Agriculture           Habitat Mod        Sewers/Runoff        Land Disposal
                    State                Waters*         Major   Mod/Min    Major  Mod/Min    Major  Mod/Min    Major  Mod/Min
                    Alabama**               86,080          -           -         -          -    15,930         -         -          -
                    California**          508,152    107,922            -         -          -         -         -         -          -
                     Colorado                 1,672          -          148        -          -         -      1,000       325         -
                     Districtof Columbia        136          -           -         -          -         -         27        -          -
                     Florida**             637,440    616,320            -   437,760          -   631,680         -   582,400          -
                     Illinois              160,641    115,534       43,791      1,329    40,388         -         -      6,056    19,629
                     Indiana                    179          12          85        40         -        35         67        -          -
                     Iowa                   53,448      48,264        3,774      229          -     4,822    12,529          7         -
                     Kansas                 57,256           10     34,769          3      5,734        -         16        -          -
                     Maryland                 2,610       1,162          -         -          -       415         -         -          -
                     Mississippi             18,260       2,979      14,081        -          -         -         -         -          -
                     Missouri                 2,311          -           -         -       1,730        -        561        -          -
                     Montana               317,996       12,600      18,322        -    284,000         -         -        150      5,420
                     New Hampshire           19,146          20          -         -          -        34         68        -          -
                     New Mexico             47,308           -      47,058         -          60        -         -         -          -
                     New York              295,332      28,205      93,991   33,877           -     1,314      3,720    2,844    48,829
                     North Carolina**        11,897       2,056          -         -          -     2,055         -      1,900         -
                     North Dakota           48,125      37,729        6,677       665     6,453        22      5,951        -          -
                     Oregon**              130,625      98,145           -         -          -    10,866         -    13,129          -
                     Puerto Rico              7,345        948         870         -          -     1,505        782        25       378
                     Rhode Island             1,401          -          103        -         50       111        566        -         103
                     South Carolina**         1,165          -           -         -          -        25         -         -          -
                     South Dakota            94,720     83,628        1,516    1,209       7,868       99         -    12,731       9,272
                     Tennessee               86,648      15,520      45,813    9,221    31,559         33    41,481         -       7,800
                     Virginia                13,737          -        7,925        -          -         -      7,856        -          -
                     Washington              33,684          -       33,104       580         -       580         -         -          -
                     West Virginia           19,171          76       5,047        -          -         12        27        -          -
                     Wyoming                 30,404     28,513        7,665        -     27,005         -         25        -          -
                     Totals              2,686,889  1,199,643    364,739  484,913   404,847  669,538    74,676  619,567    91,431
                     Combined Totals                             1,564,382              889,760              744,214             710,998
                     Percent of Impaired Waters                      58.2%               33.1%                27.7%                26.5%
                      *The sum of partially and nonsupporting lake acres (Table 2-1).
                     *These States did not specify the degree of impact (i.e., Major or Moderate/Minor); lake acres were placed in the "Major" column for national
                       reporting purposes.












24









                                                                                                                Lakes and Reservoirs










                                                Resource                                                        Combined
    Municipal              Industrial            Extraction           Construction           Silviculture           Sewers
  Major  Mod/Min        Major    Mod/Min        Major  Mod/Min        Major  Mod/Min        Major  Mod/Min  Major  Mod/Min
      -          -  68,300               -   1,850             -         -           -         -           -    -              -
    160         -          -            -  31,082             -          -          -          -          -   -               -
      -        500    160                -        105         410        -          125        43          -    -              -

252,160          -      62,720           -     32,000          -    42,240           -          -
  6,046    62,403       2,631       10,972         43     22,831      1,352     14,273         -
     99         -          15           -         30          -          -          -          -                  45          12
      -   10,400    -                    -          -          -          12         -         -           -   -
      -    -    -                        -   190    -    -    -    -    -   -
     35   360                                      -          -    -                -    -                -   -
      -          -          -            -    -   1,200    -                         -    -                -   -
      .-         -    -                  -    -                2 20 -                -    -                -   -
      -          -          -            -          -    2,100    -                  -         -    3,200   -
      -    142    -                      15    -               -    -                -    -                -   -
      -          -          -            -    -                -    -    590    -    879  -
 15,468      8,203         -         7,800         -           -         -          35         -       3,180  2,944
  1,900         -    9,680              -          -          -    2,042            -        450          -    -
      -    9,299            -                      -          172        -           -         -    2,986   -
    485         -    895                -          -          -          -          -   2,755             -    -
     62                    -           112         -

      --      --          250
  1,870         -          -            -          -          -          -          -    162   463   -                        -
 14,600      9,556         -        40,391      1,993          -         49     15,500         -       4,550       -       4,400
      -    102    -                     137    -               -         -           -         -          130   -             -
      -          -    580                -    -                -    -                -    -                -  580    -
      12     2,684       2,930            3      3,111      6,320        114         41       137       6,099      -           -
      -    8,300            -            -         -    9,520            -    11,506           -           -    -             -
292,897   111,949   148,161         59,430    70,404       42,573   45,809       42,070     3,547      21,487  3,569        4,412
           404,846                 207,591                112,977                87,879               25,034               7,981
            15.1%                    7.7%                  4.2%                  3.3%                  0.9/0               0.3%
- Zero or not reported.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.













                                                                                                                                      25








Lakes and Reservoirs









                               Attainment of the               (12,013,438) were assessed       matter that alter many basic
                                                               for swimmabihity. Similar       characteristics such as
                                                               proportions were found to        average depth, biological
                               Goals                           apply to swimmability as to      productivity, oxygen levels,
                                                               fishability: 96 percent of      and water transparency. This
                                 The Nation's lakes and        assessed acres fully attained    natural aging process is
                               reservoirs, like its flowing    the swimmable goal, 4            known as eutrophication.
                               waters, are also traditionally    percent were not currently     Human activities can accel-
                               measured in terms of their      attaining it, and less than      erate eutrophication by
                               ability to support fishing and i percent (3,703 acres) were      increasing the loadings of
                               swimming, basic goals of the    categorized as "not attain-      nutrients and organic
                               Clean Water Act. In 1988, 35    able" (see Figure 2-4). As       substances through runoff,
                               States reported this informa-    with rivers, the States         sewage discharges, septic
                               tion for lakes (see Thble 2-4).    reported higher levels of     tank leachate, and similar
                                 A total of 12,155,998 lake    attainment of the CWA goals    sources. These substances
                               acres were assessed for fish-    than designated uses. This      can overstimulate algae,
                               ability; of these, 95 percent   difference may be the result    plant, and weed growth,
                               fully attained the fishable     of State reluctance to declare   creating choked conditions
                               goal, 5 percent did not         moderately or slightly           that adversely affect
                               currently attain it but might    impaired lakes as not fishable   swimming, boating, and the
                                in the future, and less than    or swimmable.                    health and diversity of
                                I percent (3,886 acres) were                                     indigenous fish populations.
                                determined to be "not attain-   Trophic Status                   This major change in lake
                                able" (i.e., suffering from     of Lakes                         ecology due to human activi-
                                irrevocable impacts and/or                                       ties is known as cultural
                                not designated for the use).      Lakes naturally change         eutrophication.
                                Approximately the same          over time, filling with
                                number of lake acres sediments and organic




                                                Not Meeting                                 Not Meeting
                                                    (5%)   ~ ~Meeting (4)Meeting
                                                    (5%) ~  ~     (9%                      (94%)














                                             Fishable Goal                                Swimmable Goal
                                             (12,155,998 Assessed Acres)                  (12,013,438 Assessed Acres)

                                              Note: The "not attainable" categories are less than 1 percent for both goals.
                               Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                               Figure 2-4. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Lakes and Reservoirs
26









                                                                                                                 Lakes and Reservoirs









Table 2-4. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Lakes and Reservoirs

                                        Fishable Goal (miles)                                   Swimmable Goal (miles)
                                                          Not          Not                                          Not           Not
State                     Assessed        Meeting       Meeting     Attainable       Assessed       Meeting       Meeting      Attainable
Alabama                     491,566         405,486      86,080             -          491,566        405,486       86,080             -
Colorado                    124,973         123,111        1,862             0         124,973        124,973            0              0
Connecticut                  21,701          18,826        2,875             0          21,701         21,701            0              0
Districtof Columbia             136               0         136              0             136              0          136              0
Florida                     947,200        846,080      101,120              0         947,200        846,080      101,120              0
Georgia                     417,730        412,357         5,373            -          417,730        412,357        5,373             -
Illinois                    183,572         166,248       17,324             0         183,572         77,176      106,396              0
Indiana                     104,540         104,424         116              0         104,540        104,361          179              0
Iowa                         80,249          79,534         712              3          80,249         77,350          686          2,213
Kansas                      173,884         173,809          75             -          173,884        173,809           75             -
Kentucky                    214,483        214,483            0              0        214,483         214,483            0              0
Louisiana                   517,476        517,390           86             -         517,476         517,390           86             -
Maine                       994,560        979,558       15,002              0        994,560         958,080       36,480              0
Maryland                     17,448          17,442            6            -           17,448         17,446            2             -
Mississippi                 500,000        500,000             0             0        500,000         500,000            0              0
Missouri                    288,012        285,701        2,311              0         288,012        288,012            0              0
Montana                     663,363        650,763        12,600             0         663,363        663,363            0              0
New Hampshire               149,854         149,854            0             0         149,854        149,854            0              0
New Mexico                   47,308          47,308            0             0          47,308         47,308            0              0
New York                    750,000        537,000      213,000              0         750,000        670,000       80,000              0
North Carolina              305,367        295,687        9,680             -         305,367         303,180        2,187             -
North Dakota                619,334        608,657        9,792            885        619,334         614,067        5,267              0
Ohio                              -              -            -             -          100,259         21,799       78,460             -
Oregon                      504,928        504,928             0            -          504,928        504,928            0             -
Puerto Rico                  11,146           6,395       2,581          2,170          11,146          6,395        3,915           836
Rhode Island                 16,089          14,443        1,122           524          16,089         14,443        1,122           524
South Carolina              410,407        410,107          300             -         410,407         408,742        1,665             -
South Dakota                662,532         662,532            0             0         662,532        662,532            0              0
Tennessee                   538,657         496,337      42,320             -          538,657        521,235       17,422             -
Texas                      1,410,240      1,410,240            0            -        1,410,240       1,408,585       1,655             -
Vermont                     225,350         222,772        2,274           304         203,647        202,808          838              1
Virginia                    160,985         147,248       13,737             0         121,777        121,648            0            129
Washington                  156,518         122,834      33,684              0         156,518        155,938          580              0
West Virginia                 19,171         17,441        1,730             0          19,171         19,171            0              0
Wyoming                     427,219        427,219             0             0         245,311        245,311            0              0
Totals                    12,155,998     11,576,214     575,898          3,886      12,013,438     11,480,011      529,724          3,703
- Not reported.                                                                                  Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.









                                                                                                                                      27









Lakes and Reservoirs








                                 The eutrophication              Although changes in lake         Section 314 of the Water
                               progression can be described    water quality may be tracked    Quality Act of 1987 required
                               by a series of trophic states:  by monitoring for trophic        States, in their Section 305(b)
                                                                state, experience has shown      reports, to identify their
                                * Oligotrophic-clear            that the trophic state of a      lakes by trophic status. As
                               waters with little organic      lake does not always define      with other results reported
                                matter or sediment and          its use. Some States believe     by the States, there is prob-
                                minimal biological activity;    that advanced eutrophica-        able sampling bias in the
                                                                tion does not necessarily        lakes represented by the data
                                ï¿½ Mesotrophic-waters            eliminate a lake's designated    on trophic status. If the lakes
                                containing more nutrients       recreational uses, nor is an     were assessed in response
                                and therefore exhibiting        oligotrophic lake always best    to a problem or public
                                more biological productivity;    for recreational activities.    complaint or because of their
                                                                These States have recognized    easy accessibility, there is
                                * Eutrophic-waters              this apparent disparity          probable bias in the reported
                                extremely rich in nutrients,    between positive recrea-         information. It is therefore
                                with high biological produc-    tional uses and the negative     likely that the more remote
                                tivity; and                     connotations associated with    and/or pristine lakes are
                                                                eutrophic conditions,            underrepresented in some
                                * Hypereutrophic-murky,    adjusting the ways they               State assessments.
                                highly productive waters,       determine trophic status to        Table 2-6 displays the
                                closest to the wetland status.   reflect desired use (such       results of the State evalua-
                                                                 as warmwater fishing) and        tions of trophic status. States
                                  Dystrophic is also a lake     public perceptions in addi-      reported that 30 percent of
                                classification but not          tion to measurable physical,     all lakes assessed for trophic
                                necessarily a part of the       chemical, and biological         status were either eutrophic
                                eutrophication progression.     parameters. In addition,         or hypereutrophic; 23
                                Dystrophic systems are often    many lakes (particularly in      percent were mesotrophic;
                                low in nutrients yet are        the Midwest and Southeast)       14 percent, oligotrophic;
                                highly colored with dissolved   are naturally eutrophic.         and less than 2 percent,
                                humic organic matter.           Trophic status by itself is      dystrophic. Trophic status for
                                Sphagnum bogs are examples   not an indication of water          the remaining 30 percent
                                of such dystrophic systems.     quality but must be eval-        assessed was unknown.
                                  Table 2-5 displays the         uated against the natural
                                general characteristics of      status of the lake.
                                lakes in the various trophic
                                classifications.



                                Table 2-5. General Characteristics of Traditional Lake Trophic Status Classifications
                                Characteristics                    Oligotrophic            Mesotrophic              Eutrophic
                                Nutrient Level                         Low                    Medium                   High
                                Organic Matter Content                 Low                    Medium                   High
                                Biological Productivity                Low                    Medium                   High
                                Lake Age                              Young                   Medium                   Old
                                Water Transparency                     High                   Medium                   Low
                                Oxygen Depletion
                                  Hypolimnion                          No                       Yes                    Yes
                                Average Depth                          Deep                  Moderate                 Shallow
                                Source: Report to Congress: Water Quality of the Nation's Lakes, 1989.
                                       Nonpoint Sources Branch, OWRS.
28








                                                                      Lakes and Reservoirs








Table 2-6. Trophic Status of the Nation's Lakes
                       Lakes    Oligo-   Meso-                 Hyper-      Dys-
State* Assessed  trophic  trophic  Eutrophic  eutrophic  trophic  Unknown
Alabama                     34        4       15          11          0        0          4
Arkansas                    71        0       59          4           0        0          8
California                459       114       39          12          2        0        292
Colorado                    82        9       35         38           0        0          0
Connecticut                160       34       78          17          0        0         31
Delaware                   31         0        0         31           0        0          0
District of Columbia         2        0        1          0           0        0          1
Florida                     91       57       19          13          0        0          2
Idaho                     554         0       55        499           0        0          0
Illinois                   412        2       25        239         146        0          0
Indiana                   404        75      144         67           0      118          0
Iowa                       114        0        0         114          0        0          0
Kansas                     193        0       68        125           0        0          0
Kentucky                    92       14       27         51           0        0          0
Louisiana                  101        0        0         101          0        0          0
Maryland                    59        2       13         44           0        0          0
Massachusetts              478      133      289         56           0        0          0
Michigan                  682        98      367         217          0        0          0
Minnesota                1,409      167      439        536         267        0          0
Mississippi                127        0        0         33           0        0         94
Montana                  1,880     452       428         371          0      127        502
Nebraska                   23         0        1          12         10        0          0
Nevada                       9        1        4          4           0        0          0
New Hampshire              415      161      172         82           0        0          0
New York                 3,340       85      132         84           0        0       3,039
North Carolina             144       11       21         25           9        8         70
North Dakota               216        0        0        216           0        0          0
Oklahoma                    74        5       49          8          12        0          0
Oregon                    204        46       78         69          11        0          0
Pennsylvania                37        1       29          7           0        0          0
Puerto Rico                 17        0        3          14          0        0          0
Rhode Island               54         4       41          9           0        0          0
South Carolina              40        0        0         39           1        0          0
Tennessee                  119       21       33         55          10        0          0
Utah                       127       33       44         50           0        0          0
Vermont                    719       19       72         28           0       11        589
Virginia                  248        20       49        120           0        1         58
Washington                 140       58       24         45           0        0          13
Wisconsin                2,153      605      746        802           0        0          0
Totals                  15,514    2,231    3,599       4,248        468      265       4,703
* States not listed in the table either did not report the information or reported in a way that was inconsistent with the format
of the table.





                                                                                         29









Lakes and Reservoirs








                              EPA's Clean Lakes    establishing a comprehensive   funded over 350 projects at a
                              Program                       grant assistance program       total cost of $102 million.
                                                             that included grants to the     In the last 2 years, these
                                                              States for the preparation of    Clean Lakes projects have
                              History of the                 Classification Surveys, as     produced environmental
                              Program                        well as for Phase I diagnostic/  results. For example, in
                                                              feasibility studies and Phase    Panguitch Lake, Utah, stream
                                Widespread public support    H implementation projects.     banks have been resloped
                              for preserving and protecting   The purpose of the State lake   and revegetated, 3,000 feet
                              the Nation's lakes gave rise to   classification survey was to  of juniper tree revetments
                              the Clean Lakes Program in    identify and classify the       have been installed in highly
                              1972. Initiated under the     publicly owned lakes within    eroded areas, seven check
                              Federal Water Pollution        each State according to        dams and a sedimentation
                              Control Act, the Clean Lakes    trophic conditions. This      pond have been built, and
                              Program set ambitious goals    activity set the stage for the    fences have been installed to
                              for defining the causes and    award of Phase I grants by    keep out cattle. The result has
                              extent of pollution problems    defining a universe of       been a significant decrease
                              in the lakes of each State and   potential lake water quality    in sediment and phosphorus
                               for developing and imple-      projects in each State and by    loadings and a marked recov-
                               menting effective techniques   serving to assist in setting   ery of the lake. Another
                               to restore and protect lake    priorities for potential      example is the Baton Rouge
                               resources. The Clean Lakes     funding assistance.           University Lakes in Louis-
                               Program provided financial       Phase I studies were        iana. Hydraulic and mechan-
                               assistance to the States to    intended to determine the     ical dredging, sewer rehabil-
                               carry out the provisions and    causes and extent of pollu-  itation, runoff diversion, and
                               objectives of the Act.         tion in particular lakes of   shoreline stabilization have
                                 Promulgation of the Clean    each State, to evaluate       significantly improved water
                               Lakes Regulations in 1980      possible pollution control    quality and thereby reduced
                               focused the program by         mechanisms for them, and to   fish kills in the lakes.
                                                              recommend the most feasible    With the passage of the
                                                              and cost-effective methods    Water Quality Act of 1987,
                                                              for restoring and protecting    new directions for the Clean
                                                              lake water quality. Up to 70    Lakes Program were estab-
                                                              percent of the total cost of  lished within the broader
                                                              the project could be awarded   context of State water
                                                              by the Federal government,    quality management.
                                                              with a maximum of $100,000
                                                              awarded to any one study.
                                                                The award of Phase II       The Water Quality
                                                               Federal assistance grants     Act  of 1987
                                                               translated Phase I lake
                                                               restoration and protection      Section 314 of the Water
                                                               recommendations into          Quality Act of 1987
                                                               action. Funds provided for    reauthorized the Clean Lakes
                                                               Phase II projects were        Program and mandated a
                                                               intended for actual imple-    number of new initiatives
                                                               mentation of in-lake restora-   and requirements. First, in
                                           -T____  - --a       tion practices and best       order to remain eligible for
                                                               management practices in the   Clean Lakes Program grant
                                                               lake watersheds. Phase II     funds, each State is required
                                                               projects required at least a
                                                               50 percent non-Federal
                                                               match. Since 1976, EPA has
 Scooping algae from a eutrophic lake.
 30








                                                                                                      Lakes and Reservoirs








                               to submit biennially to EPA       Second, under the new           In implementing the CWA
                               the following:                  Act, EPA was authorized to      reauthorization, States are
                                                               establish a Clean Lakes         encouraged to develop inte-
                               * A revised Lake Classi-        demonstration program to        grated water quality strate-
                               fication Report;                enhance current scientific      gies that include lake and
                                                               understanding of the causes     reservoir management,
                               * A list of lakes that do not    of lake degradation and the    restoration, and protection
                               meet water quality standards   effectiveness of various lake    activities. EPA will develop
                               or will require controls to     restoration techniques. This    technical support materials
                               maintain standards;             includes a study of the         to strengthen State programs.
                                                               causes and extent of lake       These materials focus on
                               * Lake pollution control        acidification nationwide and    developing closer ties
                               procedures;                     should result in the develop-    between lake management
                                                               ment of mitigation tech-        interests and other water
                               * A restoration plan for        niques for affected lakes.      quality programs. As part of
                               degraded lakes;                   Third, EPA was required to   this technical support effort,
                                                               develop a lake restoration      EPA will continue to encour-
                               * Methods and procedures        guidance manual and distrib-   age national and interna-
                               to mitigate the harmful         ute it to the States and others   tional lake management
                               effects of acidity in lakes;    interested in lake manage-      conferences as well as
                                                                ment, restoration, and          regional and State lake
                               * An assessment of the          protection. The manual has      management workshops.
                               status and trends of lake       been completed, and nearly
                               water quality; and              10,000 copies have been
                                                                distributed nationwide.
                               * A list of threatened and       Finally, in accordance with
                               impaired lakes.                 Section 518(e) of the Water
                                                               Quality Act of 1987, EPA's
                                 As required by the Act, the   Administrator is authorized
                               State Section 305(b) report     to treat qualified Indian
                               will be the mechanism for       tribes as States.
                               reporting this information.






















Section 314 of the Water Quality Act of 1987 mandated a number of new initiatives to study, protect, and restore the Nation's lakes.
                                                                                                                          31








Lakes and Reservoirs








                                  In addition, in 1987-1988,    Indian tribes for the study     approved restoration plans,
                                EPA worked to improve coor-   and restoration/protection of   and Phase III Post-Restora-
                                dination with other Federal    lakes. Forty States and 12       tion Monitoring grants were
                                agencies such as the U.S.       Indian tribes received grants    awarded to determine the
                                Department of Agriculture;     to assess lake water quality.    longevity and effectiveness
                                prepared a Report to            In addition, 43 Phase I         of previously completed
                                Congress on the status of       Diagnostic/Feasibility Study    restoration activities.
                                water quality in lakes; and    grants were awarded to
                                initiated a long-term citizen's   determine the causes and
                                information and education       sources of pollution to
                                program.                        specific lakes and to develop
                                  Also, in 1988-1989, the       feasible restoration plans.
                                Agency awarded over 100        Ten Phase II Restoration
                                new Clean Lakes Program         Implementation grants were
                                grants to States and eligible    awarded to implement










































 32



































         The Great Lakes






     Support                               In their 1988 State Section
                      of00~ Designatd 0 f i305(b) reports, six of the
                 Designated Uses         eight Great Lakes States
                                         provided information on the
          The Great Lakes hold one-     extent to which their Great
         fifth of the world's fresh      Lakes shoreline miles attain
         water and are so large that in    the uses for which they have
         many ways they might better    been designated (see Table
: t ~    ~' ;be considered as freshwater  3-1). A total of 4,479 miles
         inland seas. Major urban and    were assessed-all of the
         industrial centers such as      shoreline miles in these
         Chicago, Detroit, Gary,         States and 87 percent of the
         Toledo, 'Ibronto, and Buffalo   total number of Great Lakes
         are located along their         shoreline miles in the U.S.
         shores. They serve as receiv-    Eight percent of assessed
         ing waters for the municipal    miles, or 372 miles, were
         and industrial dischargers in    found to be fully supporting
         many of these urban areas       uses, and 4 percent of these
         and are also affected by a      were determined to be
         myriad of other sources         supporting but threatened.
         including urban and agricul-    Eighteen percent of assessed
         tural runoff, hazardous         miles (819 riiles) were
         waste sites, pollution brought    reported to be partially
         by tributaries, and atmos-      supporting uses, and 73
         pheric deposition. Despite      percent (3,288 miles) were
         these influences, the Great     reported as not supporting
         Lakes have immense recrea-      uses (see Figure 3-1).
         tional and commercial value       Table 3-1 gives further
         and are unique, vital natural    evidence of the variability of
         resources.                      State reporting and assess-

                                                                   33








The Great Lakes








Table 3-1. Designated Use Support in Great Lakes

                Total        Shoreline Miles Assessed             Miles                          Miles            Miles
             Shoreline              Percent      Percent          Fully          Miles         Partially          Not
State           Miles      Total   Evaluated   Monitored    Supporting    Threatened*   Supporting             Supporting
Illinois             63      63         0           100             0               0              63               0
Indiana             43       43         0           100             0               0              43               0
Michigan          3,288   3,288         0           100             0               0              0              3,288
Minnesota          272      272         0           100            272             -               0                0
New York           577      577         0           100            100             15             477               0
Ohio                236     236        -             -              0              -              236               0
Totals            4,479   4,479                                    372             15             819             3,288
'Miles Threatened is a subset of Miles Fully Supporting.                               Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
- Not reported.
                               ment methodologies. Fish       Great Lakes in its jurisdiction   Causes and
                               consumption restrictions are   totaling 3,288 shoreline        Sources of
                               in place for one or more       miles, reported all of its lake
                               species throughout near-       shore miles as not supporting    Impairment
                               shore waters of the Great      uses. Other States have clas-
                               Lakes; as a result, Michigan,    sified waters with restric-     Priority organics are by far
                               which has portions of four     tions as partially (or even     the most extensive cause
                                                               fully) supporting designated    (i.e., specific pollutant or
                                                               uses.                           process) responsible for use
                                                                 It should also be noted that   impairment in the Great
                                                               it is the nearshore waters of   Lakes, according to the four
                                                               the Great Lakes that are        States reporting (see Table
                                                               most likely to be degraded;     3-2). While all States
                                                               Table 3-1 does not address      reported Great Lakes waters
                                                               water quality conditions in     affected by priority organics,
                            Fully Supporting                   the deeper, cleaner, less       New York alone accounts for
                            (8%)         Partially Supporting  stressed central waters of the   over 60 percent of those
                                         (18%)                 Lakes.                          waters. Metals are also




                                                               Table 3-2. Impaired Great Lakes Shoreline Miles Affected by

                                                                                Total       Priority
                                                                              S   Impaired  Organics          Metals
                                                                State          Waters   Major  ModlMin  Major  Mod/Min
                                                                Illinois            63     63        -       -         -
                                                                Indiana             43     -         43      -
                                                                New York           477    463        -       -         -
                                         Not Supporting        Ohio               236      4        188     86       129
                                                                Totals             819    530       231      86       129
                                                                Combined Totals                     761               215
               Assessed Shoreline Miles (4,479)
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
 Figure 3-1. Designated Use Support in Assessed Great Lakes
 34








                                                                                                        The Great Lakes








                              commonly reported, with           A total of 1,191 shoreline      Somewhat fewer shoreline
                              nutrients, organic enrich-      miles were assessed for         miles (919) were assessed for
                              ment/low dissolved oxygen,      fishability. Largely because    the swimmable goal. A strik-
                              and pesticides also cited       of fish consumption advis-      ing reversal is evident for the
                              as contributors to use          ories and bans, only 32         swimmable goal: 98 percent
                              impairment.                     percent of these assessed       of assessed shoreline miles
                               Three States provided         waters are meeting the fish-    meet the goal, and only 2
                              information on the various      able goal. The main reason      percent do not. Again, in
                              sources of pollution in their   for these fishing restrictions    none of the assessed miles is
                              Great Lakes shoreline miles     is contamination of sedi-       the swimmable goal of the
                              (see lible 3-3). Land disposal    ments by toxic chemicals      Clean Water Act considered
                              is cited as the leading source    such as priority organics that   not attainable.
                              of impairment; however, all    are, in turn, passed along to
                             waters reportedly affected      macroinvertebrates and fish.
                             by land disposal are in one     In none of the assessed Great
                              State (New York). Source and    Lakes shoreline miles is the
                              cause data on the Great         fishable goal considered not
                              Lakes are limited and are       attainable by State standards
                              probably not indicative of      (see Figure 3-2). Variations in
                              the lake system as a whole.     State definitions of fishable
                                                             goal attainment clearly
                              Attainment of                  account for inconsistencies
                              Clean Water Act                in these statistics.
                              Goals

                                Five States provided
                              information on the degree to
                              which their Great Lakes
                              shoreline waters meet the
                              fishable and swimmable
                              goals of the Clean Water Act
                              (see iable 3-4).






Causes of Pollution
                     Organic
   Nutrients       Enrichment       Pesticides         pH          Pathogens        Siltation
Major  Mod/Min  Major  Mod/Min  Major Modl/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min
   17    26   -               -   -    -   -    -   -    -   - 
   -         -   -            -   -    43  -    -  -    -  -    -
  29        -    -           15   -           -   -          -   -           15  -          14
   -          4   -           46  -           -   -    35                     -   -          -
  46        30      0        61      0       43      0       35      0       15     0       14
            76               61              43              35              15             14





                                                                                                                      35









The Great Lakes









                     Table 3-3. Impaired Great Lakes Shoreline Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution

                                        Total            Land                                     Combined                 Storm
                                      Impaired         Disposal             Agriculture             Sewers            Sewers/Runoff
                      State           Waters'      Major    Mod/Min    Major    Mod/Min    Major    Mod/Min    Major    Mod/Min
                      Illinois              63        -           -         -           -         -            6        45
                      Indiana               43        -           -         -           43        -           43        -           -
                      NewYork              477        -          477        14          15        -           14        -           14
                      Totals               583         0         477        14          58         0          63        45           14
                      Combined Totals                            477                    72                    63                    59

                      *The sum of partially and nonsupporting Great Lakes shoreline miles (Table 3-1).  - Zero or not reported.
                      Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.


                                                                                                 Not Meeting
                                                                                                 (2%)
                                          Not Meeting                      Meeting                                       Meeting
















                                                 Fishable Goal                                 Swimmable Goal
                                                 (1,191 Assessed Shoreline Miles)              (919 Assessed Shoreline Miles)
                                                 Note: the "not attainable" categories are less than 1 percent for both goals.
                                  Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                  Figure 3-2. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Great Lakes


















                                                                    The Cleveland lakefront

36









                                                                                                            The Great Lakes










                                                                                 Resource           Hydro/
       Industrial        Municipal        Construction       Silviculture       Extraction        Habitat Mod
   Major    Mod/Min  Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min


      -          43  -             43           -        -         -        -        -             -         -
      -          -   -             -   -             14   -             -   -              -   -             -
       o         43      0         43       0         14       0         0       0          0       0          0
                 43               43                 14                  0                 0                  0





Table 3-4. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Great Lakes

                          Fishable Goal (shoreline miles)                         Swimmable Goal (shoreline miles)
                                              Not           Not                                        Not            Not
State          Assessed       Meeting       Meeting       Attainable     Assessed       Meeting       Meeting      Attainable
Illinois              63             0           63               0             63           63             0          0
Indiana               43             0           43               0             43           43             0          0
Minnesota            272           272            0              -              -             -            -           -
New York             577           114          463               0            577          563            14          0
Ohio                 236             0          236              -             236          231             5          -
Totals              1,191          386          805               0            919           900           19          0
- Not reported.                                                                           Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.

























Sediment contamination is the
main reason for fishing restric-
tions in the Great Lakes.
Contaminants may be passed
along to some fish species.
                                                                                                                          37








The Great Lakes








                             The Great Lakes:               Quality Board and the          ial action plans are required
                             A  Narrative                   Science Advisory Board-        for waters identified as Areas
                                                             include members from a         of Concern.
                              Assessment                     variety of State and Federal     Several of these IJC Areas
                                                             agencies and universities      of Concern are discussed
                               The Great Lakes are          who work together to            below: the Niagara River, the
                              cooperatively protected by     identify problem areas, plan    Grand Calumet River-Indiana
                              the U.S. and Canada under      programs to reduce pollu-      Harbor Ship Canal, Wauke-
                              the Great Lakes Water          tion, and publish reports on   gan Harbor, and Saginaw
                              Quality Agreement of 1978      issues and findings.           Bay. Other Areas of Concern
                              as amended in 1987. The          The IJC has identified 42    are discussed in detail in the
                              Clean Water Act also applies    Areas of Concern in the        1988 State Section 305(b)
                              to the U.S. waters of the      Great Lakes basin. These are    reports.
                              Great Lakes, incorporating     defined as waterways where       In their 1988 Section 305(b)
                              the Great Lakes Water Qual-    environmental quality is       reports, seven States-
                              ity Agreement by reference     degraded and beneficial uses   Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
                              and providing special Great    are impaired. The IJC has      Minnesota, New York, Ohio,
                              Lakes programs under           developed a system to classify   and Wisconsin-provided
                              Section 118(c). The Inter-     the Areas of Concern in        narrative information on the
                              national Joint Commission      terms of the information       quality of the Great Lakes
                              (IJC), which was established    available on each and the     within their jurisdictions.
                              under the 1909 Boundary        stage of development and       Some overall conclusions can
                              Water Treaty with Canada, is   implementation of remedial     be drawn about conditions in
                              responsible for identifying    actions. The IJC's main focus,   the Great Lakes based on
                              actions needed to maintain     in its listing of these problem    these assessments:
                              the integrity of the Great     areas, has shifted away from
                              Lakes ecosystems. The          eutrophication and toward      ï¿½ Contamination of fish
                              Commission's two boards-       toxic contamination of fish    tissue and sediments by toxic
                              the Great Lakes Water          tissue and sediments. Remed-   substances such as mercury,
                                                                                              PCBs, DDT, and other pesti-
                                                                                              cides continues to be wide-
                                                                                              spread. Fish advisories and
                                                                                              bans are in place in many
                                                                                              areas of the Great Lakes.
                                                                                              However, declines are noted
                                                                                              in toxics in fish tissue-
                                                                                              particularly in levels of DDT
                                                                                              and mercury. All the Great
                                                                                              Lakes States appear to be
                                                                                              pursuing aggressive, long-
                                                                                              term monitoring for toxic
                                                                                              substances in fish tissue.

                                                                                              * No improvement is noted
                                                                                              for toxic contamination of
                                                                                              sediments, a major problem
                                                                                              in Great Lakes harbors and
                                                                                              bays. Sediment contamina-
                                                                                              tion, in turn, can affect
                                                                                              aquatic life and serve as a
                                                                                               continuing source of toxics
                                                                                              to the larger lake system.


38









                                                                           The Great Lakes








* Phosphorus control           ï¿½ Nearshore waters-            Huron. In surface area, Lake
programs such as bans on       particularly harbors and       Superior is the largest body
phosphorus-containing          river outlets-seem to have     of fresh water in the world;
detergents and improve-        the greatest problems with     it is also the deepest (1,330
ments to municipal treat-      sediment contamination,        feet) of the Great Lakes.
ment facilities-along with     industrial and municipal         Lake Superior is classified
industrial and nonpoint        pollution, combined sewer      as oligotrophic. Water quality
source controls, reductions in   overflows, and tributary     is generally good, with only a
combined sewer overflows,      inputs.                        few localized problem areas
and resource management                                       along the shoreline. Michigan
actions-have been success-       Information from the 1988    reports that atmospheric
ful in reducing the levels of  State Section 305(b) reports    deposition appears to be an
this nutrient in the Great     is summarized below for each   important source of pollut-
Lakes. Improvements in the     of the Great Lakes.            ants because of Lake
eutrophic conditions of                                       Superior's large surface area
nearshore waters are noted     Lake Superior                  and the relatively low
by several States. Nitrogen                                   amount of input from other
levels, however, appear to be    Lake Superior, the           sources. Wet atmospheric
increasing.                    northernmost of the Great      deposition may be respon-
                               Lakes, discharges to the       sible for as much as 22
                               southeast through the St.      percent of the total sulfate
                               Mary's River into Lake         loads and 55 percent of the
                                                               total nitrogen loads to the
                                                               lake.
                                                                 In May 1986, the Minnesota
                                                               Department of Health, in
                                                               conjunction with the Wiscon-
                                                               sin Department of Health,
                                                               issued a lakewide advisory
                                                               for lake trout over 30 inches.
                                                               The advisory is most prob-
                                                               ably the result of new data
                                                               rather than worsening water
                                                               quality conditions.
                                                                 Lake Superior's St. Louis
                                                               Bay has been identified as an
                                                               Area of Concern by the IJC
                                                               because of toxic contamina-
                                                               tion of sediments that, in
                                                               turn, affect aquatic life. A
                                                               remedial action plan is being
                                                               developed by Minnesota and
                                                               Wisconsin.












                                                                                         39








The Great Lakes








                              Lake Michigan                  decreased to the point where   tributary contributions from
                                                             90 percent or more of the      the watershed. The highest
                                Lake Michigan drains         fish tested did not exceed     values consistently appear
                              eastward through the Straits   action levels issued by the    near the Indiana Harbor Ship
                              of Mackinac into Lake          U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-    Canal. High levels of
                              Huron. Its open waters are     tration (FDA). However, con-    chlorides in the contiguous
                              oligotrophic. Nearshore areas   taminant levels remain high   harbor, as well as low
                              in Green Bay and along the     in lake trout over 25 inches   dissolved oxygen and high
                              southern portion of the lake    long and in carp and brown    un-ionized ammonia values
                              are more mesotrophic           trout. Levels of DDT, diel-    in Trail Creek, may also be
                              because of nutrient inputs     drin, and PCBs are consist-    responsible for some of the
                              from industrial activities and   ently higher in fish taken   chemical variability in the
                              urbanization. from the southern end of the    Lake.
                                Of the Great Lakes           lake. These higher levels in     Since testing began in the
                              surveyed under Michigan's      fish correspond closely with    early 1970s, PCBs, chlordane,
                              fish contaminant survey        higher levels of these         DDT, and dieldrin have been
                              program, Lake Michigan has    contaminants in the sedi-       found in fish tissue in Lake
                              been the most heavily          ments at the lake's south      Michigan at levels exceeding
                              affected, particularly by      end.                           FDA action levels. Indiana
                              organochlorine compounds.        Water quality in the         issues a revised fish
                              However, levels of most        Indiana portion of Lake        consumption advisory for
                              contaminants in fish are       Michigan varies widely.        fishermen and consumers of
                              declining. Mercury levels      Indiana reports that water     these fish each spring.
                              have been declining in the     column sampling reveals few      The two branches of the
                              lake since 1972. The 1984      violations of standards.       Grand Calumet River meet to
                              data showed that contami-      However, concentrations of     form the Indiana Harbor Ship
                              nants in coho salmon, steel-    mercury and phenols in the    Canal, which empties into
                              head, and lake trout less      near shore zone reflect the    Lake Michigan. The Grand
                              than 20 inches long            effects of wastewater and      Calumet River-Indiana

























 40








                                                                          The Great Lakes








Harbor Ship Canal has been     tions to evaluate the effec-     Major sources of pollutants
designated as an Area of       tiveness of existing and new   along the Illinois shore of
Concern by the IJC. Stand-     control programs will be       Lake Michigan include
ards for dissolved oxygen,     conducted.                     atmospheric deposition,
chlorides, ammonia, and          Indiana is also preparing    urban runoff, and in-place
fecal coliform are commonly    a remedial action plan to      contaminants (s'ediment
violated. However, the         define activities needed to    contamination). Waukegan
number and severity of         improve water quality in the    Harbor, identified as an Area
violations have been reduced   Grand Calumet River-Indiana   of Concern by the IJC, is one
because of recent upgrades     Harbor Ship Canal so that      of several areas severely
to area municipal sewage       designated uses for Lake       affected by sediment
treatment facilities.          Michigan are maintained or     contamination. PCBs in the
 In 1985, EPA prepared a      restored.                      harbor prevent its use for
"Master Plan for Improving       Illinois reports that priority   fish consumption and swim-
Water Quality in the Grand     organics are considered a      ming, and restrict dredging
Calumet River and Indiana      major problem along its Lake    for navigation channels. A
Harbor Canal." The Master      Michigan shoreline. PCBs,      Superfund Consent Decree
Plan calls for programs that   chlordane, and dieldrin were    has recently been entered for
will focus EPA and State       found to exceed FDA action     the Outboard Marine Corpo-
water quality control efforts    levels in fish tissue in 1986.  ration site at Waukegan
on problems in these waters.    PCBs are also a problem in    Harbor. While it includes a
Programs include tightening    sediments of various Lake      remedial action plan specific
discharger permit limits,      Michigan harbors. Improve-     to the site, the settlement
developing pretreatment        ments are noted for phos-      does not address the harbor
programs, and taking           phorus due to municipal        as a whole and should be
compliance actions (both       sewage treatment improve-      considered as a probable
municipal and industrial) to   ments and a ban on phos-       component of the Area of
ensure that permit limits are    phate detergents in Indiana.    Concern remedial action
met. Longer term investiga-                                   plan. Now that the Super-
                                                               fund issue is settled, Illinois
                                                               will be able to prepare a
                                                               remedial action plan for the
                                                               Area of Concern under the
                                                               terms of the Great Lakes
                                                               Water Quality Agreement.




















                                                                                        41








The Great Lakes








                               Green BayFox River Mass Balance Study



                                          Description   of  Water:  ua itC

                                ;Description of                 Water Quality                    designated by the Interna-
                                Geographical Area  Problems                                      tional Joint Commissionas
                                                                                                 one of the 42 Great Lakes
                                  Green Bay can be char-          At present, conditions in      Areas of Concern.
                                acterized as a long, relatively   Green Bay range from hyper-
                                shallow extension of north-     eutrophic in the southern        The Green
                                western Lake Michigan. The    portion to mesotrophic-            Bay/Fox River
                                Green Bay watershed drains    oligotrophic near the Lake         Mass  Balance
                                land surfaces in both Wiscon-   Michigan interface. The
                                sin and Michigan and            extreme productivity in the      Study
                                contains about one-third of     southern portion results in
                                the total Lake Michigan         deposition of organic              EPA's Great Lakes National
                                drainage basin. It drains the    material which, in turn,        Program Office (GLNPO) is
                                Fox River Valley, which         causes hypolimnetic oxygen       coordinating and providing
                                supports extensive agricul-     depletion in the central bay.    major funding for a mass
                                ture and is heavily industrial-    The presence of toxic         balance study of the toxic
                                ized, containing the largest    organic materials in the         contaminants in the Green
                                concentration of pulp and       water, sediment, and biota       Bay ecosystem.
                                paper plants in the world.      has adversely affected both        The concept of total load
                                                                the use and management of        management in the Great
                                                                the bay's fisheries. The         Lakes Basin is a fundamental
                                                                commercial fisheries in the      element of the Water Quality
                                                                bay, with the exception of      Agreement between Canada
                                                                yeow perch, are csed             and the Uited States, of

                                                                tion Conrsumption adiore         and of the Lake Michigan
                                                                have been~issue tosotbbtatCnritaey
                                                                fisheren R~'    dcie             Gajae~mngrhv

                                                                 ities hav be5en obsevdn         toccnamatsith

                                        i            ~         ~    ~~~~are'apar~t lye d  6      apeesituti~d






                 42 ~ ~ ~ ~  ~     ~    ~    ~ ~ ~ ~~rb                       ith    d :po; t; oin4^               4ng :off0         7




                                                                   be:         ::sem :n d
                 42~~~~~~~~~~~~'ersit i  i  ep~                                                    hmsb~~prah








                                                                          The Great Lakes








outputs. This concept serves    coupled with a food chain     * Sampling programs to
as the framework around        model to allow estimation of    measure toxic input from
which data are being           the body burdens in the        major rivers that enter Green
gathered to provide a          target species (carp, brown    Bay, including the mouth of
comprehensive picture-an       trout, and walleye). The       the Fox River; and
ecosystem model-of             integrated model will then be
contaminant dynamics in        used to predict concentra-     ï¿½ An in-depth study of the
Green Bay.                     tions in the water, sediment,    distribution and movement
 The overall goal of the      and biota in response to       of contaminants from
Green Bay/Fox River Study is   differing regulatory and       polluted sediments.
to develop a modeling frame-   remedial action scenarios.
work to improve our under-     The predictions will include     These activities will tap the
standing of the sources,       long-term extrapolation from   expertise of a number of
transport, and fate of toxic   the short-term calibration.    State and Federal agencies.
compounds, to evaluate the       The study is concentrating    Aside from EPA's GLNPO,
technological capability to    research efforts on Green      participants include the
measure multimedia loadings   Bay in order to gather the      Wisconsin Department of
to the system, and ultimately   data needed to construct and   Natural Resources; the
to guide and support regula-    drive the mass balance        Wisconsin Sea Grant; the
tory activity.                 model. Research vessels are    National Oceanic and Atmos-
                               traveling the bay to measure    pheric Administration
                               contaminant levels in water,    (NOAA); the U.S. Fish and
Study Scope and                sediments, and biota.          Wildlife Service; the U.S.
Activities                     Projects to quantify sources    Geological Survey; the
                               of toxic contaminants          Michigan Department of
 For the Green Bay/Fox        include:                       Natural Resources; the Green
River Mass Balance Study,                                     Bay Remedial Action Plan
models will be applied to      ï¿½ A first-of-its-kind network   Implementation Committee;
toxicants of interest. These   of air monitors to measure     EPA laboratories at Duluth,
include PCBs, dieldrin,        the introduction of airborne    Minnesota, and Grosse Isle;
cadmium, and lead. Physical/  toxicants to Green Bay;         and EPA Region V's Divisions
chemical models will be                                       of Water and Waste
                                                              Management.






















                                                                                        43








The Great Lakes









                               Study Schedule and              NOAA deployed wave rider        understood. The results of
                               1988 Status                     buoys and current meters at    the Mass Balance Study will
                                                              strategic locations in the bay.   aid the State in refining its
                                The study activities are        Field work will peak          plans to enhance water
                               being conducted during a        during the 1989 field season,   quality in the bay.
                               4-year period beginning in      when investigators will           The methods and findings
                               1986 and continuing until the   concentrate their efforts to   of the study could also have a
                               end of 1990.                    provide a comprehensive and    much wider application.
                                 During 1986-1987, a moni-    coordinated data set for         Mass balance modeling has
                               toring plan was developed,      describing co anainant          successfully been applied to
                               along with a quality assur-     dynamics in the Green Bay       the regulation of nutrient
                               ance program to be used in      ecosystem. Sample analysis      loads in the Great Lakes.
                               evaluating analytical and       and data evaluation will       However, the sources, pati-
                               field methods for the project.   proceed through 1990.          ways, and sinks for toxic
                               Also during this time, model-    Modeling results and a final    substances are less well
                               ing tasks were scoped out       report are expected in 1991.    understood. Under the Water
                               and assigned to appropriate                                     Quality Agreement, the U.S.
                               investigators, and some field    Significance                  :EPA and the Great Lakes
                               reconnaissance was accom-                                       States have a mandate to
                               plished.                        the Study to                    manage toxic contamination
                                 During 1988, the three       Great L              Wa ter     in the Great Lakes on a
                               atmospheric deposition                                         lakewide basis by taking all
                               monitoring stations were       Quai ty                         inputs into account.
                               operating. The 1988 field      Management                        The Green Bay/Fox River
                               season saw the first shake-                                    Mass Balance Study will test
                               down surveys in the bay.         As recommended by the         the use of a modeling frame-
                               EPA's research vessel, the     International Joint Commis-    work to improve our under-
                               R/V Roger Simons was out-      sion for all of the Areas of    standing of the sources,
                               fitted with the necessary       Concern, Wisconsin's Depart-   transport, and fate of toxic
                               sampling and laboratory         ment of Natural Resources      compounds. It will ultimately
                               equipment. During the          has prepared a remedial         guide and support regulatory
                               August, October, and Novem-   action plan for Green Bay         activity. The study is also
                               ber surveys, methods for        and the Lower Fox River.       designed to develop and test
                               sampling toxics in bay and      This plan outlines actions the   methods, such as sampling
                               tributary waters were tested    State intends to carry out to    for airborne toxics, that can
                               in preparation for the main     restore the bay's beneficial    later be used for lakewide
                               field work year of 1989.        uses, such as swimming and      investigations of toxic
                                                               fishing. The  lan     pon          ta

ï¿½ff  '                                                            nceof e
                                                                toxic contaminants, such as    Lakes ecosystems.
                                                               acid deposition, is not well












44






                                                                           The Great Lakes








tLake Huron                    an improvement in eutrophic   out the nearshore and
                               conditions. On the other       particularly near river
  Lake Huron receives the      hand, documented increases    mouths, water quality
outflow of both Lake           in nitrate concentrations are    standards are rarely
Superior and Lake Michigan    cause for concern.              exceeded. However, viola-
and in turn discharges to the    Other indicators of water    tions of metals standards are
south through the St. Clair    quality including water        common throughout the
River, Lake St. Clair, and the    clarity, measurements of    nearshore area, particularly
Detroit River, into Lake Erie.   phytoplankton biomass, and    for cadmium and copper.
Although Lake Huron is         counts of certain fish species   Metals violations are the
classified as oligotrophic,    also suggest that Lake Erie    primary reason that the Lake
Michigan reports that one      water quality is improving. In   Erie nearshore is classified as
area of the Lake-Saginaw       addition, recent evidence      only partially supporting its
Bay-is considered eutrophic.   from municipal water intakes   designated uses.
Saginaw Bay has also been      indicates that concentrations    An exchange of fish moni-
identified by the IJC as an    of ions, such as chlorides and   toring data among New York,
Area of Concern. Water         sulfates, have decreased       Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michi-
quality problems in the bay   since 1970.                     gan, and the Province of
include elevated levels of      Michigan also reports that,    Ontario revealed concentra-
heavy metals, toxic organics,   in general, concentrations of   tions of PCBs in excess of
conventional pollutants, and   total PCB and other organo-    acceptable FDA levels. This
contaminated sediments. A     chlorine contaminants moni-    information led to the 1987
fish consumption advisory is   tored in walleye since 1977    issuance of a whole-lake
also in effect in the bay.    have exhibited year-to-year     advisory warning against
Michigan reports that Sagi-    variability and no obvious     consuming channel catfish
naw Bay's water quality has    trend. Levels of mercury in    and carp. (New York later
improved considerably in      walleye have decreased since   withdrew its lakewide advis-
recent years.                  1977, remaining below FDA      ory after determining that
                               action levels, and concen-     levels of PCBs in its Lake
Lake Erie                      trations of other contam-      Erie waters did not exceed
                               inants have also remained      acceptable FDA levels.
  Michigan reports that Lake   relatively low.                However, a statewide fish
Erie's shallowness and warm      Ohio reports that although    consumption limit based on
temperatures make it suscep-   phosphorus loadings and        more protective State criteria
tible to nutrient enrichment    concentrations have been      does apply to all fresh waters
problems. According to the     decreasing, Lake Erie is still    in New York.) Fish consump-
International Joint Commis-    eutrophic, particularly        tion advisories are also in
sion, remedial programs for    throughout the western         effect in the lower Black and
reducing phosphorus load-      basin and in nearshore areas.   Ashtabula Rivers because of
ings have led to a 56 percent    The nearshore area at the    elevated concentrations of
decrease in rates of loading   eastern end of the Ohio        PCBs and polycyclic aromatic
over the last 15 years. This   shoreline is the only area of  hydrocarbons (PAHs).
has contributed to a 44        the State's nearshore waters    Although Lake Erie supports
percent decline in mean total   in the lake approaching or    the most productive fishery
phosphorus concentrations      attaining mesotrophic status.   in the Great Lakes, the
in the central basin's upper   Maumee Bay and Sandusky        issuance of the advisory
water column over the same    Bay, the most eutrophic areas   classifies the whole lake as
period. In recent years,      in Lake Erie, are fed by rivers   not supporting the CWA
oxygen depletion rates in the   whose drainage basins are     fishable goal.
central basin's lower water   used intensively for agri-
column have decreased and    culture. Although nutrient
are less variable, suggesting    levels are elevated through-


                                                                                        45









The Great Lakes








                                 Ohio reports that Lake Erie   to be a significant contrib-    lake phytoplankton commu-
                               harbor areas are much more    utor of several volatile          nity from one containing
                               eutrophic and contain higher   organic contaminants,            mesotrophic forms to one
                               levels of contaminants than     including PCBs.                 with species more indicative
                               any nearshore areas. The         Fishing advisories are in      of oligotrophic conditions.
                               harbors act as natural sinks    effect in Lake Ontario for a      However, the concentra-
                               for sediments and associated   number of species including    tion of nitrogen continues to
                               pollutants delivered by tribu-   channel catfish, lake trout,   increase in the lake. The
                               taries. Four of the harbor      chinook and coho salmon,        reasons for this increase
                               areas in Ohio (the lower        rainbow and brown trout,        require further investiga-
                               Maumee, Black, Cuyahoga,        and white perch. PCBs,          tion. Environment Canada
                               and Ashtabula Rivers) have      mirex, dioxin, and chlordane    compared the rate of
                               been designated as IJC Areas   in tissue at levels exceeding    increase in Lakes Ontario
                               of Concern, and remedial        FDA action limits are cited     and Huron and concluded
                               action plans are being          as the causes of the fishing    that both lakes are
                               developed to return these       advisories.                     responding in a similar
                               areas to conditions support-     Toxic substances in the        manner to a common loading
                               ing beneficial uses.            water column off the major      source.
                                                               tributaries are also found at     Eutrophication is also a
                                Lake Ontario                   levels violating standards.      problem in two major embay-
                                                               Those that are measured         ments along the lake,
                                 The bioaccumulation of        most frequently in excess of    Irondequoit Bay and Sodus
                               toxic substances is one of      standards are heavy metals,     Bay. The problem is attrib-
                                Lake Ontario's major prob-      specifically cadmium and        uted to local inputs of
                                lems. New York reports that    zinc.                            nutrients from point and
                               tributaries to Lake Ontario-      A steady decrease in          nonpoint sources.
                                the Niagara, Oswego, and        phosphorus loadings to Lake
                                Genessee Rivers-are often       Ontario has been observed
                                the major source of these       since 1972. Improving condi-
                                pollution problems. Atmos-      tions in the lake are indi-
                                pheric deposition is believed    cated by a shift of the open

























46









                                                                                                         The Great Lakes









                               Niagara River                  Run Creek, Gill Creek, Berg-    and DDT residues since 1975
                                                              holtz Creek, and Scajaquada    in spottail shiners collected
                                The Niagara River drains     Creek. A fishing advisory has   at the outlet of the Niagara
                              the entire Great Lakes         been issued for several         River. Mirex levels in these
                              system and all of the          species in the Niagara River    fish declined since 1978, but
                              municipal and industrial       below the Falls because of      no trends are evident for
                              discharges entering the lakes   PCB, mirex, and dioxin         chlordane and hexachloro-
                              from one of the most highly    contamination, and for all      cyclo-hexane isomers. Since
                              industrialized regions of the    fish species in Cayuga Creek  1980, levels of PCBs and DDT
                              United States and Canada.      because of dioxin contam-      in spottails are no longer
                              Because of the huge volume    ination.                        declining, but fluctuations
                              of flow in the Niagara,          The International Joint      make it difficult to deter-
                              conventional wastes are        Commission has identified      mine any new trends.
                               readily assimilated and        the Niagara River as an Area     A study completed in 1987
                               dissolved oxygen levels are    of Concern. A remedial         by the New York Department
                              consistently above minimum    action plan to address water    of Environmental Conserva-
                              required standards. However,   quality problems is being      tion found that the total
                              toxic chemicals in water,      prepared. The Niagara River    daily loadings of priority
                              sediments, and fish tissue     Toxics Committee, a joint      pollutants from 29 significant
                              pose a persistent problem in    U.S.-Canada work group,       discharges into the Niagara
                              the Niagara River, difficult   found that data for sedi-      River had decreased from
                               to quantify and remedy. A      ments and for some sport fish   2,740 pounds per day to 540
                               number of tributaries of the    from the western basin of     pounds per day since a
                               Niagara River have also been    Lake Ontario indicated         1981-1982 baseline study.
                               identified as having water     declines in the uptake of      The majority of the total
                               quality problems related to    PCBs, DDT, mirex, and chlor-   daily loadings are heavy
                               toxic substances. These        inated benzenes between the   metals and cyanide, and the
                               include Two Mile Creek, the    early to mid-1970s and 1980.    remainder are organic
                               Black Rock Canal, Black        This was confirmed by the      pollutants.
                               Creek, Smokes Creek, Bloody   significant declines in PCBs
























A view of Niagara Falls.
                                                                                                                       47









The Great Lakes









                                 A report released in 1986      The Group released its         A recent study of organo-
                               by the Niagara River Data      second report in early 1988    chlorine contaminants in
                               Interpretation Group           covering the period of April   ducks wintering on the
                               concluded that ambient         1986 to March 1987. Among      Upper Niagara River found
                               loadings of a number of        the findings were that eight    that concentrations of PCBs,
                               substances were consider-      organic contaminants and six   dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene,
                               ably higher at the mouth of    trace metals showed statis-    and heptachlor epoxide
                               the river, at Niagara-on-the-    tically significant increases in  increased in adults between
                               Lake, than at the beginning    loadings or in concentrations   their late fall arrival and
                               of the river at Fort Erie. This    in water or sediment at    early spring departure. These
                               report summarizes data         Niagara-on-the-Lake.           contaminants were present
                               collected by Environment       Twenty-five of the 59          at levels high enough to be
                               Canada at Fort Erie and        contaminants analyzed were    considered a potential health
                               Niagara-on-the-Lake in         higher at Niagara-on-the-      risk to humans who might
                               1984-1986.                     Lake than at Fort Erie.        consume the birds.












































 48

































Estuaries and Coastal

Waters



  The States provided far         It should also be noted
more information on water       that information collected
quality conditions in their     through the National Estuary
estuaries and bays than in      Program and the Near
their ocean coastal waters.     Coastal Waters Program
In part, this may be because    indicates that some desig-
degradation is more likely      nated use data reported
to occur in embayments and      below may not accurately
estuaries where polluted        reflect known impairment in
rivers join the sea and human    estuaries and coastal waters.
population has concentrated    As EPA increases its empha-
for economic and recrea-        sis on estuarine and coastal
tional reasons. Another         water reporting, the accu-
reason is that States gener-    racy and comprehensiveness
ally lack reporting capability    of these data should improve.
for offshore areas; histor-
ically, EPA and the States
placed little emphasis on
developing this capability.
States are therefore more
likely to devote more
resources to evaluating
estuarine rather than coastal
water quality. Summary
water quality information for
estuaries and coastal waters
presented by the States in
1988 will be discussed below
to the extent that data are
available.

                                                        49








Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                                Estuaries                      Table 4-1). A total of 26,676    percent of assessed square
                                                               square miles were assessed,     miles (6,078 square miles)
                                                               76 percent of the estuarine     partially supported uses, and
                                                               waters in these States.         6 percent (1,488 square
                                Support of                       Of these assessed waters,     miles) did not support their
                                Designated Uses                19,110 square miles, or 72       designated uses (see Figure
                                                               percent, were found to fully    4-1). Nineteen of the estua-
                                 Twenty-three States, juris-   support designated uses.        rine States specified the basis
                                dictions, and Interstate       About 2 percent of those         of their assessment deci-
                               Commissions (hereafter         estuarine square miles           sions; 23,049 square miles
                                referred to as States)         supporting uses were deter-      were assessed in these States,
                                provided use support infor-    mined to be threatened by        three-quarters using moni-
                                mation on their estuarine      pollution and could become       toring and one-quarter using
                                waters in their 1988 State     impaired if control actions      evaluative methods, such as
                                Section 305(b) reports (see    are not taken. Twenty-three      mathematical models or fish-
                                                                                                eries surveys.


Table 4-1. Designated Use Support in Estuaries

                      Estuary        Square Miles Assessed           Sq. Miles                    Sq. Miles      Sq. Miles
                       Square               Percent      Percent        Fully       Sq. Miles      Partially         Not
State                   Miles      Total  Evaluated   Monitored   Supporting   Threatened*  Supporting   Supporting
Alabama                    625        53          28           72             50             -               0              3
California               1,598    1,099           -            -           1,076             -               0            23
Connecticut                601      601           10           90            367              8           231              3
District of Columbia         6         6           0          100              0              0             5              1
Delaware River Basin       866      866           -            -             855             -               0            11
Florida                  4,298    2,655           13           87          1,549             -            815            291
Georgia                    594      594           85           15            583             -               7             4
Hawaii                     134      134            0          100             40              0            94              0
Louisiana                7,656    4,928           88           12          2,731              0         2,077            120
Massachusetts              171      171            0          100             54             -            111              6
Maryland                 1,981    1,981            0          100              0             -           1,974             7
Maine                    1,633    1,633           -            -           1,595             -             38              0
Mississippi                133      133           90           10            126              6              6              1
North Carolina           3,200    3,194            4           96          2,974              9           218              2
New Hampshire               27        17           0          100              7              7              0            10
New Jersey                 420      259            0          100            117              0           124             18
NewYork                  1,564    1,564            0          100          1,151             12           145            268
Rhode Island               192      192           48           52            154             15            18             20
South Carolina           2,155      663            0          100            583             -              18            62
Texas                    1,990    1,990             0         100           1,532             0              0           458
Virginia                 2,382    1,800             0         100          1,604             -            105             91
Virgin Islands              29        29           -            -             25             -               1              3
Washington               2,943    2,114            4           96          1,937           293             91             86
Totals                  35,198   26,676                                   19,110           350           6,078          1,488
*Square Miles Threatened is a subset of Square Miles Fully Supporting.  - Not reported.      Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
 50








                                                                                            Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                                                              Causes of
                                 While estuarine reporting                                   ing to whether the cause is
                               appears fairly comprehen-      Impairment                     a major or moderate/minor
                               sive, seven estuarine States                                  contributor to impairment.
                               failed to provide usable        For their estuarine waters,    The relative extent of each
                               summary information on         16 States provided informa-    cause of nonsupport is
                               designated use support in      tion on the causes of nonsup-   determined by dividing the
                               their estuarine waters.        port (see 'hble 4-2). States   number of square miles in
                               Thirteen States claim that     were asked to provide the      each cause category by the
                               they assessed all of their     number of estuarine square    total square miles impaired
                               estuarine waters in 1988,      miles under each cause         (see Figure 4-2).
                               and of these, six report that    category that contributes to   Nutrients and pathogens
                               their assessments were based   impairment and to assign a     are reported by the States as
                               entirely on monitoring data.    degree of impact of major or    the leading causes of nonsup-
                               Much as with rivers and        moderate/minor. Therefore,     port in estuaries, affecting
                               lakes, the area of estuarine   any given square mile may be   50 and 48 percent of total
                               waters found to be fully       counted under several cate-    impaired square miles,
                               supporting uses varied         gories if it is affected by a  respectively. Organic enrich-
                               widely, from zero to 99        number of causes. The values   mentflow dissolved oxygen
                               percent of assessed waters,    reported are the total         was found to affect 29
                               with nine States finding that   number of estuarine square    percent of impaired waters.
                               over 90 percent of their       miles affected by a particular   This appears to indicate that
                               assessed estuarine waters      cause of impairment, accord-   eutrophication (caused by
                               fully support uses.








                          Not Supporting
                          (6%)
      Partially Supporting
      (23%)













         Fully Supporting2
         (72%)
                   Assessed Square Miles (26,676)
Sources: State Section 305(b) reports.
Figure 4-1. Designated Use Supported in Assessed Estuaries 'High levels of bacteria can lead to shellfishing closures.
                                                                                                                        51









Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                                 overabundant nutrients) and   waterbody types, certain             Twelve States specified the
                                 high levels of bacteria-        States appear to account for    degree of impact (i.e., major
                                 which can lead to shellfish-    a large proportion of the        or moderate/minor) of the
                                 ing closures and restrictions    impact of various causes of     causes of degradation in
                                 in shellfishing waters-are      nonsupport in estuaries. For     their estuarine waters.
                                 the leading threats to the      example, Louisiana alone         Among these, major impacts
                                 Nation's estuaries.             accounts for nearly all those    far outweighed moderate/
                                   Other leading causes          estuarine waters affected by    minor impacts for a variety
                                 identified by the States were    oil and grease and over half    of pollutants including
                                 oil and grease, affecting 23    of those with pathogen           priority organics, nutrients,
                                 percent of impaired waters;     impacts. Florida accounts for   and metals. For example,
                                 metals, affecting 10 percent;    84 percent of estuarine         in 83 percent of waters
                                 siltation, affecting 7 percent;   waters affected by metals,     impaired by priority organics,
                                 unknown toxicity, affecting    about 86 percent of those         the impact was considered
                                 5 percent; and priority         with siltation impacts, and      major, as was the impact of
                                 organics, affecting 4 percent.   nearly all of the estuarine     nutrients in 69 percent of
                                   These numbers should be       waters affected by unknown    affected waters and of
                                 interpreted with care. As for   toxicity.                       metals in 52 percent.
                                 all sources and causes in all






                                Table 4-2. Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution

                                                       Total                                       Organic
                                                        Impaired    Nutrients    Pathogens       Enrichment    Oil & Grease
                                 State                Waters*  Major Mod/Min Major ModlMin Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min
                                 Alabama**                  3      3        -     -         -       3       -      -         -
                                 Connecticut              234      6      215    23         54    25       182    -          -
                                 District of Columbia       6    -           5     1         5      1       -      -          1
                                 Florida**              1,106   222         -      1        -    203        -      -         -
                                 Georgia                   11    -          -      -        -      12       -      -         -
                                 Hawaii                    94   -           46   -          -   -           -   -            -
                                 Louisiana              2,197    62       568   120    1,815    62         568    25    1,561
                                 Maryland               1,981 1,981         -     13       396   700         8    -          -
                                 Mississippi                7    -           2    -          4    -          2    -          -
                                 North Carolina**         220   135         -     26        -      -        -      -
                                 New Jersey               142    70         -    142        -      -        -      -         -
                                 NewYork                  413    -         100   251       120    14        99    -         24
                                 Rhode Island              38      9        -     24        -       8       -      -         -
                                 South Carolina**          80    -          -     59        -      21       -      -         -
                                 Virginia                 196    -          -     90        16      2       66    -          -
                                 Washington               177    -          -     67        93    -         25      1         5
                                 Totals                  6,905 2,488       936   817    2,503 1,051        950    26    1,591
                                 Combined Totals                         3,424           3,320           2,001            1,617
                                 Percent of Impaired Waters             49.6%           48.1%           29.0%            23.4%
                                  *The sum of partially and nonsupporting estuary square miles (Table 4-1).
                                 **These States did not specify the degree of impact (i.e., Major or Moderate/Minor); estuary square miles were placed in the "Major"

  52









                                                                                   Estuaries and Coastal Waters










                                POLLUTION CAUSES

                                          Nutrients  --                   :.
                                                                  I        ~     ~      ~     ~    ~~~I II
                                        Pathogens _

                               Organic Enrichment

                                    Oil and Grease  5iiii      ... .    .

                                            Metals 

                                           Siltation         |

                                  Unknown Toxicity  -

                                   Priority Organics                                               Unspecified

                                         Pesticides  !  Moderate/Minor Impact

                                                pH                              -              Major Impact

                                                    0          10           20          30           40           50
                                                              Impaired Square Miles Affected (%)
                            Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) Reports.
                            Figure 4-2. Percent of Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Each Pollution Cause


                                            Priority                                       Other
   Metals         Siltation    Unknown Tox       Organics       Pesticides         pH          Inorganics      Ammonia
Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min


      -                           26                             ..-  -   -  -   -                                       -
  -         6  -            1  -    -  -                    1  -    -  -                   5  -    -  -                   6
 550    - 398              -345                                                                                           -

       -    3   -          46 .....
    .....-                 -   -           -2  -                          -   -           -   25    -   -                -


        -  -               ~1    -         3    -         - 1           -- 3 .....
      - -~         - 5    . . ... . .
     ....-                -   -           -   70    -   70  ...
     ...-                 -   -            5 145          4  -...
  15    -                  _  _    _.. -    -..

  -                        -  -    -  -    -  -    -   2   21  -    -  -    -
  40       15      1       11    -         -     21        14    -         2    -         -      -        -     -          5
 605       50  404         59 345           8 236          47    70        2      2       26    25        -     -         11
         655             463            353             283              72              28             25              11
        9.5%/           6.7%            5.1%           4.1%            1.0%            0.4%           0.4%            0.2%/

column for national reporting purposes.    - Zero or not reported.  Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.

                                                                                                           53








Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                                 Sources of                         As discussed earlier, any       ITable 4-3 illustrates that a
                                                                  given square mile may be         somewhat different water
                                 Impairment                       counted under several cate-      quality picture exists for
                                                                  gories if it is affected by      estuaries than for inland
                                   In their 1988 State Section    a number of sources. The         waters. The most extensive
                                 305(b) reports, 14 States        values reported are the total    source of pollution cited by
                                 provided information on the    number of estuarine square         the States in their estuarine
                                 various sources of pollution     miles affected by a particular   waters is municipal
                                 contributing to use impair-      source of pollution, according   discharges (affecting 53
                                 ment in their estuarine          to whether the source is a       percent of impaired square
                                 waters. This information is      major or moderate/minor          miles), followed by resource
                                 displayed in Table 4-3. States    contributor to impairment.      extraction (affecting 34
                                 provided the total number of   The relative extent of each        percent), storm sewers/
                                 square miles under each of       source of nonsupport is          runoff (affecting 28 percent),
                                 the source categories that       determined by dividing the       and land disposal (affecting
                                 contribute to impairment,        number of square miles in        27 percent). To a lesser
                                 and in some cases assigned a    each source category by the       extent, agricultural runoff,
                                 degree of impact of major or    total square miles impaired       construction, industrial
                                 moderate/minor.                  (see Figure 4-3).                discharges, and combined
                                                                                                    sewer overflows are also
                                                                                                    cited.


                   Table 4-3. Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution

                                           Total                           Resource              Storm
                                         Impaired       Municipal            Extract        Sewers/Runoff       Land Disposal
                   State                 Waters*    Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min
                   Alabama**                    3        1         -       -           -        2         -       -           -
                   California**                23        1         -       -           -       -          -       -           -
                   Connecticut                234      54         169      -            3      -         160       9           5
                   District of Columbia         6       -           5      -           -        1          5      -           -
                   Florida**                1,106    744           -       68          -      109         -      571          -
                   Georgia                     11       -           1      -           -       -          -       -           -
                   Louisiana                2,197      82         837      25       1,561      62        567      -         559
                   New Jersey                 142     140          -       -           -      140         -       -           -
                   New York                   413      59         190      -           -      102         71       5         70
                   North Carolina**           220      64          -       -           -        8         -        9          -
                   Rhode Island                38        7         29      -          -        17         17       1          -
                   South Carolina**            80       -          -       -           -       48         -       -           -
                   Virginia                   196       43          8      -           -       18          3       -          -
                   Washington                 177       84         53      -           -       21         29      48          51
                   Totals                   4,846   1,279       1,292      93       1,564    528         852     643         685
                   Combined Totals                              2,571               1,657              1,380               1,328
                   Percent of Impaired Waters                  53.1%              34.2%               28.5%               27.4%

                    *The sum of partially and nonsupporting estuary square miles (Table 4-1).
                   **These States did not specify the degree of impact (i.e., Major or Moderate/Minor); estuary square miles were placed in the "Major" column for
                     national reporting purposes.
                  - Zero or not reported.
                  Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.


 54









                                                                                                  Estuaries and Coastal Waters


































States report that discharges from sewage treatment facilities are 
the most extensive source of pollution in estuarine waters.


                                                               Combined             Hydro/
   Agriculture      Construction          Industrial          Sewers           Habitat Mod         Silviculture
Major   Mod/Min Major   Mod/Min  Major   Mod/Min  Major   Mod/Min  Major   Mod/Min  Major   Mod/Min



         --                                         181     46         177      --                  --

  555         -     467          -      324         -        --                205         -       34-
             -  -     -          -        ~~~~              ~~4 6 --             ----

   70-    140                            ---                 --                  --                 --
   -          28   -             -       --                 112        80 --                       --
  130-  -                  -              5             -         -      -       --                 --
   --                 ---                            8      36-                  --                 --
   1 1-               --                  --  -                   -         -         -            21-
   22          3      -          -        7          1        2          1      -          -        -          -
   38         27      -           1      40          9      31           8      17          11     21           1
  841         58    607           1    381         207     228         271     223          11      76          1
             899               608                 588                499                 234                  77
          18.60/             12.50/             12.1%               10.30/a             4.80%               1.6%








Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                                 These findings should be      of the miles affected by       example, in 69 percent of the
                               interpreted with care. First,    combined sewer overflows.     waters impaired by agricul-
                               as mentioned previously,       Although these findings are     ture, the impact was consid-
                               definitions of pollution       fairly consistent with known    ered major, as was the impact
                               sources are ambiguous (see     pollution sources in these      of hydrologic/habitat
                               discussion of Sources in       States (e.g., oil drilling in   modification in 62 percent
                               Chapter One). Second, anal-    Louisiana offshore waters,      of affected waters.
                               ysis of State data in Table 4-3    combined sewers in Connect-
                               reveals that several States    icut's older urban areas),
                               appear to account for a        reporting inconsistencies
                               proportionally higher share    influence these results to
                                of impacts than others. For    some extent.
                                example, 96 percent of the       Nine States specified the
                                estuarine square miles with    degree of impact of pollution
                                impacts from resource          sources in their estuarine
                                extraction are in Louisiana,   waters. Major impacts out-
                                as are 42 percent of those     weighed moderate/minor
                                with land disposal impacts     impacts in waters affected by
                                and 36 percent of those with    construction, silviculture,
                                municipal impacts; Connect-    agriculture, and hydrologic/
                                icut accounts for nearly half    habitat modification. For









                                  POLLUTION SOURCES
                                               Municipal                     .
                                   Resource Extraction                ,S.<fII

                                  Storm Sewers/Runoff                  ..,.
                                          Land Dispo sal~

                                              Agriculture 

                                            Construction

                                                IndustrialiiKK

                                     Combined Sewers   Mruaf//                                      Unspecified
                                     Hyd re/Habitat Mod  MgJ                                         Moderate/minor impact

                                             Siliviculture la                                       Major Impact

                                                          0        1 0       20        30         40        50         60
                                                                        Impaired Square Miles Affected(%
                               Source: 1988 State Section 3051b1 Reports.
                                Figure 4-3. Percent of Impaired Estuary Square Miles Affected by Each Pollution Source
 56








                                                               Estuaries and Coastal Waters








Attainment of the               in the future, and less than      Several States discussed
Clean Water Act                 1 percent (72 miles) were       reasons for significantly
                                found to be "not attainable"    different fishable and swim-
Goals                          (i.e., affected by irrevocable   mable figures. In Maryland,
                                impacts or not designated by    for example, the mainstem of
  The basic goals of the        the State for fishing uses).    the Chesapeake Bay gener-
Clean Water Act-that waters       Nearly the same number of   ally meets the swimmable
be clean enough to support      estuarine square miles were     goal but fails to attain the
fishing and swimming-apply   assessed for the swimmable         fishable goal, primarily as a
to the Nation's estuaries as    goal of the CWA. A higher       result of the loss of aquatic
well as to its rivers and lakes.   percentage of waters-95      habitat. Shellfishing and
Twenty States provided          percent of the 21,594 square    fishing restrictions may also
information on Clean Water      miles assessed-were found       be the reason a greater
Act (CWA) goal attainment       to attain the swimming goal.    percentage of estuarine
in 1988 (see 'able 4-4).        About 4 percent did not         waters did not meet the
  A total of 22,258 estuarine    currently attain the goal, and   fishable goal in some States.
square miles were assessed      less than i percent were not
for the fishable goal of the    attainable. Figure 4-4 illus-
CWA. Of these, 86 percent       trates progress toward attain-
attained fishing uses, 14       ment of the CWA goals in the
percent did not currently       Nation's estuaries.
attain fishing uses but might









             Not Meeting                                  Not Meeting.
             (14%)                                        (4%)
                  (14%)   ~ ~ ~Meet ing 41/)Meet ing














         Fishable Goal                                Swimmable Goal
         (22,258 Assessed Square Miles)               (21,594 Assessed Square Miles)
              Note: The "not attainable" categories are less than 1 percent for both goals.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
Figure 4-4, Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Estuary Square Miles
                                                                                           57










Estuaries and Coastal Waters



































Table 4-4. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Estuaries
                                   Fishable Goal (square miles)                         Swimmable Goal (square miles)
                                                      Not          Not                                      Not           Not
State                   Assessed      Meeting      Meeting      Attainable     Assessed      Meeting      Meeting      Attainable
Alabama                        53           50            3             -             53           50            3            -
Connecticut                   600          598            2              0           600         570           30              0
Delaware River Basin          866          845           21             -            866         855            11            -
District of Columbia            6            0            6              0             6            0            6             0
Florida                     2,655        2,364          291              0         2,655        2,364         291              0
Georgia                       594          584           10             -             -            -            -             -
 Hawaii                         40           40            0              0            40           40            0             0
 Louisiana                   4,928        4,926            2             -          4,928        4,928            0            -
 Maine                       1,633        1,595           38              0         1,633        1,623           10             0
 Maryland                    1,981            0        1,981             -          1,981        1,974           7             -
 Massachusetts                 171          116           55             -            171           79          92             -
 Mississippi                   133          132            1              0           133          132            1             0
 New Hampshire                  17           17            0              0            17           17            0             0
 NewJersey                     259          117          124             18           189          117          54             18
 New York                    1,564        1,234         283             47          1,564        1,487          30             47
 Rhode Island                  191          178            6              7           191          178            6             7
 South Carolina                663          640           23             -            663         636           27             -
 Texas                       1,990        1,990            0             -          1,990        1,990            0             -
 Virginia                    1,800        1,604          196             -          1,800        1,604         196              -
 Washington                  2,114        2,008          106              0         2,114        1,963          151             0
 Totals                     22,258       19,038        3,148             72        21,594       20,607         915             72
 - Not reported.                                                                            Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
58









                                                                                            Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                               Understanding
                                                              rise in population and the     (3) Improve the under-
                               Estuarine Water                conversion of forests to       standing of processes
                               Quality:  The                  urban, suburban, and agri-     important to management
                                                              cultural uses. Land use        strategies, including the
                               Chesapeake  Bay                changes have severely          relationship between water
                               Perspective                    affected water quality by      quality and living resources.
                                                              increasing the input of
                                The Chesapeake Bay, the      nutrients, sediments, and        Since the signing of the
                               Nation's largest estuary,      toxic materials to the bay.    Agreement, significant
                               historically produced bounti-    The decline of the Chesa-    progress has been made in
                               ful harvests of oysters, crabs,    peake Bay became the focus    meeting these objectives.
                               and fish. Although crabs are    of national attention in the  Within the tidal waters of the
                               still abundant, oyster and     early 1980s. In an effort to   bay, a monitoring network
                               fish stocks continue to suffer   restore the bay, top officials    composed of 150 mainstem
                               serious declines due to        from Virginia, Pennsylvania,    and tributary stations is
                               degraded water quality and     Maryland, the District of      operational. This network
                               harvesting pressure. These     Columbia, and the U.S.         provides data on a compre-
                               declines have paralleled a     Environmental Protection       hensive suite of physical,
                                                              Agency (EPA) gathered in       chemical, and biological
                                                              1983 to sign the original      water quality parameters
                                                              Chesapeake Bay Agreement.    12-20 times a year. Signifi-
                                                              This Agreement marked a        cant progress has also been
                                                              milestone in that the bay      made in characterizing
                                                              was now to be managed as a    impacts to the bay's
                                                              complete ecosystem span-       submerged aquatic vegeta-
                                                              ning its many political        tion, wetland, shoreline, and
                                                              boundaries (see Figure 4-5).    shellfish resources. The
                                                                Under the Chesapeake Bay   findings of the water quality
                        iii ?:"  ii~Iiii::i::i5~j 1 CAgreement, a Monitoring                network and efforts to char-
                                                              Subcommittee was estab-        acterize bay resources are
                                                              lished to oversee the devel-   presented below.
                                                     " . .    opment and implementation
                                                              of a coordinated baywide
                                                              monitoring program-a criti-   Water Quality
                                                              cal element in guiding the     Findings
                                                              restoration and protection
                                                              of the Chesapeake Bay. The     Nutrients
                                                              three basic objectives of this   Nitrogen and phosphorus,
                                                              monitoring program were to:   nutrients required for phyto-
                                                                                             plankton growth, accelerate
                                                              (1) Characterize current      the eutrophication that is the
                                                              baywide conditions for key     bay's foremost problem. Total
                        a::W':'":-  $  2   ï¿½variables;                                       nitrogen generally increases
                                                                                             in concentration towards the
                                                              (2) Identify long-term        upper estuary reaches of the
                                                              changes in these variables in   mainstem and its tributaries.
                                                              response to restoration and   This gradient reflects the
                                                              protection management          large nonpoint source nitro-
                                                              actions; and                  gen inputs entering from the
                                                                                             bay's watersheds and the
                                                                                             gradual dilution downstream

Figure 4-5. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed
                                                                                                                      59








Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                              as mixing occurs with nitro-    concentrations in the bay     factor accounting for the
                              gen-poor coastal waters.       system are found in the lower  Susquehanna's relatively low
                              Point source inputs, usually   mainstem as concentrations    phosphorus concentration is
                              located in the upper estuar-    decline from about 0.65 mg/l   the lack of significant point
                              ies, intensify the pattern.    near the Patuxent River to     sources in the river's lower
                              The highest nitrogen concen-   about 0.45 mg/l off the bay    reaches as compared to its
                              trations (>3 mg/1) are found   mouth.                         freshwater flow.
                               in the Back River and the        Concentrations for total
                               upper Patuxent River in        phosphorus, as for total       Dissolved Oxygen
                               Maryland-areas strongly        nitrogen, generally increase     One of the major results of
                               influenced by sewage treat-    in an upstream direction       eutrophication in the bay is
                               ment plant effluent. The       from less than 0.1 mg/l in the   seasonal development of low
                               mainstem above the Chesa-      mainstem to greater than 0.3   dissolved oxygen (hypoxia)
                               peake Bay Bridge and adja-     mg/l in the upstream reaches   in bottom waters. The most
                               cent to Annapolis, Maryland,   of several tributaries. This   severe hypoxia (<1 mg/l
                               exhibits concentrations        gradient again reflects the    dissolved oxygen [DO]) is
                               similar to those found in      location of point and non-     found in the mainstem's
                               many of the upper tribu-       point source inputs entering    "deep trough" region from
                               taries (1-2 mg/1). The lowest  the upper reaches of the       the Baltimore-Annapolis area
                                                              system. The mainstem,          south to the Potomac River.
                                                              however, does not fit this     More moderate hypoxia
                                  ~~~SUSQUEHANNA   2pattern since total phos-                problems (1-4 mg/i DO) are
                                        SUSQUEHANNAc         phorus concentrations vary     observed just upstream and
                Baltimore     <         |between about 0.03 and 0.06   downstream of the severe
                              B alb~timorec  ~mg/l without a strong                          areas and in the lower
                                               -\ ~              ~upstream gradient. This   reaches of several other
                                 .vrr~              ~        ~~ s   ~difference may be explained    western shore tributaries-
     Washington DC                                            by the influence of the        the Magothy, Severn, South,
                      \M ~_|~ ....~~ ~   '~~  \Susquehanna River, at the                     Patuxent, Rappahannock,
                                          4 | t   g^>   >   \head of the bay. The Susque-    and York Rivers. A few
                                                              hanna is dammed at the head   eastern shore areas-the
                                                              of the bay; sediment contain-   lower Chester River, Eastern
                                                              ing much of the river's phos-    Bay, and Little Choptank
                                     9     G,~o~  >  a a     phorus load settles behind      Embayment-also experi-
                               . Ge9X,}~ D  - is>>>           the dam and therefore does      ence moderate hypoxia (see
                                                 \Q~Oï¿½ /5not enter the bay mainstem.    Figure 4-6).
                                                              Nitrogen, on the other hand,
                                                              is in dissolved form and
                                                              relatively unaffected by
                            'ï¿½9 t~  1)t~~  gimpoundment. A second






                  <C "  <    \         Summer Dissolved
                                       Oxygen Concentrations
                                       = Limited (> 5 mg/l)
                                       - | Moderate (1 - 4 mg/I)
                     Norfolk           M Severe (< 1 mg/I)


Figure 4-6. Average Summer Dissolved Oxygen Concentra-
           tions in Chesapeake Bay: 1985-1986
60








                                                               Estuaries and Coastal Waters








 Toxic Contaminants              (<0.5 ppm). The majority of    program indicated that SAV
   Thousands of potentially      the PAHs found in Chesa-        coverage dropped to its
 toxic substances enter the      peake Bay samples can likely   lowest recorded leyels in
 bay, representing a different    be attributed to the combus-    1984 (see Figure 4-7). Since
 and more complex threat to      tion of fossil fuels. Similar   that year, some measure of
 its resources. Beginning in     spatial patterns have emerged   stability and even a small
 1984, a 2-year sediment         for other toxicants in the      resurgence in the abundance
 sampling survey was con-        mainstem, and results are       and distribution of SAV have
 ducted to measure both          becoming available for          been recorded. Managers and
 metal and organic com-          various tributaries.            scientists have concluded
 pounds. A class of organic                                      that water quality problems,
 compounds, polynuclear                           f              particularly those resulting
 aromatic hydrocarbons           Abundance o                     in eutrophication and
 (PAHs), was detected in a      Submerged Aquatic                reduced light transmission
 consistent pattern during      Vegetation                       (i.e., plankton blooms and
 both years of the study. A                                      suspended sediments) were
 pronounced peak in PAH           The dramatic decline in        primarily responsible for the
 concentrations (>7.5 ppm       the baywide abundance and    baywide declines of all SAV
 dry weight) was found in       distribution of submerged        species.
 the vicinity of the Baltimore    aquatic vegetation (SAV)
 Harbor, a heavily populated    began in the 1960s and has
 industrial center. North and    led to the total disappear-
 south of the Baltimore         ance of SAV in many areas
 region, these concentrations    of the bay. Results from a
 decline (6.5-2.5 ppm). The      17-year ground survey
 lowest concentrations occur    program and the multiyear
 near the mouth of the bay       baywide aerial survey




      30

      25\

  ')  20
  0
  X   15

       (D\
  C'N
                               v    N

  >   5

        0'I                          i        i        i        i         i i  i   i
        1970    1972    1974   1976   1978    1980    1982   1984    1986
                                            Year


Figure 4-7. Percent of Maryland Chesapeake Bay SAV Ground Survey Stations with
           Vegetation Present
                                                                                         61








Estuaries and Coasa Waters









                               lb: P                                 : o      : : ::         :               :      :






                                 Water quality in the upper    tional fishery of many fresh-    The          of the upper

                               substantially over the a       fifish species.                 utedtothe c         ofpoint
                               two decade  Large-scale        despite these water quality     sources particularly at
                               blooms o f blue-green algae    and habitat improvemen          regional wastewater treat-
                               and very low dissolved         discharges from regional        met plants. The correspond-
                               oxygen (DO) levels frefently   w     astewater treatment plants,  ing recovery o f natural
                               occurred in the Potomac nonpoint sources, and                  communities of submerged
                               River during the late 1960s    combined sewer overflows        plants, benthic communities,
                               but are now rare. Before the    have slowed a complete         and fishery populations is
                                1980s, submerged aquatic       recovery of the upper           thought to have strength-
                               vegetation (SAV) had almost    Potomac estuary.                ened the pace of water
                               disappeared in the tidal         The Blue Plains Treatment    quality improvements
                                portion of the rivet ToIbday,  Plant, serving the Washing-     through increased filtering
                                SAV beds have revegetated      ton, D.C., metropolitan area,    capacity and buffering of
                                most of the upper tidal river    is the largest sewage treat-  nutrient concentrations
                                shoreline and  a e ontinuing    ment plant in the    upper tidal   during the s ummer months,
                                to reest     ablish former habitats   Potomac The plant contrib-  Howeve; further improve-
                                in the lower rive  The         utes about 70 percent of        menrits to the estuary are
                                Potomac now supports a         treated flows to the river      possible and, i ndeed, neces-
                                healthy and popular recrea-    Over the past 15 yeae, Blue     sary. A p ollutant   source still
                                                               Plains has implemente      d  of concern is the loading of
                                                               several adva nced-treatment    nutrient-laden sediment
                                                               measures to re d uce BOD,      from the upper Potomac
                                                               suspendeds ,and                River basin.  s of concern
                                                               nutrient loadings to the       are pollution inputs from
                                                               estuary Even though flows      combined sewer overflows
                                                               of wastewaer have                    t        ter
                                                                  creaethsince 1970n,  vthe estuary from theW
                                                               loadigs have   reased            gton DC., m opoieaand






                                                                                                             dramaticay.. . ....  ...
         ashington           - 










 62








                                                                                              Estuaries and Coastal Waters







                                        Th~e Anaco  a%         occurs because of high sedi-    33 percent. In addition,
                                River: A     Sever             ment loadings from the          the District is planning a
                                        River: Severe upper Anacostia watershed.    nonpoint source monitoring
                                Problems Remain                Streambank erosion, resus-      program to quantify NPS
                                                               pension of sediment in the      pollutant loads prior to the
                                  Unlike the Potomac River,    tidal reaches, and CSOs         development of NPS control
                                its tributary, the Anacostia   in the District may also        measures. Local jurisdictions
                                River, still suffers severe    contribute to the problem.      have also begun to establish
                                pollution problems Pollutant     To correct these problems,    stormwater management
                                sources include excessive       the District of Columbia and    regulations
                                nonpoint source sediment       Maryland signed the Anacos-
                                loadings from abandoned         tia Watershed Restoration
                                gravel an d sand operations    Strategy Agreement. This
                                and urban areas, as well as     Agreement calls for the
                                bacterial and BOD loadings     cleanup of the Anacostia
                                from combined sewer over-       River through CSO abate-
                                flows (CSOs).                   ment measures within the
                                 Fbecal coliform concen-       District and implementation
                               trations frequently exceed      of soil erosion control meas-
                                the District's water quality    ures in the watershed.
                                standard for secondary           In 1984, th     e District began
                               contact recreation in the       a two-phase OCSO abatement
                                tidal Anacostia. Dissolved     program for the Potomac
                                oxygen levels are extremely     and Anacostia Rivers. After
                               low, often resulting in fish   completion,  these abatement
                               kills in the tidal Anaco      stia.  measures should reduce the
                                Water clarity is also           frequency of CSO events by
                               extremely poor. Turbidity















               5, A  ;    v-1C S,\eE,\KE I3At' DRAIN  GFi




Combined sewer overflows
and storm-water runoff from                                                          l
metropolitan areas affect
tributaries of the Chesapeake
Bay.
                                                                                                                       63









Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                               Status of Estuarine             dredging projects, and the       vegetated wetlands. Agricul-
                               and Inland Wetlands             natural rise of sea level.       ture and other development
                                                               Urban development was           (mainly channelization
                                 A 1987 survey of wetland      responsible for about one-       related to farming) were
                               types indicated that there      fifth of the coastal wetlands    equally responsible for
                               are 1.2 million acres of        losses. Since protective         nearly 60 percent of the
                               wetlands-one-fifth estua-       legislation was enacted in       inland vegetated wetland
                               rine and three-fourths          Virginia and Maryland in the    losses. Pond and lake
                               inland-within the Chesa-        early 1970s, losses of coastal    construction were also
                               peake Bay drainage basin.       wetlands have been essen-        significant; urban develop-
                               From the mid-1950s to the       tially eliminated. State laws    ment had less impact. These
                               late 1970s, destruction of      were also strengthened by        losses of inland wetlands
                               estuarine wetlands, typically    the Federal Section 404         have continued virtually
                               coastal marshes, occurred at    regulatory program.              unabated to date, although
                               an overall rate of 6.3 percent    During this same period        wetland protection appears
                               in Virginia and 9 percent in    (mid-1950s to late 1970s),       to be gathering both legisla-
                               Maryland. Loss of coastal       inland vegetated wetlands in   tive and executive support.
                               wetlands to estuarine waters    the Chesapeake Bay experi-
                               was the most significant        enced even more dramatic         Shoreline Erosion
                               factor. This resulted from a    losses. Maryland's inland
                               combination of human and        wetlands decreased by 15.1         A Chesapeake Bay
                               natural actions, including      percent, while Virginia lost     Shoreline Erosion Study is
                               coastal impoundments,           57 percent of its inland         being conducted by the U.S.
                                                                                               Army Corps of Engineers in
                                                                                               cooperation with Maryland
                                                                                               and Virginia. Through this
                                                                                               study, the average rate of
                                       'fB~~~~~~~ v  r ,shoreline erosion for the
                                                                                           Chesapeake Bay has been
                                                                                               estimated as 1 foot per year.
                                                                                               Rates as high as 10 feet per
                                                                                               year have been identified in
                                                                                               some areas. About 4.7 million
                           64                                                  a ~~             cubic yards of material-
                                                                                           slightly more than half of the
                                                                                   .jN~ ~sediment entering the bay
                                                                                               from all sources combined-
                                                                                               are eroded from the shore-
                                                                                               line in a typical year. This
                                                                                               study also involves the
                                                                                               construction and monitoring
                                                                                               of field modeling projects to
                                                                                               determine cost-effective
                                                                                               shore protection measures.
                                                                                               Six projects are planned for
                                                                                               construction and will be
                                                                                           i   monitored for 2 years.



                                                                                               Efforts to protect wetland areas
                                                                                               within the Chesapeake Bay
                                                                                               drainage area appear to be
                                                                                               gaining support.
 64








                                                               Estuaries and Coastal Waters








Declining Shellfish            Future Directions              baywide management plans.
Harvest                                                       The centerpiece of the
                                 During the 1980s, monitor-    Agreement is the commit-
  The Chesapeake Bay has       ing and assessment efforts      ment to achieve a 40-percent
become world renowned for    focused on the Chesapeake         reduction in total nitrogen
its oysters-historically the   Bay have provided water        and total phosphorus inputs
bay's most bountiful harvest. quality managers and the        to the bay by the year 2000.
In recent years, however, a    public with a better under-      Along with these ambitious
number of factors, including    standing of the problems      targets for nutrient control,
degraded water quality,        endangering this valuable      the 1987 Chesapeake Bay
sedimentation, harvesting      estuary. With this increased   Agreement emphasizes the
pressure, and disease, have    awareness has come the         need to integrate the bay's
resulted in a declining oyster    challenge to implement      living resources component
harvest. In the early 1980s,   needed control actions. In     into the overall management
the total annual Maryland      -December 1987, a new          of this ecosystem. Measures
and Virginia oyster harvest    Chesapeake Bay Agreement    are being developed to eval-
was over 3 million bushels. was signed committing the         uate the success of pollution
The harvest dropped to         Governors of Pennsylvania,     control and abatement
approximately 2 million        Maryland, and Virginia, the    programs in restoring the
bushels in 1983 and was        Mayor of the District of        estuary's living resource
down to less than I million    Columbia, the EPA Adminis-    habitats. These measures
bushels in 1988 (see 3lible    trator, and the Chairman of     will enable managers to focus
4-5).                          the Chesapeake Bay Commis-  water quality restoration
                               sion to a detailed set of      programs on those regions of
                               objectives and commitments    the bay most critical to its
                               including a timetable for the    living resources and vital to a
                               development of specific        healthy, productive estuary.

Table 4-5. Historical Record of Oyster Harvest from the Chesapeake Bay
          (in millions of bushels)
              1981      1982      1983      1984      1985      1986       1987      1988
Virginia       0.88      0.70      0.55      0.60       0.63      0.82      0.44      0.58
Maryland       2.53      2.31      1.48      1.08       1.14      1.56      0.98      0.35
Total 3.41               3.01      2.03       1.68      1.77      2.38      1.42      0.93


















                                                                                        65








Estuaries and Coastal Waters




















                               sOther            Ai 'aahnortter  reslop~edighi             and Oa4Etainontamintio orlongthe mid-

                                       zon~~~~~ae vae rmaglaite h  116 nM~instuart                  Beach closursdeto the
                                1 eWAand rugged~                 cotastin  mthe~   DelareadCspek6 gn  ontoaminato lons ~ft

                               2noth to o eliefd furter   Bas, an~rd          te~l       n~earyo i  ablcue debi ffc  athoen
                                southern Mtsahsett   Newlorkd ad sbandy ofestuarines b~ij    contamicnatind orcetontanln
                                South Caofia NwMrthe coasta   theoter banLon Isand bariroaued  bofm schoasa areas ande


                                is bordered by a 100-mile-    isands along southern Long    ha-ve become a common
                                wide coas"a plain. The        Island, New3f  1)isy1 ela      occurrence.
                               Continental Shelf wange in  Mire, Marylnd andVigna
                                width from 70 miles to more    ALso included are the estu
                                than 100 miles.               aries OfCuitkAe-              H tria
                                                               marke, and Panlic Sond         Bckron
                                                               behinul the Outer Baimksof     M t       o n
                                                                                                     Duigthe 1960s and the

                                                                                                   1910 ~ m avri    ofe ondsrl


                                                                * *.~~~~~~~                   AAW SaterQaliy ~ ~ uia tes werenms
                                                                        Problems   ~     ~     Valia t~"~ontinenaalgself
                                                                                                betdeing 1972 and 19nd
                                                                     In. ~    Wdw WOW summe  ofe 188  Deawae. ofS thA egin
                                        ______ ~ ~ ~ ~~Acl~ a '  nprcdene publi  daten    (whic Sanctuares the ofid-
                                                          j    thlaionwas focse on   iA okegan  Atan s       tmtic Sae  rmPnsl
                                                                attention. dublmsplging,              the feaibleia manager-
                                                                           mid-A~ ~ ~ ~~aivstlati ceaslne s fu disposalstsi  hsae

                                                                   Y~gï¿½~  Beach closuresand the depat anSnctuais Atof dumpin
                                                                    *.~~~~~~~~o the coastlne envronmMa t EPbegnasytemti



66








                                                                                Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                  As a result, all four disposal  programs have been modi-       to Florida) as a first step
                  sites were successfuly          filed over the years to reflect    toward addressing common
                  phased out as environmen-       changing utilization and       concerns in the Mid-Atlantic
                  tally acceptable land-based     stresses on the living          Bight and near coastal
                  alternatives were developed.    resources in the area. In       waters. The purpose of the
                    EPA Region I conducted        1987, EPA's regional monitor-   initiative is to better define
                  baseline surveys in and         ing activities were again      coastal problems, reorient
                  around the dumpsite used        expanded in response to new    existing EPA and State
                  for disposal of sewage sludge    concerns: dolphin mortality,    programs to more effectively
                  from Philadelphia and Cam-      atypical alga blooms,  fish     address common high-
                  den. A variety of impacts       diseases, and floatable         priority problems, provide
                  on the marine environment       debris.                         suggestions for solving these
                  were found. These impacts         EPA Region III is pursuing    problems, and implement
                  included accumulations of       additional strategies to better   consistent ocean and estua-
                  heavy metls in organisms        understand coastal pollution    rine policies where they are
                  and sediments, the appear-      problems and take a more        lacking in major regulatory
                  ance of sludge deposits on      proactive approach to coastal   areas.
                  the ocean bottom, the           protection. Baseline monitor-
                  presence of sewage bacteria,    ing and surveillance work
                  changes in the benthic          has been expanding. This        Environmental
                  community with the loss of      includescoastal eut             Rapid Dep-ment
                  sensitive species, and the      cation and public health
                  occurrence of nerotic           surveys i the area adiacent    Team
                  lesions and melanization of     to the mouth of the Delaware
                  gills in rock crab. After       Bay, down the Delmarva            In 1988, EPA Region m
                  closure of the disposal sites,  Peninsula to the region off     organized an environmental
                  followup monitoring revealed   the aVirgini coast south of      rapid deployment team. Its
                  systematic recovery of the      the Chesapeake Bay. In addi-    purpose is to give EPA the
                  benthic and fish species and    tion to water and sediment      ability to respond quickly to
                  improvements in water and       sampling, a marine mammal       any new environmental or
                  sediment quality.               watch and floatable or plas-    public health problems in
                                                  tic pollution watch are         Region Ill's near coastal
                                                  included as part of routine     waters. This effort includes
                                                  surveillance activities. active participation by State
                   Program                                                        and Federal agencies such as
                            There areno active ocean    M Al     ithe U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.
                                                                                  Fish and Wildlife Service,
                  dumpsites in EPA Region Il I nitiat ive                        National Marine Fisheries
                   As a resul monitoring                                          Service, National Park
                                                   Recognizing that ocean        Service, and the States of
                                                 pollution problems are          Maryland, Virginia, and
       I a                  .l,.:~ ~~ ' '~        selom localized, EPA Region    Delaware. Local governments
                                                  III initiated an effort to     and citizens who have timely
                                                  develop a broad-based Mid-      information on current or
                                                  Atlantic Initiative that would    abnormal environmental
                                                  address coastal problems as a    conditions in their coastal
                                                  whole rather than from a        communities are encouraged
                                                  regional or State-level         to take part in these
                                                  perspective     .               activities.
                                                    The Mid-Atlantic Initiative
                                                  is ajoint proposal involving
                                                  EPA Rgions I, II, HI, and IV
ago,-i---            ~                            (including States from Maine

                                                                                                           67








Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                              Ocean                            Of those assessed coastal      50 percent using monitoring
                                       | ~Coastal    ~       miles, 3,324 miles (89           data.
                              Coastal percent) were found to fully                              While these figures may
                                                              support their designated        satisfactorily portray coastal
                              Waters
                                                              uses. About 2 percent of        conditions in these 12 States,
                                                              these miles (73 miles) were     they are not necessarily
                        ~~. -~~.. ~~. ~determined to be threatened    representative of the Nation
                                      -Supp~ort of            and likely to become impaired   as a whole because they
                              Support of
                                                              if pollution control actions    apply to so few waters.
                              Designated Uses                 were not taken. Eight           Problems with inconsistent
                                                              percent of assessed coastal     reporting and assessment
                                Ten States and two Terri-     miles (307 miles) were identi-   methodologies apply as well.
                              tories (hereafter referred to    fled as partially supporting   For example:
                               as States) reported on the     uses, and 3 percent (124
                               degree to which their ocean    miles) were found to be not      * One State assessed only
                               coastal waters support the     supporting uses (see Figure      4 percent of its coastal
                               uses for which they have       4-8). Ten States specified the    waters, while nine States
                               been designated (see 'hble     basis of their assessment        report that they assessed
                               4-6). These States assessed     decisions (i.e., whether        100 percent;
                               3,755 coastal miles, 73 per-   monitored data or evaluative
                               cent of their total miles but  information). In these ten       * Five States relied
                               only about 20 percent of the    States, 2,679 miles were        exclusively on evaluative
                               Nation's estimated 19,200      assessed, 50 percent using       data, and two States used
                               miles of ocean coastline.*     evaluative information and       only monitoring data; and

                               *Estimate excludes figures for Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Alaska.


Table 4-6. Designated Use Support in Oceans

                       Ocean         Coastal Miles Assessed            Miles                                        Miles
                      Coastal              Percent      Percent        Fully          Miles        Partially        Not
State                   Miles      Total   Evaluated   Monitored   Supporting   Threatened*  Supporting   Supporting
Alabama                     50       50          100            0             50             -               0              0
California               1,840    1,069           -            -           1,009             -               0            60
Florida                  1,291      835           16           84            761             -             74              0
Hawaii                    824       824           62           38            824              0             0              0
Maryland                    32       32          100            0             32             -              0              0
Mississippi                 81       81            0          100             40            40             30             11
New Hampshire               18       18          100            0             18             18             0              0
New York                   130      130            0          100             60              0            70              0
Puerto Rico               434       434           71           29            250            15            132             52
Virginia                   112      112          100           -             112              0              0             0
Virgin Islands             173         7          -            -               5             -               1              1
Washington                 163      163          100            0            163              0              0              0
Totals                   5,148    3,755                                     3,324            73           307            124
*Miles Threatened is a subset of Miles Fully Supporting.
- Not reported.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
68









                                                                                                 Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                                 * Six States reported that      Attainment of the               pollution or not designated
                                 all their assessed coastal      Clean Watefor fishing.
                                 waters supported designated                                       A slightly smaller percent-
                                 uses, while in three States     Goals                           age of miles-92 percent-
                                 about half of the assessed                                      were found to attain the
                                 waters supported uses.            Ten States provided infor-    swimmable goal. Only
                                                                  mation on the extent to         1 percent of the miles were
                                 Causes and                      which their ocean coastal       found to be not meeting the
                                 Sources of                      waters attain the fishable      goal, but in 7 percent, the
                                                                 and swimmable goals of the      swimmable goal was deter-
                                 Impairment                      Clean Water Act. Table 4-9      mined to be not attainable
                                                                 displays this information.      (see Figure 4-9). This 7
                                   Two States and one Terri-       The same number of            percent comes exclusively
                                 tory provided information on   coastal miles were assessed      from Puerto Rico, which did
                                 the causes and sources of       for the fishable goal as for    not identify the reason for
                                 nonsupport in ocean coastal    the swimmable goal. Figure    nonattainability in its coastal
                                 waters not fully supporting     4-9 reveals that 97 percent     waters.
                                 uses (see Thbles 4-7 and 4-8).    of the 2,679 assessed coastal
                                 Because these cause and         miles attained the fishable
                                 source data include only a      goal and 3 percent did not
                                 small proportion of ocean       currently attain the goal but
                                 coastal waters, they may not    might in the future. No
                                 be representative of coastal    coastal miles were deter-
                                 pollution influences            mined to be not attainable-
                                                                 i.e., irrevocably affected by





                             Partially Supporting  Not Supporting
      (8%)Partially         (3%)
















         Fully Supporting                                      E
         (89%)

                 Assessed Coastal Miles (3,755)

Source: State Section 305(b) reports.
Figure 4-8. Designated Use Supported in Assessed Oceans ï¿½

                                                                                                                           69









Estuaries and Coastal Waters 

















                                              ~Description of  mean dephof    meters.       contamination. A preif-



                                Port Townsend Bay is an      suburban, 30 percent conser-   of the bay) found further
                              embayment in the northeast    vancy/natural uses, and 30      evidence of an environmen-
                              corner of the Olympic Penin-   percent U.S. Naval Reserve     tal problem: the diversity
                              sula in Washington State. Its    (Indian Island).             and numbers of bottom-
                              large northern outlet opens      A variety of biological      dwelling and benthic organ-
                              to Admiralty Inlet, which      resources can be found in      isms were severely limited.
                              connects the Strait of Juan    and around Port Townsend
                              de Fuca (and the Pacific       Bay. The glacous-winged
                              Ocean) to Puget Sound. At      gull, pelagic cormorant,       Pollutant Sources
                              the southern end, a narrow     pigeon guillemot, and black
                              connection to Puget Sound      oystercatcher use the area       The major point source
                              restricts exchange of water.   for nesting. Commercial        discharger to Port Townsend
                              Between the bay's two          fishermen operate just north    Bay is an unbleached kraft
                              islands, Indian and Marrow-    of the bay in Admiralty Inlet.   pulp mill that discharges 12
                              stone, lies Kilisut Harbor.    The bay itself supports sport    to 16 million gallons per day
                                The bay (excluding Kilisut    salmon fishing as well as     into Glen Cove through an
                              Harbor) has a surface area of    spawning grounds and hold-    outfall 1,800 feet offshore. In
                              30 square kilometers and a     ing areas for the Pacific      addition, the Naval Undersea
                                                              herring and shellfish beds of    Warfare Engineering Station
                                                              geoduck, clam, and oyster.     (NUWES), Indian Island
                                                              Dungeness crab can also be     Annex, is permitted to dis-
                                                              found.                         charge up to 36,000 gallons
                                                                                              per day of treated domestic
                                                                                              ywastewater to waters off
                                                                                              Crane Point on the eastern
                                                              Problems                       shore of the bay.
                                                                   twoï¿½locations in Port       Other possible pollutant
                                                                At two locations include the Navy
                                                              Townsend Bay isn n 1986 and    Munition   Steam-out Facility
                              bulat one locatinon                          in 1987,         on Indian Island.  Conven-
                              Iarge                          commnrernciao attem pts to raise   tional explosives have be en
                                                            Atlantic salmonin pens           handled at ths site oince the
                                      7eonecinto   e0~failed because0ofa greateh r          mid-1970s. Although apermit
                                                              t han  90 per cent mfLoy       exists to allow the discharge
                                                              ABpathology study conclfded   of optreated "ared wayr" from
                                                              that the salmon mortality      this facility, th ese wastes are
                                                              was caused by severe liver     not discharged at this site. A


                                                              bay  is   general ly con sidered a   a nd two anchorages for ships
                                                              nonurban area  wi th little or    carrying explosives are
                              ~ '                            no previous re cord of t oxic  within the bay, one at the
        70 ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ t i~ t    newih                       rsucscnb fudi                   sswr  eeeylmtd
                              co: ect : h :taio Jun          adaru:PrtTws








                                                                                  Estuaries and Coastal Waters







                  mouth and one off Indian       biomonitoring inspection of    liver lesions but did not
                  Island. It is not known what   the Port Townsend Paper        suffer mortality. The liver
                  materials may have been        Company pulp mill and an       lesions appeared to be similar
                  disposed of in the bay, either   inspection of the Navy       to those observed in previous
                  intentionally or accidentally.    Indian Island facility were  years' testing. Additional
                  Nonpoint sources are also of    also conducted in late 1987.    water sampling conducted in
                  concern and include surface    None of these investigations    1988 by WDOE at the pen
                  runoff, septic leakage, and    revealed the source of the     site off the marina revealed
                  boat traffic.                  waterborne toxicant.           no problems.
                                                    In 1988, further studies       The liver disease, first
                                                  were conducted. Long-term    observed in Atlantic salmon,
                                                  bioassay testing of the pulp   has now been observed in
                   Investigation                  mill effluent, using Atlantic    other salmonid species in
                                                  salmon, resulted in no liver    Port Townsend Bay and does
                    In October 1987, the         lesions or significant mortal-   not appear to be caused by
                  Washington Department of    ity. Atlantic salmon, Chinook   the pulp mill effluent. Other
                  Ecology (WDOE) began an        salmon, Donaldson trout,       water and sediment sampling
                  investigation of the Port      and shiner perch were also     near the fish pens has not
                  Townsend salmon mortality    raised in pens off the Port      revealed any likely sources of
                  problem. Samples of salmon    Townsend marina and at          the problem. Since Atlantic
                  tissues both within and        Crane Point. Atlantic salmon   salmon with similar liver
                  outside the bay, samples of    suffered high mortality at     disease have been found in
                  seawater at the salmon net     both sites; young Chinook      four unpolluted sites in
                  pens, and bottom sediments    salmon suffered a significant,   British Columbia, EPA
                  of the bay have been col-     but lower, mortality rate at    Region X is now encouraging
                  lected and analyzed for        the marina site while no       further research to confirm
                  priority pollutants, chlori-   significant mortality was      the hypothesis that a natural
                  nated dioxin/furans, selected   observed among larger         algae-produced toxin may be
                  trace metals, resin acids,    Chinook salmon; and             the cause of the problem.
                  and munitions chemicals. A     Donaldson trout displayed
























                                                                                                             7'
   i;.    If   a;  )iV C0;;ff ffft0S0Sf0        \                                            1'f- Lv


                           00;0;00500f0''"0;::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_8' /     :;';;S.!M.
\ : : r  ;S\ '    fiS, ftH);;; i               n                        l                                   "









Estuaries and Coastal Waters









                   Table 4-7. Impaired Ocean Coastal Miles Affected by Causes of Pollution

                                        Total                             Priority
                                      Impaired      Pathogens            Organics             Nutrients           Siltation
                   State              Waters*    Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min

                   Mississippi              41       -          41                   -        -          -        -          -
                   New York                 70       12         -        -          70        -
                   Puerto Rico             184       10         14       -           -        10         27       12         22
                   Totals                  295       22         55         0         70       10         27       12         22
                   Combined Totals                              77                  70                   37                  34
                   *The sum of partially and nonsupporting Ocean Coastal miles (Table 4-6).  NOTE: The State of Washington reports no impaired miles.
                   - Zero or not reported.                                         Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.



                   Table 4-8. Impaired Ocean Coastal Miles Affected by Sources of Pollution

                                                 ~~Total    ~Storm
                                      Impaired    Land Disposal        Sewers/Runoff         Municipal            Industrial
                   State              Waters* Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min   Major   Mod/Min
                   Mississippi              41       -          41       -          41                   -        -          -
                   New York                 70    -             -        -           -        -          12    -             -
                   Puerto Rico             184        2         43        5          14       12         10       16          2
                   Totals                  295        2         84         5        55        12         22       16          2
                   Combined Totals                              86                  60                   34                  18
                   *The sum of partially and nonsupporting Ocean Coastal miles (Table 4-6).  NOTE: The State of Washington reports no impaired miles.
                   - Zero or not reported.                                          Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.



                    Not Meeting                                Not Attainable
                    (3%)                                       (7%)
                                   Meeting         Not Meeting       ~        Meeting
                                   (97%)           (1 %)                       92%)














            Fishable Goal                               Swimmable Goal
            (2,679 Assessed Coastal Miles)              (2,679 Assessed Coastal Miles)


Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
Figure 4-9. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Assessed Oceans

72









                                                                                              Estuaries and Coastal Waters










     Unknown            Other                                         Organic
      Toxicity       Habitat Mod       Metals       Oil & Grease    Enrichment          pH        Thermal Mod
  Major   Mod/Min  Major Mod/Min Major ModlMin Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min Major Mod/Min



      7        25       17      11      2        8     6        1      3        3      1       2    -          1
      7        25       17      11      2        8      6       1      3        3      1       2      0        1
               32              28              10               7              6               3              1







    Combined             Hydro/                                                              Resource
     Sewers           Habitat Mod            Silviculture           Construction              Extract
 Major   Mod/Min  Major      Mod/Min      Major     Mod/Min       Major     Mod/Min      Major     Mod/Min

     12    .    .      .     .
       -       -    -               6   .-                _          _           _    . 
     12        -        0           6          0            0         0            0          0           0
               12                   6                      0                      0                       0





Table 4-9. Attainment of Clean Water Act Goals in Oceans

                              Fishable Goal (coastal miles)                        Swimmable Goal (coastal miles)
                                                Not          Not                                       Not          Not
State               Assessed      Meeting      Meeting      Attainable     Assessed      Meeting      Meeting      Attainable
Alabama                    50           50            0              0            50           50            0              0
Florida                   835         835             0             0            835          835            0             0
Hawaii                   824          824             0             0            824         824             0             0
Maryland                   32           32            0            -              32           32            0             -
Mississippi                81          81             0             0             81           81            0             0
New Hampshire              18           18            0             0             18           18            0             0
New York                  130           60           70             0            130          129            1             0
Puerto Rico               434         415            19             0            434         219            24           191
Virginia                  112          112            0              0           112          112            0              0
Washington                163          163            0              0           163          163            0              0
Totals                  2,679        2,590           89              0         2,679        2,463           25            191
- Not reported.                                                                           Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.





                                                                                                                       73









Estuaries and Coastal Waters









     a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: :







                                        :ue   I    UT  ~~~The southwest coast of              marine and estuarine ecosys-
                                Geographic Area                Florida is not as developed as   tems in which they occur.
                                                                the east coast. Population        Red tide derives its name
                                  The west coast of Florida,    centers include Fort Myers/ from the red-brown water
                                f rom t he         Florida Keys to   C a   pe Coral, Sar asota/Brad en-    color    that    occurs during an
                                Cedar Key, is characterized    ton, and Tampa/St. Peters-      intensive bloom of dinoflag-
                                by mangrove and barrier        burg. The barrier islands and    ellates. Between 1975 and
                                islands to the south and       coastal areas, from Naples to    1987, red tides in the eastern
                                extensive mangrove swamps    Clearwater, have undergone        Gulf of Mexico generally
                                and spartina marshes to the    extensive residential and       occurred in the fall and
                                north. The nearshore area is   commercial development in       winter and were most preva-
                                characterized by extensive     the past 30 years, but iand     lent in the area between
                                shallows with seagrass beds    areas have, to a large extent,    qhmpa Bay and Charlotte
                                and hard bottom communi-       remained in pastureland,        Harbor. Historic information
                                ties. In addition to numerous   citrus production, and         indicates that between 1916
                                smaller embayments and         pine/palmetto covet Indus-      and 1980 there were 24
                                estuaries, the west coast     trial development has been       occurrences of red tide on
                                includes Tampa Bay and         confined mostly to Tampa        this coast, although the
                                Charlotte Harbor, the two      Bay and Charlotte Harbor.       actual number of events Was
                                largest open water estuaries                                   probably larger due to
                                in the State.                                                  unobserved offshore occur-
                                                                Water Quality                   rences.
                                                                Problems

                                                                  Red  tidesaretralt            Pu        Hiealth      A











                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~974
                                                                Gulf of iixc  asdb
                                                                periodtc ifi of the s       ~ingle-   Theto red tidealgaei Pt-
                                                                celled algae    ldsu             icu  rvspoue








                              *ff~~~~~~~~~~beis^. Ti algaeclsificafed                         evter a;  ;fnelurotidngss thoiat

                74 ~ ~ ~ ~   ~    ~    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ p 0tbxi  l 0                 t0 arz0      e~   e      ca3siuo e
                                                 ..........~m~nes                                   n 









                                                                           blo~~~~~~~~~wen ashie  dtesocn. mmrae   anIevralo

                                                                for catlcmuiisad                 otoneou system effects
                                                                significantly Affec the         including loss of coordina-
 74









                                                               Estuaries and Coastal Waters








tion, dizziness, headaches,     Ecological Impact               that total economic impact is
and convulsions. Human                                          very difficult to measure.
intoxication has resulted         Red tides have been asso-
after ingestion of both raw     ciated with mortalities of      Dynamics  and
and cooked contaminated         marine fish and inverte-        Extent of the Red
shellfish, indicating that the    brates in the eastern Gulf of
toxins are not destroyed by     Mexico. Most of these events    Tide
heat.                           are caused by neurotoxins
 Unlike most toxic dino-       that kill the animal directly     Although early investiga-
flagellates, which are          or indirectly via ingestion of    tors thought that blooms
armored with a hard cell        toxin-contaminated prey         originated near shore and
wall, Ptychodiscus brevis       organisms. In other cases,      were linked to nutrient
cells are unarmored and thus   oxygen depletion caused by       enrichment, further investi-
easily ruptured, releasing      community respiration may       gation found that Ptycho-
their toxins into the sur-      cause mortalities. Ducks and    discus brevis blooms begin in
rounding water. When incor-   shorebirds feeding on             an "initiation zone" 28 to 74
porated into the surf, the      contaminated mollusks or        kilometers offshore. Within
toxins become associated        fish are also at risk. In       this zone, it is speculated
with salt spray and aerosols,    addition, it has been          that benthic cysts for Ptycho-
causing severe respiratory     reported that manatees           discus brevis exist in seed
irritation, burning of the     feeding on seagrasses during    beds. This dormant resting
nose and throat, coughing,     red tide events inadvertently   stage can accumulate in
and choking. Although          consume contaminated tuni-   localized areas and reinocu-
respiratory irritations usually  cates and benthic inverte-     late the overlying water
subside when the victim is     brates and are affected by       column. When Gulf Loop
removed from the affected      disorientation and other         current meanders and eddies
environment, the long-term    symptoms of NSP.                  pass through these seed beds,
effects of exposure are not                                     cysts can be carried up to
known.                                                          areas with favorable growth
                               Economic Impact                 conditions of more light,
                                                               warmth, and nutrient supply.
                                 Fish kills and NSP in         As the algal population
                               Florida have caused economic   increases under these favor-
                               stress to local communities     able conditions, the orga-
                               and a number of industries.     nisms can be concentrated
                               The 1971 red tide caused an     into blooms by currents and
                               estimated economic loss of      winds.
                               $20 million to the tourist        Winds, currents, and tides
                               industry alone, and a 1973-     move Ptychodiscus brevis
    e,, I -  i .        ~ 1    1974 red tide caused an         blooms to coastal areas. In
                               estimated $15 million loss to    the eastern Gulf of'Mexico,
                               that industry. Sportfishing,    red tides usually move south-
                               wholesale and retail seafood    ward after reaching near-
                               sales, and real estate sales    shore waters, and in some
                               were also affected. An          cases are transported around
                               "economic halo" effect          the Florida peninsula and
                       "  - ~'  o  occurs because public       then northward by Gulf
                               concern can lead to buyer       Stream currents. The first
                               resistance to all seafood       documented occurrence of
                         _-2 : products, even if they are      Ptychodiscus brevis red tide
                               safe to eat. This halo effect   on the east coast of Florida
                               can extend far beyond the
                               county or State involved, so

                                                                                          75








Estuaries and Coastal Waters








                              was in 1972, although it is   Monitoring and                 conditions that lead to bloom
                              likely that there were occa-    Resea h                      formation. The goal is to
                              sional events before that                                    predict red tides and possibly
                              time.                         Activities                     control them at the source
                                In the fall of 1987, an                                     rather than after they have
                              extensive red tide (identified  The Florida Department       moved to coastal waters. If
                               as Ptychodiscus brevis)   o    f Natural Resources (DNR)     benthic cyst accumulations
                               occurred in coastal and       is responsible for monitoring    are indeed precursors of red
                               inshore waters of North       Ptychodiscus brevis concen-    tides and can be located,
                               Carolina. This bloom had a    trations in nearshore waters   control methods may be
                               serious impact on shell-      to determine locale and        developed to prevent blooms
                               fisheries in the area due to  duration of shellfish bed      from developing in the
                               scallop mortalities and closed  closures. Shellfish beds are  offshore initiation zone.
                               oyster harvesting areas. This    closed to commercial har-     An inexpensive screening
                               was the first time a red tide    vesting when Ptychodiscus    technique is being developed
                               had been documented in        brevis concentrations in the    to detect toxins in fish and
                               North Carolina waters. It was   water column exceed 5,000     shellfish meats and to
                               presumed that the Gulf        cells per liter. At this concen-    monitor during and after a
                               Stream had transported the    tration the bloom is not        red tide event. Also under
                               red tide north from south     detectable to the naked eye     study is the question of
                               Florida. Satellite imagery    and would be unlikely to        whether or no t human
                               from the NOAA weather         cause mass fish mortality.      activity, which has increased
                               service supported this        However, shellfish can          the load of nutrients into
                               hypothesis with evidence of    concentrate the toxins in a    coastal waters, contributes to
                               a warm mass of Gulf Stream    low-magnitude bloom and         the intensity of red tides.
                               water moving into the North   present a risk of NSP to
                               Carolina coastal area at the  consumers.
                               same time the red tide          Research is being
                               occurred.                     condu       c ted on environmental


























76








                                                             Estuaries and Coastal Waters







                                convened for 12 estuaries:     ment actions can then be
                                Albemarle/Pamlico Sound,       applied in other areas of the
 Estuarine and                  North Carolina; Buzzards       country. The following three
 Coastal Waters                 Bay, Massachusetts; Long       projects were initiated in
                                Island Sound, Connecticut      1988:
                                and New York; Narragansett
 National Estuary               Bay, Rhode Island; Puget       ï¿½ Decision-making
 Program                        Sound, Washington; San         information system for
                                Francisco Bay and Santa        Delaware's Inland Bays-
   The National Estuary         Monica Bay, California; New    to develop a computerized
 Program, established           York-New Jersey Harbor,        Advanced Information
 through the 1987 amend-        New York and New Jersey;       System to help officials
 ments to the Clean Water       Delaware Bay, Pennsylvania,    quickly and accurately assess
 Act, confirmed the need to     New Jersey, and Delaware;      impacts of proposed actions
 focus greater attention on     Delaware Inland Bays,          on natural resources.
 the protection and improve-    Delaware; Sarasota Bay,
 ment of water quality and      Florida; and Galveston Bay,    U Oregon Coastal Resource
 the enhancement of living      Texas.                         Action Plan-to develop a
 resources in the Nation's                                     comprehensive action plan
 estuaries. Estuaries are to for Oregon's coastal water-
 achieve these goals through    Near Coastal Water sheds focusing on developing
 collaborative efforts called   Pilot Projects                 interagency management
 comprehensive conservation                                    coordination to protect near
 and management plans             The Near Coastal Water       coastal waters from point
 (CCMPs). Development of        Pilot Projects are joint State-   and nonpoint sources of
 CCMPs is carried out by        EPA efforts to demonstrate     pollution.
 management conferences.        in selected near coastal
 As of July 1988, manage-       waters innovative manage-      U Perdido Bay Cooperative
 ment conferences were          ment actions. These manage-   Management Initiative-to
                                                              develop a framework for
                                                              management action strate-
                                                              gies to protect and enhance
                                                              Florida's and Alabama's
                                                              Perdido Bay.

















7



                                                                                       77


































 Wetlands






Types of Wetlands               activities that affect
                                wetlands.
  Wetlands are mostly semi-      A wide variety of wetlands
aquatic lands that are either    have formed across the coun-
inundated or saturated by      try as the result of regional
water for varying periods of   and local differences in vege-
time during the growing         tation, hydrology, water
season. In all wetlands, the   chemistry, soils, topography,
presence of water creates      climate, and other factors. In
conditions that favor the      general, two broad categories
growth of specially adapted    of wetlands are recognized:
plants (hydrophytes) and        coastal wetlands and inland
promote the development of    wetlands. A national distri-
characteristic hydric soil      bution of wetland types is
properties. A Federal manual    shown in Figure 5-1.
for delineating wetland areas    Coastal wetlands, as their
has been developed with the    name suggests, are found
involvement of the EPA, U.S.    along the Atlantic, Pacific,
Fish and Wildlife Service      Alaskan, and Gulf coasts.
(FWS), U.S. Army Corps of      They are closely linked to
Engineers, and Soil Conser-    estuaries, where seawater
vation Service (Federal        mixes with fresh water to
Manualfor Identifying and       form an environment of
Delineating Jurisdictional      varying salinities. Saltwater
Wetlands, January 1989).       and fluctuating water levels
This manual defines wetlands   (due to tidal action) combine
based upon plants, soils, and    to create a rather difficult
hydrology, and is used as the    environment for most plants.
basis for Federal regulatory   Consequently, many shallow


                                                         79








Wetlands









                               coastal areas are unvege-       where saltwater influence       Wetland Values
                               tated mud flats or sand flats.   ends. Inland wetlands
                               Some plants, however, have      include marshes and wet           In their natural condition,
                               successfully adapted to this    meadows dominated by            wetlands provide many
                               environment. Certain grasses   grasses and herbs, shrub         benefits including food and
                               and grasslike salt-loving       swamps, and wooded swamps   habitat for fish and wildlife,
                               (halophytic) plants form        dominated by trees, such as     water quality improvement,
                               extensive colonies called       bottomland hardwood forests   flood protection, shoreline
                               "coastal marshes." These       along floodplains. Some          erosion control, natural
                               marshes are particularly        regional wetland types          products for human use, and
                               abundant along the Atlantic    include the pocosins of North   opportunities for recreation
                               and Gulf coasts. Mangrove       Carolina, bogs and fens of      and aesthetic appreciation.
                               swamps, dominated by halo-    the northeastern and north-    Each wetland works in
                               phytic shrubs or trees, are     central States and Alaska,      combination with other
                               common in Hawaii and in         inland saline and alkaline      wetlands as part of a
                               southern Florida.               marshes and riparian wet-       complex, integrated system.
                                 Inland wetlands occur         lands of the arid and semi-     An assessment of any
                               throughout the Nation's         arid West, prairie potholes of   specific wetland must take
                               interior. They are most         Minnesota and the Dakotas,      this critical interrelationship
                               common on floodplains along   vernal pools of California,       into account.
                               rivers and streams, in iso-     playa lakes of the Southwest,
                               lated depressions surrounded   cypress-gum swamps of the
                               by dry land, and along the      South, wet tundra of Alaska,
                               margins of lakes and ponds.     and tropical rain forests of
                               Some even form at the upper   Hawaii.
                               edges of coastal marshes




                                                  Wetland Types


                                                Coastal Wetlands   X5.2


                                 Inland Marshes and Wet Meadows 28.4


                                             Inland Shrub Swamps            10.6


                                          Inland Forested Wetlands                                               49.7


                                            Other Inland Wetlands     5.0

                                                                0.0      10.0.0      20.0  30.0      40.0     50.0     60.0
                                                                                      Millions of Acres
                                Source: OPA-87-016.

                               Figure 5-1. Extent of Wetlands in the Lower 48 States
 80









                                                                                                                        Wetlands








                                 Fish and Wildlife               in the water to form small      stream property from flood
                                 Habitat                         particles of organic material   damage. Trees and other
                                                                  (detritus). This enriched       wetland vegetation help slow
                                   Wetlands are critical to the   material is the principal food    the speed of floodwaters.
                                 survival of a wide variety of    for many small aquatic inver-   This action, combined with
                                 animals and plants. For many   tebrates, various shellfish,     water storage, can lower
                                 species such as the wood        and forage fish that are food   flood heights and reduce the
                                 duck, muskrat, cattail, and     for larger predatory fish,      water's erosive potential. In
                                 swamp rose, wetlands are        such as bluefish and striped    agricultural areas, wetlands
                                 primary habitats-the only       bass. These larger fish are,    can help reduce the ilkeli-
                                 places they can live. For       in turn, consumed by people.    hood of flood damage to
                                 others, wetlands are not        Thus, wetlands provide an       crops. Wetlands within and
                                 primary residences but          important source of food for    upstream of urban areas are
                                 provide important food,         people as well as for aquatic   especially valuable for flood
                                 water, or cover. Moreover,      animals,                        protection, since urban
                                 a number of rare and endan-                                     development increases the
                                 gered species depend on                                         rate and volume of surface
                                 wetlands for survival.          Flood Protection                water runoff, thereby
                                   Altogether, wetlands are                                      increasing the risk of flood
                                 among the most productive         Wetlands have often           damage.
                                 natural ecosystems in the       been referred to as natural
                                 world. They can be thought      sponges that absorb flooding
                                 of as the "farmlands of the     waters. They actually func-
                                 aquatic environment" since    tion more like natural tubs,
                                 they produce great volumes      storing either floodwater
                                 of food in the form of plant    that overflows riverbanks or
                                 material. The major food        surface water that collects
                                 value of wetland plants         in isolated depressions. By
                                 comes when the plants' dead   doing so, wetlands help
                                 leaves and sterns break down    protect adjacent and down-























Wetlands provide critical habi-                                                                                   *L
tat to awide variety of animals                                                                                            %M
and plants. 








Wetlands








                               Shoreline Erosion               commercial catch and over       wetlands can intercept
                                Control                         50 percent of the recrea-       surface water runoff from
                                                                tional harvest are fish and     land before it reaches open
                                 Wetlands are often located    shellfish that depend on the    water. They can also help
                                between rivers and high         estuary-coastal wetland         filter nutrients, waste, and
                                ground and are therefore        system. Each year, the U.S.     sediment from floodwaters.
                                able to buffer shorelines       commercial fisheries' harvest
                                against erosion. Wetland        is valued at more than $10
                                plants increase the durability   billion. Wetlands also         Recreation and
                                of the sediment by binding      produce fur-bearers such as    Aesthetics
                                soil with their roots, and      muskrat, beavers, and mink.
                                dampen wave action and          The Nation's harvest of           Through the centuries,
                                reduce current velocity         muskrat pelts alone is worth    painters and writers have
                                through friction. So signif-    over $70 million annually.      sought to capture the beauty
                                icant is the erosion control    Waterfowl hunters spend         of wetlands on canvas and
                                function of many wetlands       over $300 million annually to   paper. Today, such artists are
                                that some States are recom-     harvest wetland-dependent       oftenjoined by others with
                                mending the planting of         birds.                          cameras and video and sound
                                wetland vegetation to                                           recorders. An estimated 50
                                control shoreline erosion in    Water Quality                   million people spend nearly
                                coastal areas.                  Improvement                     $10 billion each year observ-
                                                                                                 ing and photographing
                                Natural Products                  One value of wetlands is      wetland-dependent birds
                                                                 their ability to help maintain   alone. Wetlands also provide
                                  A wealth of natural           and improve the water quality  endless opportunities for
                                products are produced by        of our Nation's rivers and      other popular recreational
                                wetlands. Those available for   other waterbodies. Wetlands    activities, such as hiking and
                                human use include timber,       do this by removing and         boating.
                                fish and shellfish, wildlife,   retaining nutrients, process-
                                blueberries, cranberries, and    ing chemical and organic
                                wild rice. Much of the          wastes, and reducing sedi-
                                Nation's fishing and shell-     ment loads to receiving
                                fishing industry harvests       waters. Wetlands are partic-
                                wetland-dependent species.    ularly good filters. Because
                                For example, in the South-      of their position between
                                 east, 96 percent of the         upland and deep water,


                                Information contained in the above sections was drawn from a brochure developed by the EPA Office of Wetlands
                                Protection, America 's Wetlands: Our Vital Link Between Land and Water February 1988, OPA-87-016. For copies or
                                further information, contact U.S. EPA, Office of Wetlands Protection (A-104F), Washington, DC 20460.














 82








                                                                                                                    Wetlands








                                Overview of State               national scales. The FWS        States. The following infor-
                                Reporting                       National Wetlands Inventory    mation is intended to provide
                                                                is one such tool relied on by   a national overview of the
                                  The information submitted    some States for this purpose.    Nation's wetland resources
                                by the States in their 1988     However, as of 1988, only 60    and a more consistent basis
                                State Section 305(b) reports    percent of the lower 48         for State reporting for future
                                focused exclusively on the      States and 16 percent of        305(b) cycles.
                                quantity of their wetland       Alaska had been mapped.
                                resources and certain State       Second, wetlands are a
                                programs. The impact of         complex, fragmented, and in   Wetland
                                chemical contaminants and       some areas widely distributed  Resources
                                other stresses on the quality    water resource. The effort
                                of existing wetlands has not    required to identify and
                                been addressed by the States    assess all State wetlands on a   A National
                                and is not discussed in this    biennial basis is enormous.     Perspective
                                report. Information on the      Third, in the past EPA has
                                quality of existing wetlands    not issued specific guidance      It is estimated that over
                                is generally not available      on wetland reporting. Guid-    200 million acres of wetlands
                                because of the lack of State    ance issued by EPA in 1988      existed in the lower 48 States
                                and Federal resources to        marks a first-time shift        at the time of European set-
                                monitor wetland quality.        toward more consistent and    tlement. Since then, exten-
                                  Inconsistent reporting of     complete State reporting on    sive losses have taken place,
                                wetland acreage and State       the quantity and quality of     with many of the original
                                programs is the result of       wetlands nationwide.            wetlands drained and con-
                                several factors. First, there is  lb provide a more complete   verted to farmland. Today,
                                a general lack of appropriate    assessment of State wetland    less than half of our original
                                data bases and related tools    resources, this report draws    wetlands remain (see Figures
                                to track the quantity and       upon several sources of         5-2 and 5-3). This amounts to
                                quality of wetland resources    information to augment the      an area equal to the size of
                                on consistent statewide or      information provided by the

  Remained
  in the mid-1970's                      Lost                      Human Impacts                    Natural Threats
  (46% or 99 Million Acres)              (54%)
                                                                    Drainage                        Erosion
                                                                    Dredging and stream             Subsidence
                                                                     channelization                 Sea level rise
                                                                    Deposition of fill material     Droughts
                                                                    s  Diking and damming           Hurricanes and other
                                                                    Tilling for crop production       storms
                                                                    Grazing by domestic             Overgrazing by wildlife
                                                                     animals
                                                                    Discharge of pollutants
                                                                    Mining
                                                                    Alteration of hydrology


Source: OPA-87-016.
Figure 5-2. Original and Remaining Acreages of Wetlands          Figure 5-3. Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation
           in the Lower 48 States
                                                                                                                          83








Wetlands








                               California. An additional 200   Wetlands of the United          acres (440,000 acres of inland
                               million acres of wetlands are   States: Current Status and      wetlands and 18,000 acres of
                               estimated to exist in Alaska-   Recent Trends (U.S. FWS,        coastal wetlands) during this
                               covering slightly more than     1984). This report assesses     period.
                               half the State-while Hawaii    the changes in the national        Agricultural activities
                               has approximately 100,000       wetlands resource between       affecting wetlands, including
                               acres. Next to Alaska, Louis-    the mid-1950s to the mid-      drainage, filling, and road
                               iana and Florida have the       1970s. Estimates of wetland     construction, were respon-
                               largest wetland acreage in     loss are based on the evalua-    sible for 87 percent of losses
                               the U.S.                       tion of wetland acreage          between the mid-1950s and
                                 Two basic types of data       within thousands of 4-square-   mid-1970s. Agricultural
                               collection efforts can be used   mile plots located across the  activities had the greatest
                               to track the quantity of       U.S. The number and loca-        impact on forested wetlands,
                               wetlands: (1) detailed maps    tions of the plots were          inland marshes, and wet
                               and (2) status and trends      chosen to provide a given        meadows. Urban develop-
                               reports. Detailed maps         statistical precision when the   ment and other development
                               provide site-specific infor-   information was extrapolated   were responsible for 8
                               mation on wetlands. Status     to the entire U.S.               percent and 5 percent of
                               and trends information is         Based on these data, the      wetland losses, respectively.
                               used to evaluate changes to     FWS estimates that the          Urban development was the
                               the resource over time. The     Nation's wetlands are being     major cause of coastal
                               FWS has been extensively        lost at an alarming rate.       wetland losses outside of
                               involved in these two areas     Between the mid-1950s and       Louisiana, while submer-
                               over the last several years.    mid-1970s alone, about 11       gence of Louisiana's coastal
                                 The only complete national   million acres of marshes and    marshes by Gulf waters was
                               assessment of the changes in   swamps were destroyed, an        the leading factor in that
                               the quantity of U.S. wetland    area three times the size of    State. In addition to the
                               resources over time is          New Jersey. The average         direct physical destruction of
                               contained in a report entitled   annual loss was 458,000        wetlands, these habitats are






                                                                                            V M


















mid-i 970s.
 84









                                                                                 Wetlands








also threatened indirectly by                                 * California-Over 90
chemical contamination and    State-Reported                  percent of California's
other pollution.               Information                    original 5 million acres has
 In recent times, the most                                   been lost by conversion to
extensive losses of wetlands     In their 1988 State Section    other land uses. Located in
have occurred in Louisiana,    305(b) reports, 14 States      the interior are 240,000
Mississippi, Arkansas, North    reported on the acreage and    acres of modified wetlands;
Dakota, South Dakota,          causes of wetland loss. Many    170,000 acres of coastal
Nebraska, Florida, and Texas.   State estimates of wetland    wetlands remain.
These and losses in other      acreage are based on
States have greatly dimin-     National Wetlands Inventory    U Connecticut--Total inland
ished our Nation's wetland     (NWI) information; others      wetlands acreage is estimated
resources and the benefits     are independent estimates.     at 435,000 acres, or about
they once provided. For         The following is a summary    15 percent of the State's
example, increased flood       of State-reported informa-     land area. The Connecticut
damages and declining water-  tion on wetland acreageand    Department of Environmen-
fowl populations are, in part,   current rates and causes of  tal Protection (DEP) esti-
the result of wetland          loss. No attempt has been      mates that 1,200 to 1,500
destruction.                   made to compare the esti-      acres may be lost or altered
  The FWS is currently         mates provided by the States   annually. The primary cause
updating its 1984 report on    with the data from NWI.        of wetlands loss is land devel-
wetlands status and trends     NWI and State-generated        opment for residential or
and has recently prepared a    data can provide a basis for   commercial use. To further
similar report for the Mid-    consistent reporting of        improve wetland protection
Atlantic Region of the U.S.    wetland acreage in future      efforts statewide, the DEP
(Mid-Atlantic Wetlands:        State Section 305(b) reports.    has instituted a comprehen-
A Disappearing National                                       sive education and training
Treasure, June 1987). The                                     program for local commission
methodology used to develop                                   members.
the national report was used
to prepare this regional
assessment.
























                                                                                        85








Wetlands








                              It has been estimated that     U Maryland-Prior to            * New Hamipshire-The
                              approximately half of the      passage of the State's Tidal   State has about 100,000 acres
                              original tidal wetlands in     Wetlands Law, about 1,000      of freshwater and tidal
                              Connecticut have been lost     acres of wetlands were being   wetlands. Although wetland
                              because of urban encroach-    destroyed each year. For the    drainage is not generally
                               ment and other human activ-   25-year period between 1942   allowed, New Hampshire
                               ities such as dredging and     and 1967, wetland losses in    continues to lose about 25-50
                               filling. Since the enactment   Maryland exceeded 23,000       acres per year, mainly as the
                               of the Tidal Wetlands Act in    acres. Approximately          result of residential and
                               1969, however, the DEP esti-   438,000 acres of wetlands      commercial development and
                               mates that less than 1/10 of   remain.                        road construction.
                               i percent of the remaining
                               wetlands have been filled.     U Mississippi-Prior to         U New York-The State has
                               Current estimates are that     1973, Mississippi had lost     almost 2 million acres of
                               approximately 17,500 acres     approximately 10,000 acres     freshwater wetlands and
                               of tidal wetlands remain in    of wetlands. Since 1973,       over 25,000 acres of tidal
                               the State. Additionally, State   fewer than 20 acres of       wetlands. Based on land-use
                               and local initiatives have     coastal wetlands have been     trends and soil analyses,
                               resulted in the restoration    altered. It has been estimated   estimates are that over half
                               of between 400 and 600 acres   that if this trend had been    of New York's wetlands have
                               of previously degraded tidal    allowed to continue, Missis-  been lost since colonial times
                               wetlands.                      sippi would have lost approx-   to draining, dredging, filling,
                                                              imately 42 percent of its      and pollution. Since the
                               * Illinois-The State was       wetlands resources. With       1950s, New York has lost over
                               once covered by more than      strong State and Federal       40 percent of its tidal wet-
                               8 million acres of wetlands.   legislation in place, the area    lands. Some losses continue
                               Currently less than 500,000    affected is estimated to be    to occur. Although all tidal
                               acres remain.                  less than 0.05 percent.        wetlands are protected by
                                                                                              State statute, only 60 percent
                                                                                              of freshwater wetlands
                                                                                              receive State statutory
                                                                                               protection.




















Wild ponies in a wetland area
on Assateague Island,
Maryland.
 86








                                                                                                                 Wetlands







                                There have been some gains    ï¿½ Oregon-By the 1970s,         The most significant wetland
                                in wetlands in New York.      wetland areas in most          loss in Pennsylvania is taking
                                New wetlands are being        estuaries in the State had     place as a result of second
                                created or existing ones      been reduced by 50-95          home development, coal
                                enlarged as the result of     percent as a result of agricul-   mining, and urbanization.
                                managed changes in beaver    ture and the siting of port/    Second home development is
                                populations. Other wetland    industrial activities. Early   an immediate threat to a
                                gains can be attributed to the   losses can be attributed to  large number of wetlands in
                                restoration of agricultural   diking for the purpose of      the Pocono area, which has
                                land back to wetlands.        creating agricultural lands.   a greater concentration of
                                                               Most of these conversions     bogs, swamps, and marshes
                                ï¿½ North Carolina-State        occurred prior to the 1930s   than any other region in the
                                wetland protection programs   and account for about 90      Commonwealth. While there
                                are generally limited to the  percent of the habitat losses,   are approximately 45,000
                                20 coastal counties. Most of    Since the 1930s, most losses    year-round housing units in
                                the 3.4 million acres of      have been attributed primar-   the three-county area, there
                                wetlands in the State are     ily to urban development.     are almost four times as
                                tidal.                                                      many subdivided lots for
                                                               ï¿½ Pennsylvania-An             second home development.
                                ï¿½ North Dakota-By 1980,    estimated 498,000 acres of         Coal mining affects wet-
                                nearly half of the original   freshwater wetlands remain,   lands through alteration of
                                wetland acreage in North      Strip mining in the western   hydrologic conditions, acid
                                Dakota had been drained       counties, development in the   mine drainage, erosion of
                                (about 2 million acres        northeast, and the construc-   spoil material, and drainage
                                remain). Since 1980, the loss   tion of impoundments on a   of water tables near mining
                                of wetlands is estimated at   statewide basis were the      sites. The greater reliance on
                                20,000 acres per year. The    primary causes for the loss   coal to satisfy increasing
                                annual loss of wetlands       of these wetlands.            energy demands, combined
                                appears to be lessening.
                                However, this may be attrib-
                               utable to the diminishing
                               wetland base as well as the
                               difficulty and cost associated
                               with draining.


















A North Carolina coastal
community.

                                                                                                                       87








Wetlands








                              with the abundance of         the coastal zone were attrib-    ï¿½ Wisconsin-The State
                              reserves, poses a formidable    utable to residential develop-   once had 7.5 to 10 million
                              threat to wetland acreage in    ment.                        acres of wetlands. Now, less
                              the Commonwealth. Since                                      than half remain: the State
                              most floodplain development    ï¿½ Vermont-The State has       has completed a statewide
                              occurs in metropolitan areas,   approximately 220,000 acres    wetland mapping effort
                              the relatively few remaining    of wetlands, representing    and estimates that it has
                              wetlands in and near major    about 4 percent of its land    5,331,392 acres of wetlands.
                              urban centers are in danger. area. About 120,000 acres       Since passage of the Federal
                              Much of the existing wetland   are forested wetlands, about    Emergency Wetlands
                              acreage in metropolitan       64,000 acres are scrub-shrub    Resources Act of 1986,
                              areas is located along major  wetlands, and about 25,000     Wisconsin has taken some
                              waterways and is susceptible   acres are emergent wetlands    important steps to protect
                              to industrial expansion,      (marshes and wet meadows).    wetlands. A comprehensive
                              pollution, and floodwater     A recent analysis of wetland    wetlands inventory was
                              inundation.                   impacts in the State found     completed in 1985. Mapping
                                                              that 36 acres were lost       by county, township, and
                                 Rhode Island-Develop-    between January 1986 and         range was completed for all
                               ment pressures remain a       May 1987; the leading cause    wetlands 5 acres or larger.
                               major threat, as indicated by   of loss was development for    A draft Wetlands Priority
                               a significant rise in applica-    light industry. Road construc-   Plan has recently been
                               tions to alter wetlands. In   tion and residential develop-    submitted for review to the
                               1984, 60 percent of the activ-   ment were also cited as    National Park Service. The
                               ities that led to alterations in   causes of wetland loss.   plan addresses wetland
                                                                                             preservation and protection,
                                                                                             resource assessment,
                                                                                             protection strategies, and
                                                                                             criteria for acquisition.




















                                                                            'I~~-

 Road building, light industry,
 and residential development
 are leading causes of wetland
 loss.
 88








                      L                                                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wetlandts








                               Wetlands                        important Federal regulatory   permit decisions. The FWS
                                                                program for the protection     and the National Marine
                               Protection                      of wetlands.                    Fisheries Service also
                               Programs                          Inland freshwater wetlands  influence the 404 permitting
                                                                constitute 95 percent of the    process through their review
                                                                remaining wetland resource    of applications. After receiv-
                               Summary of Federal               in the United States and       ing comments from these
                               Programs                        97 percent of the estimated    agencies, the States, and
                                                                300,000 acres of wetlands      other interested parties, the
                                 Section 404 of the Clean       lost each year to develop-     Corps of Engineers makes its
                               Water Act gives the U.S.         ment. Many of the losses are   permit decisions.
                               Army Corps of Engineers          due to agricultural activities,  Before permits are issued,
                               authority to issue permits for    some of which are not regu-    EPA has an opportunity
                               "the discharge of dredged or    lated under the 404 program.   under Section 404(c) to exer-
                               fill material into the navi-    The 1985 Farm Bill should       cise its authority to prohibit,
                               gable waters [of the United      help mitigate this problem by   condition, or restrict the use
                               States] at specified disposal    discontinuing subsidies to     of any site if such use is
                               sites." Section 404 also gives   farmers who drain and plant   found to "have an unaccept-
                               EPA a number of responsibil-    in wetlands.                    able adverse effect on
                               ities to ensure that the envi-    Approximately 13,000          municipal water supplies,
                               ronment is sufficiently         project applications under      shellfish beds and fishery
                               protected from the adverse       Section 404 and Section        areas (including spawning
                               impacts of these discharges.    404/10 (Section 10 of the       and breeding areas), wildlife,
                               Although States may be           Rivers and Harbors Act) are    or recreational areas."
                               granted the authority to        processed each year by the      However, this action occurs
                               assume 404 permitting, to       Corps of Engineers. EPA         in only a small fraction of
                               date only Michigan has          reviews and evaluates them      projects.
                               assumed that responsibility.     using its 404(b)(1) guidelines,  As a result of this process,
                               Since 1972, the 404 program     which contain the environ-      the Corps of Engineers
                               has developed into the most     mental criteria for 404         annually denies slightly more





















The 1985 Farm Bill
discontinued subsidies to
farmers who drain and plant 
in wetlands.
                                                                                                                           89









Wetlands








                               than 3 percent of project      provide a national overview        Information on nonregu-
                               applications. About one-third   and consistent basis for State    latory programs is more
                               of the pen-nits are signifi-    reporting for future 305(b)     difficult to summarize. In
                               cantly modified from their     cycles.                          general, most coastal States
                               original application, and        In addition to the Federal     have approved coastal zone
                               about 14 percent of the         Section 404 program, the        management programs; five
                               13,000 annual permit appli-    States have developed a          coastal States do not. Several
                               cations are withdrawn by       variety of programs to regu-     States have a combination of
                               applicants. The Congres-       late activities affecting        acquisition programs, heritage
                               sional Office of Tebchnology   wetlands or to encourage         programs, and Section 401
                               Assessment has estimated       wetlands preservation. These   certification programs. Section
                               that these denials, modifica-    programs include permitting,    401 certification gives the
                               tions, and application with-   coastal zone management,         States the authority to review
                               drawals save 50,000 acres of    wetland acquisition, and        and approve, disapprove,
                               wetlands each year.            heritage programs, to name       modify, or condition any
                                                               a few.                          Federal permit or license
                                Summary of State                 Many coastal States (the       (e.g., Section 404 permits and
                                Programs                       term "coastal" here includes    Federal Energy Regulatory
                                                               the Great Lakes States) have    Commission licenses). Water
                                 The following is a summary   had permit programs for          quality standards provide the
                                of State wetland protection    several years that regulate      basis for State involvement
                                programs. Since State-         certain activities affecting     in these Federal activities.
                                submitted information alone   marine and estuarine wet-         EPA's Office of Wetlands
                                does not provide a complete    lands. Out of a total of 30      Protection has developed a
                                and consistent data base for    coastal States and 5 coastal    document entitled Wetland~s
                                reporting, the information     Territories, 25 have their own    and 401 Certification (April
                                presented below is drawn       permit programs (see Thble       1989) on the use of Section
                                from several sources, includ-   5-1). A far lower percentage    401 certification to protect
                                ing State Section 305(b)       of States have permit            wetlands. Future State
                                reports. This is intended to   programs that apply to activ-    Section 305(b) reports should
                                                               ities affecting freshwater or   provide a more complete
                                                               inland wetlands; only 16        summary of State programs,
                                                               States currently have inland    including both regulatory
                                                               wetland permit programs.        and nonregulatory programs.









                                                                                                                               Wetlands

Table 5-1. Summary of State Permit and Other Selected Nonpermit Programs

                                                                                           Comprehensive
                                    Coastal                      Inland                         Statewide
                                    Permit                       Permit                          Permit
State                                Program                      Program'                        Program**                        401 Program
Alabama                                  ï¿½                           -                                -                                  ï¿½
Alaska                                  -                            -                                -                                  0
American Samoa                           0                                                                                               ï¿½
Arizona                                 NA                           -                                - a
Arkansas                                NA
California                              -                            -                                - 
Connecticut                              *                            *                               ï¿½
Colorado                                NA
Delaware                                 *                           *
Florida                                  *                              
Georgia                                  0
Guam                                     ï¿½                            ï¿½                               ï¿½* 
Hawaii                                                               -
Idaho                                   NA
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa                                    NA
Kansas                                  NA
Kentucky                                NA                           -                                -
Louisiana                                                                                             -
Maine                                   0ï¿½                           [                                *
Maryland                                 ï¿½  -                                                                                            0
Massachusetts                            ï¿½                                                            ï¿½ 
Michigan                                 0                                            0               *                                  e
Minnesota                                                             e
Mississippi                              *                                                            -
Missouri                                NA
Montana                                 NA
Nebraska                                NA                           -                                - 
Nevada                                  NA
New Hampshire                            ï¿½                            ï¿½                               ï¿½
New Jersey                                                                                            0                                  0
New Mexico                              NA                           -                                -
New York                                 *ï¿½                                                           ï¿½                                  e
North Carolina                                                                                        -                                  e
North Dakota                            NA
Ohio                                    -
Oklahoma                                NA
Oregon                                   0                              
Pennsylvania                             0                            *                                 0
Rhode Island                             ï¿½                           ï¿½                                ï¿½
South Carolina                           *                           -                                -                                  ï¿½
South Dakota                            NA
Tennessee                               NA                           -                                -
Texas
Utah                                    NA
Vermont                                 NA                                            0               *                                  e
Virginia                                 0                            *
Washington                               *                            ï¿½                               ï¿½                            Coastal program
West Virginia                           NA                                                            -
Wisconsin                                ï¿½                            *                               e
Wyoming                                 NA                                                            -
* Program in place.                                                                                             *Freshwater/nontidal.
* Convened a State task force to look into nontidal wetlands protection; study not yet completed.              ** Comprehensive programs cover
[ Program in place; 10-acre limitation.                                                                            both coastal and inland wetlands.
* Program in place; legislation enacted but not yet implemented; regulations to be developed.
v Program in place; can be delegated to local authorities; 12.4-acre limitation, some smaller wetlands of local importance (New York).
* Nontidal legislation failed to pass, 1988.
                                                                                                                                       91







Wetlands

















                                 In tea go                                  a more            M'6st importan ly, in its
                               EPA's Administr ator a sked    coherent and predictable      Action Plan, EPA has
                               the Conservation Foundation   manner, consistent with        adopted the Forum's goal of
                               to co nvene an independent    economic and social needs.     "no overall net loss" in the
                               National Forum on wetlands.   The Forum conducted public   Nation's remaining wetland
                               Its 20 members included       workshops in three States      base and the restoration and
                               three Governors; leaders      and consulted widely with      creation of wetlands, where
                               from local government; devel-  policy and technical advisors,  feasible. EPA will participate
                               opers; forestry, oil, and gas  individuals, and groups. On   on the Domestic Policy Coun-
                               representatives; environ-     November 15, 1988, the         cil's interagency wetlands
                               mental conservation groups;    Forum issued its report,      task force which will
                               farmers; and academic         Protecting America 's Wet-     examine implementation of
                               experts. Former EPA Admin-   lands: An Action Agenda,        the "no net loss" goal. One
                               istrator Lee Thomas and       A subgroup of the Forum        major action of the task force
                               representatives of four other   continues to work on imple-   is to revise and strengthen
                               Federal agencies also p    artici-   mentation of the recommen-   the Executive Orders on
                               pated as ex officio members.    dations, and the full Forum  wetlands and floodplains.
                                 The goal of the Forum was    will reassess progress after    The Agency will also
                               to provide policy recommen-    1 year.                       cooperate as Congress eval-
                               dations to Federal, State, and  The Forum recommended        uates legislative changes to
                               local officials and to wetland   direct protection measures,  improve wetlands protection
                               owners and users on protect-   improving the management      benefits of farm programs,
                                                               processes, and specific imple-   strengthen permitting
                                                               mentation actions. EPA has     programs, and provide incen-
                                                               adopted a short-term "Wet-     tives for States to assume
                                                               lands Action Plan" that        regulatory responsibility,
                                                               begins to respond to many of   expand set-aside areas under
                                                               the proposals of the Forum.    the Coastal Barrier Resources
                                                               The Plan includes highlights    Act, and strengthen the
                                                               but is not intended to         Resource Conservation and
                                                                describe all work going on     Recovery Act to improve
                                                               in the Office of Wetlands      wetlands protection. Specif-
                                                                Protection or  in other EPA  i cally, EPA has ident ified
                                                               offices to address wetl    and s













92
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                                                        to povid poiey ecomen- 1 yer.   <    eooerat as ongess val
       16:~ ~ ~ ~ ~~dain toFdrl  ttad                        TeFou  eoredd                 utslgsaiecagst
       im~ ~ ~ ~ ~~lclofcasad owtad drc  rtcinmasf                                          ipoevelnspoeto
        92 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~snr  n  sr onpoet                        mrvn  h  aaemnt               bn~t  ffr  rgas







                                                                                 Wetlands








seven objectives in its Action   4. Implement the policy that  In addition, President
Plan to implement the         unavoidable wetland impacts   Bush has adopted the "no
recommendations of the        should be fully offset by wet-   net loss" recommendations
Forum:                        lands restoration or creation.   of the Forum in public state-
                                                              ments, speeches, and, most
1. Provide technical support    5. Increase public awareness   recently, in his FY 90 budget
and participate in the        of wetlands' functions and     proposals to Congress.
application of planning       values and of regulatory and     Many of the EPA activities
approaches, including the     nonregulatory programs.        are designed to assist the
preparation of State Wet-                                    States in meeting the "no
lands Conservation plans.     6. Develop and test methods   overall net loss" goal. The
                               for assessing the cumulative    information submitted in
2. Provide guidance, tech-    effects of wetland loss and    future Section 305(b) reports
nical assistance, and support   degradation. Incorporate     will help the Nation meet
to strengthen the protective    these approaches into plan-    this goal by providing an
role of State and local       ning and permit decisions.     improved accounting of
governments.                                                 remaining wetlands, their
                               7. Identify opportunities and   status, and the threats they
3. Work with the Corps of     initiate projects to restore   face. Copies of the Forum
Engineers to increase         and create wetlands.           Report and the EPA Action
enforcement under Section                                    Plan can be obtained from
404; work with the Corps                                     the U.S. EPA, Office of
specifically on reducing                                     Wetlands Protection
uncertainty and confusion                                    (A-104F), Washington,
in implementing this legisla-                                DC 20460.
tionw; toward consis-
tency in planning, permit-
ting, and enforcement.
                    1. roidetehn~ea sppot    . ncras pbli aarees    rcenly inhi F790buge








Wetlands









                              Water Quality                   include wetlands adjacent to    wetlands for protection as
                               Standards for                   other waters such as rivers,     "outstanding resources"
                               Wetlands                        lakes, estuaries, and the        under Tier III of antidegra-
                                                               ocean, and isolated wetlands     dation.
                                 Water quality standards are   that are used for interstate       The inclusion of wetlands
                               used to regulate the many       commerce. Congress and the       in the definition of "State
                               activities that affect surface    Courts have made it clear      waters" is not necessarily an
                               waters, including wetlands.     that the jurisdiction over       indication of the strength of
                               These activities include        wetlands is to be as extensive    a State's wetlands protection
                               municipal and industrial        as the Constitution permits.     program. However, water
                               point source discharges,        Therefore, the general provi-    quality standards for wet-
                               nonpoint source discharges,     sions of the CWA that apply      lands can play a pivotal role
                               actions under RCRA and          to "navigable waters" also       in the development of State
                               CERCLA, and dredge and fill   apply to wetlands.                 regulatory and nonregula-
                               activities under Section 404      Water quality standards        tory programs to protect
                               of the CWA.                     laws for each State were        wetlands, and provide a
                                 The provisions of the Clean   reviewed to identify whether    framework for reporting
                               Water Act and the State         the laws specifically mention    under Section 305(b). The
                               standards designed to imple-    wetlands in their definition    inconsistency in State
                               ment the CWA's goals and        of "State waters." Standards     Section 305(b) wetland
                               objectives apply to all         were also reviewed to identify   reporting may be the result,
                               "navigable waters." Navi-       any use classifications,        in part, of the lack of fully
                               gable waters are defined in     criteria, or antidegradation    developed water quality
                               Section 502(7) of the CWA       provisions specifically for     standards for wetlands.
                               as "waters of the United        wetlands. Information was
                               States," which are in turn      taken from the Bureau of
                               defined by regulation (40       National Affairs "Environ-      State-Reported
                               CFR Part 230; 45 FR 85345,      ment Reporter" (updated as    Information
                                dated December 24, 1980) to    of March 1989). This informa-
                                                                tion is provided here to serve    In their 1988 State Section
                                                                as a baseline for future State    305(b) reports, 13 States
                                                                Section 305(b) reports. A       provided information on
                                                                final report, dated August 17,   specific programs or legisla-
                                                                1989, is available from either   tion designed to protect their
                                                                the Office of Water Regula-     wetland resources. The fol-
                                                                tions and Standards or the      lowing information was
                                                                Office of Wetlands Protec-      reported by the States in
                                                                tion, U.S. EPA.                 their Section 305(b) reports:
                                                                  Of the 56 States and Terri-
                                                                tories that were reviewed,      ï¿½ California-In November
                                                                26 include wetlands in their    1983, the California Depart-
                                                                definition of "State waters."    ment of Fish and Game
                                                                States have generally not       published "A Plan for
                                                                established use classifica-     Protecting, Enhancing, and
                                                                tions, criteria, or antidegra-  Increasing California's
                                                                dation procedures specifically  Wetlands for Waterfowl,"
                                                                for wetlands. However, some    pursuant to State Senate
                                                                States include certain wet-     Concurrent Resolution No.
                                                                lands in their waterbody-       28. This resulted from
                                                                specific classification         enactment of Chapter 7
                                                                systems and some identify a    of the California Public
                                                                limited number of specific      Resources Code known as the


 94








                                                                                  Wetlands









California Wetlands Preser-    and watercourses. Connect-    U Illinois-In 1984, the
vation Act (Keene-Nejedly).    icut's landmark inland         Illinois Department of
The areas identified in this   wetlands legislation is        Conservation initiated a
plan are to be acquired for    considered to be among the     comprehensive wetland
the public domain. Proposals   most stringent in the Nation.   protection and management
for State funding to acquire   The State law provides for     program designed to identify
new wetlands and recoin-       delegation of regulatory       critical issues, examine
mendations for increased       authority to volunteer         e~xisting government
Federal support are included    municipal wetlands commis-   programs, and develop
in the plan.                   sions. These citizen boards    needed technical informa-
                               operate under the guidance     tion and procedures. The
U Connecticut-In 1969,         and oversight of the Depart-    wetland program is governed
Connecticut enacted its Tidal   ment of Environmental         by the Wetlands Committee,
Wetlands Act. Since then,      Protection (DEP) Commis-       a subgroup of the Governor's
the loss of tidal wetlands has    sioner and Wetlands Manage-   State Water Plan Tfask Force.
virtually stopped. This        ment Section. The DEP has      The Committee is responsible
success is attributable to the    adopted model municipal     for developing policy and
implementation of the Act      wetlands regulations and       program recommendations
and broad public support for   provides technical assistance   and is composed of policy-
wetlands conservation in the   and training to town           makers from agencies
State.                         wetlands commissions.          responsible for programs
                                                               that affect Illinois' water
The passage of the Inland      * Florida-The Warren B.        resources.
Wetlands and Watercourses      Henderson Wetlands Protec-
Act in 1972 placed consider-    tion Act, passed in 1984,     U Maryland-The State has
able restrictions upon indis-    recognizes the value of      had a tidal wetlands regula-
criminate alteration, and      wetlands in its mission to     tory program since 1970. This
subsequent loss, of the        protect, maintain, and         program is administered by
State's freshwater wetlands    improve the quality of water    the Department of Natural
                               throughout the State. The      Resources and the State
                               Act requires that a detailed   Board of Public Works
                               monitoring record be kept of   through a public interest
                               wetland acreage in order to    review and permit process.
                               control dredge and fill activ-    The law requires property
                               ities, as well as to identify  owners to obtain permission
                               the number of acres being      from the State before alter-
                               lost, disturbed, created,      ing tidal wetlands. If a permit
                               improved, and preserved.       or license is necessary, the
                                                               State will issue a public
                               Several State land acquisition   notice, if required, and hold
                               programs help to protect       any requested public
                               Florida wetlands. The "Save    hearings.
                               Our Rivers'' program has
                               purchased over 250, 000 acres
                                of floodplain since its incep-
                               tion. The "Save Our Coasts"
                                program has bought 72,000
                                acres of land. About a half
                               million acres of land, much
                               of it wetlands, have been
                               purchased by the State since
                                1979.


                                                                                         95








Wetlands

















                                  The National Wetlands         photography Wetlands are       than 500,000 acres of wet-
                                and Wildlife S                      f                             11 States.  









                                the Nation's coastal and        acreage is then estimated        As discussed earlier in
                                inland wetlands.  Wetland  f     rom the completed maps.       this report, several States
                                maps developed by the NWI      To date, approximately 60       provided estimates of current
                                provide important informa-      percen     t of the lower 48   wetland acreage in their
                                tion on the extent of  State    States, 100 percent of         305(b) reports. In order to
                                wetland resources and           Hawaii, and 16 percent of provid             e a consistent basis for
                                provide   a  basis for a wid e Alaska have  been mapped.       comparing wetland a cre age
                                variety of regula tory and Table 5-2 summarize             s w et-    b etw een  States, Tble 5-2
                                nonregulatory activities. The land acreage by State. Six       includes wetla nd acreage
                                NWI also provides a consist-    States have greater than       estimates provided only by
                                ent way of reporting the       5 million acres of wetlands,    NWI. No attempt has been
                                extent of wetlands by State.    12 States have between I and    made to compare what the
                                  Wetlands are mapped          5 million acres, 8 States have    States reported in 1988
                                primarily by the use of good-   between 500,000 and 1 million  against the findings of the
                                quality, high-altitude aerial    acres, and 13 States have less    NWI.













               4g g W: g~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~~~~iiiii i'  -  iii iiiiiilCfi






                                                                                                          ..  .. 500K-1,000K
                                                                                                                1,000K-5,000K
                                          e              O                                                        >5,000K    ~ 

                                 Source: 1988 National Wetlands Inventory.
                                 Figure 5-4. Wetlands Acreage Distribution Nationwide
96
                                                                        :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  rN









                                                            Wetlands









 Table 5-2. Estimated Wetland Area by State

                                Acres               Percent of Total
 State                    (in thousands)           State Land Area
Alabama                       3,069                     9
Alaska                           -                      -
Arizona                          -                      -
Arkansas                      2,764                     8
California                      389                      1
Colorado                       675                       1
Connecticut                    261                      8
Delaware                       223                      18
Florida                      11,333                     33
Georgia                       5,298                     14
Hawaii                         110                      -
Idaho                            -                      -
Illinois                       712                      2
Indiana                        285                       1
iowa                             -                      -
Kansas                         435                       1
Kentucky                       205                       1
Louisiana                     8,674                     30
Maine                         1,731                     9
Maryland                       438                      7
Massachusetts                  542                      11
Michigan                      5,583                     15
Minnesota                     7,540                     15
Mississippi                   4,067                     13
Missouri                       836                      2
Montana                          -
Nebraska                      1,906                     4
Nevada                           -                      -
New Hampshire                   190                     3
New Jersey                     916                      19
New Mexico                     482                       1
New York                      1,184                     4
North Carolina                5,690                     18
North Dakota                  2,868                     7
Ohio                             -                       _
Oklahoma                      1,270                     3
Oregon                           --
Pennsylvania                   498                      2
Rhode Island                    84                      13
South Carolina                4,659                     24
South Dakota                  1,548                     3
Tennessee                      787                       3
Texas                         3,957                     2
Utah                           584                      1
Vermont                          -
Virginia                      1,045                     4
Washington                      748                     2
West Virginia                   102                     >1
Wisconsin                     4,410                     13
Wyoming                          -
- Reliable wetland area data not available.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, June 1988.
                                                                  97








Wetlands








                               Mississippi-Prior to          ï¿½ New Hampshire-The            ï¿½ New York-Special wet-
                              1973, the State's shoreline,   State's long-standing wet-     land categories and unique
                              including wetlands of the      lands protection program is a   wetland systems have been
                              Gulf Coast, was significantly    cooperative effort involving    identified under a Significant
                              altered by man. Primary        the State, through the         Habitat program and the
                              impacts were associated with   Wetland Board, and local       State's Natural Heritage
                              residential development and    governments through their      program. These specifically
                              industrial expansion into      Conservation Commissions.    designated and protected
                               wetlands areas. In 1973,       Generally meeting weekly,      areas, along with active
                               the Mississippi Legislature    the Board considers any        acquisition programs, are
                               passed the Coastal Wetlands    dredge or fill activity        helping to curb further losses
                               Protection Law. This law       occurring within a wetland     of wetlands. New York is an
                               established a regulatory       or surface water. The local    active participant in the
                               program for wetlands protec-   Conservation Commissions       North American Waterfowl
                               tion and curtailed human       review wetland alteration      Joint Ventures, which is
                               encroachment into wetlands.   applications for the Wetland    coordinating multiple oppor-
                               Subsequent to the wetlands    Board. Special emphasis has    tunities to protect, create,
                               law, the legislature enacted   been placed on the protec-     and restore large acreages of
                               the Mississippi Coastal        tion of coastal wetlands.      wetlands in key areas of the
                               Program, which further                                        State. Recent educational
                               strengthened the State's       ï¿½ New Jersey-On July 1,        efforts-e.g., focusing on
                               ability to protect the coastal    1987, the Freshwater Wet-   local governments, school
                               environment.                   lands Protection Act of 1987    children, tax assessors, and
                                                              was enacted. The Act author-   land owners-will involve
                                                               izes the New Jersey Depart-    other parties in wetland
                                                               ment of Environmental          protection.
         V~}~   ï¿½   ,                                         Protection to issue permits
                                                               for regulated activities. The
                                                               permit program will not
                                                               affect tidal wetlands regu-
                                                               lated under the separate
                                                               Wetlands Act of 1970. In
                                                               addition, the new Act con-
                                                               tains several provisions
                                                               relating to wetland mitiga-
                                                               tion requirements and
                                                               establishes a Wetlands
                                                               Mitigation Council.

















 98








                                                                                   Wetlands








U North Carolina-In             U North Dakota-The State    U Vermont-In 1986, the
coastal counties, the Coastal    recently enacted a law         State legislature passed a
Area Management Act             (Senate Bill 2035) initiating a    wetlands act that provides
(CAMA) and Section 404 of       "No Net Loss" program. The    the basis for a broad measure
the Clean Water Act combine    basic concept of the program    of protection to many of
to effectively protect salt     requires that for every         Vermont's wetlands. The Act
marshes. Section 404 applies    permitted acre of wetland       restricts activities that could
to wetlands statewide, but      that is drained, an equal       potentially degrade the
there are no State laws that    acreage of wetlands must be    function or value of signifi-
protect wetlands outside of     restored. The landowner         cant wetlands. In addition,
the coastal zone. While the     who drains must pay 10          the State Development
404 program offers limited      percent of the costs for the    Control Law (Act 250)
protection for inland fresh-    restored acres, with the        requires a permit for every
water wetlands, it has not      remainder coming from           major land development and
been effective in limiting      other sources. Fifty percent    subdivision in the State;
wetland conversion because      of the restored wetlands        among the criteria for permit
of enforcement problems and   should be located in the          issuance are several that
the limited scope of the        county where the drainage       afford protection to wetlands.
program.                        occurred.                       However, most agricultural
                                                                and silvicultural activities
Wetland acquisition             U Rhode Island-The              are not regulated under Act
programs in North Carolina      Freshwater Wetlands Act         250, nor are small-scale
have set aside some 85,000      of 1971 (FWWA) recognizes       industrial, commercial, and
acres of wetlands, both         swamps, marshes, and other    residential projects.
privately and publicly          freshwater wetlands as
owned. Freshwater wetlands   buffer zones and absorption        Other statutes provide some
receive the most attention in   areas for floodwaters,          measure of wetland protec-
these programs because of       recharge areas for ground       tion in Vermont. These
the lack of regulatory          water, high-value wildlife      include the Management of
protection.                     habitat, and recreation areas.   Lakes and Ponds statute and
                                                                the Stream Alteration Law.
                                In 1971, the State created the   The State is currently
                                Coastal Resources Manage-       compiling a master list of
                                ment Council (CRMC), which    wetlands to be acquired.
                                is Rhode Island's lead agency
                                under the Federal Coastal
                                Zone Management Act.















                                                        6















Public Health/Aquatic

Life Concerns



  In 1988, States were asked   aquatic life. Examples of
to report specifically on       toxic pollutants include
pollution problems affecting    heavy metals, pesticides, and
public health and aquatic       PCBs.
life. Among the topics they        Our knowledge of the
were to address were fishing   health effects of many toxic
advisories and bans, pollu-      pollutants in water and fish
tion-caused fish kills, prob-    tissue is still limited. We
lems with toxic contamina-       know that some are linked to
tion of sediments, and           human health problems such
closures of bathing areas or     as cancer, kidney ailments,
surface drinking water           and birth defects. Some
supplies due to pollution,       chronic health effects may
Many of these impacts are        result only after long-term
the result of toxic contamn-     exposure; others may develop
inants.                          years after a short period of
  Although any pollutant         exposure. Exposure routes
may have toxic effects if it is   from the aquatic environ-
found in sufficient amounts,    ment to humans may include
a number of pollutants           drinking water; contam-
appear to have adverse and       inated fish, shellfish, and
long-term effects at             waterfowl; and contact
extremely low concentra-         recreation sites such as
tions. These toxic substances   swimming beaches.
may be either synthetic or         In addition to public health
naturally occurring, may         problems, toxic pollutants
persist in the environment       can damage aquatic eco-
for long periods of time or      systems by eliminating sensi-
dissipate quickly, and may       tive species or causing
have a variety of different      disease in the species that
effects on public health and    remain. Some toxins may
                                                         101








Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








                                persist in the environment     reported by the States. These    information in 1958.
                                for decades, posing a          elevated levels are defined as   Increased monitoring
                                continuing threat to humans,   exceedances of State water       activity may also have led to
                                aquatic organisms, birds, and   quality standards; criteria     the detection of more prob-
                                other wildlife. This is clearly    developed by EPA under       lems. TIhble 6-1 illustrates the
                                the case with pesticides such   Section 304(a) of the Clean     following:
                                as DOT and dieldrin, which      Water Act; Water Quality
                                have been removed from use    Advisories developed by           U Rivers and streams:
                                for a number of years yet       EPA; or "levels of State        28 States reported that
                                continue to be found in the    concern" where numeric           they monitored for toxic
                                environment,                    criteria do not exist.          substances in about 67,500
                                  rib a large extent, our                                       river miles and found
                                understanding of the preva-    Total Size of                    roughly one-third of these
                                lence of toxic substances,     Waters Affected                  waters to be affected. An
                                exposure routes, and levels of                                  additional seven States did
                                concern is limited by the      by Toxics                        not provide data on the
                                difficulty and expense of                                       number of river miles they
                                monitoring and conducting        Reporting on the extent of    monitored for toxic pollut-
                                long-term health effect        toxic contamination of           ants, but reported that an
                                studies. The Federal govern-    waters was more comprehen-    additional 17,085 stream
                                ment has developed 62          sive in the 1988 State Section   miles are affected by
                                numeric human health           305(b) reports than in           elevated levels.
                                criteria and 25 aquatic life   previous years. Table 6-1
                                criteria for toxic pollutants  summarizes this reporting by
                                against which sampled          State, for all waterbody
                                concentrations can be          types.
                                measured. Many more toxic        These numbers reflect
                                substances affect the aquatic   substantial increases
                                environment, and State         compared to data for
                                adoption of existing criteria    previous years on waters
                                is not universal. Therefore,    affected by toxic pollutants.
                                the following discussion of     This increase moost likely
                                toxic contamination is only in  occurred because a greater
                                terms of "elevated" levels      number of States provided


















Some toxins are persistent in
the environment.
 102









                                                                                       Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








                              ï¿½ Lakes and reservoirs:        U Great Lakes: Four States    able experience over the last
                              23 States reported that they    reported that 955 of their     decade in monitoring for
                              monitored for toxic pollut-    Great Lakes shoreline miles     toxic substances and in tar-
                              ants in about 4,981,600 acres   were monitored for toxic       geting monitoring to areas
                              of lakes and found roughly     pollutants, and about 90        most likely to be contami-
                              one-third to be affected. An   percent were found to be        nated. Because we cannot
                              additional five States did not   affected. One additional      always predict where
                              report on the number of lake   State did not report on         contamination is likely to
                              acres they monitored for       shoreline miles monitored for   occur, monitoring for toxic
                              these substances, but          toxic pollutants, but reported   compounds must also be
                              reported that about 56,200     that about 199 shoreline        conducted in previously
                              lake acres are affected by     miles are affected.             unmonitored waters. Never-
                              elevated levels of toxic                                       theless, based on the results
                              pollutants.                      In some cases the             presented by the States, it
                                                              percentage of monitored        appears that we are making
                              * Estuaries: 13 States         waters found to have            progress in identifying these
                              reported that 5,980 square     elevated levels of toxic        sites.
                              miles of their estuaries were    substances appears high.
                              monitored for toxic            However, because monitoring
                              substances, and about a        for toxic substances is an
                              fourth were found to be        expensive, resource-inten-
                              affected by elevated levels.   sive process, States are most
                                                              likely to monitor primarily in
                              * Coastal waters: Four         those waters suspected or
                              States reported that they      known to have toxic prob-
                              monitored 560 coastal          lems (e.g., waters with
                              shoreline miles and found      multiple industrial
                              about a third to be affected   dischargers or waters with
                              by elevated levels of toxic    known sediment contamina-
                              substances.                    tion problems). EPA and the
                                                              States have gained consider-






















Examining English sole for
evidence of tumors.
                                                                                                                      103









Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns









                                 Table 6-1. Size of Surface Waters Affected by Toxic Substances

                                                                  Rivers (miles)                       Lakes (acres)
                                                          Total    Monitored   Elevated       Total      Monitored   Elevated
                       ; *>^State                       Waters   for Toxics    Toxics        Waters      for Toxics    Toxics
                                Alabama                  40,600          619         110      504,336      202,680       86,080
                                Arizona                   6,671        1,451        906             -            -           -
                                Arkansas                 11,508        2,873          74            -            -           -
                                 Colorado                 14,100        4,600       1,294      265,982       10,093            0
                                 Delaware River Basin        291 *        155          45           -             -           -
                                 District of Columbia         36           26         26           377          136          136
                                 Florida                  12,659        2,695        510    2,085,120       546,560       50,560
                                 Georgia                  20,000        1,119          10      417,730       39,878            0
                                 Hawaii                      349           -           -            -             -           -
            :-'i ~ | ~            Idaho                   16,146           -        1,468      727,202            -       32,000
                                 Illinois                 14,080        5,425       1,834      305,847            -       13,381
                                 Indiana                  90,000        2,306        922       104,540       54,686        1,106
                                 Iowa                     18,300        2,624      2,097        81,400       20,700            0
                                 Kansas                   19,791        2,697        556       175,189       92,098            0
                                 Kentucky                 18,465           -        1,084      228,385            -           -
                                 Louisiana                14,180           -         116       713,719            -        1,170
                                 Maine                    31,672          865        435       994,560       38,106          400
                                 Massachusetts            10,704          999        264            -             -           -
                                 Minnesota                91,944        1,855       1,599    3,411,200    1,367,131   1,245,929
                                 Mississippi              15,623        1,075        271       500,000       45,578            0
                                 Missouri                 19,630        3,650        458       288,012            -          561
                                 Montana                  20,532           -         890       756,450            -        9,100
                                 New York                 70,000        3,400        345       750,000      668,000      130,946
                                 North Carolina           37,378           -         382       305,367      282,909        9,688
                                 North Dakota             11,284        6,829        560       625,503      399,381            0
                                 Ohio                     43,917           -        1,637      117,323       91,226       29,729
                                 Oklahoma                 19,791        4,997       4,608            -            -           -
                                 Pennsylvania             50,000           -        1,508           -             -           -
                                 Puerto Rico               5,373        1,710       1,505       11,146        2,982          981
                                 Rhode Island                724           80         59        16,520        4,968            0
                                 South Carolina            9,900        2,518         180      525,000      354,114        8,560
                                 South Dakota              9,937        3,080         163    1,598,285      548,000            0
                                 Virginia                 27,240        3,535        296       161,562       57,992            0
                                 Washington               40,492        1,189        846       613,582      134,834      134,822
                                 West Virginia            28,361        4,574       3,795       19,171        13,465       4,655
                                 Wyoming                  19,437          544           7      427,219         6,098           0
                                 Totals                  861,115       67,490      30,860   16,730,727   4,981,615   1,759,804
                                 Includes 85 miles of Delaware estuary.
                                 - Not reported.
                                 Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.






104









                                                                                            Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns










     Estuaries (sq. miles)             Oceans (coastal miles)           Great Lakes (shore miles)
 Total    Monitored   Elevated        Total   Monitored  Elevated   Total   Monitored  Elevated
Waters    for Toxics      Toxics    Waters  for Toxics   Toxics   Waters  for Toxics    Toxics
   625            35           0          -           -          - 




   782            -           -
     6            6           6          -            -          -
 4,298         1,648        938       8,460          262         85
   594           44            0          -           -          -
   134            34           0          -           -          -

                                                               ..-      63           63         63
                                                               ..-      43           43         43




 7,656            -           -           -           -
 1,633           10          10          -            -          -
   171           39           16          -           -          -
    -            -           -           -            -          -    272             272    272
   133             7           0         81           40          0        -            -          -



 1,564        1,564         154         130          130         70      577          577         492
 3,200            -           -           -           -          -    -                 -          -

                                                                      236           -         199



    --           --          --         434          127         35
   192          100           17          -           -          -
 2,155          319            2

 2,382        1,800           18 
 2,943          370         214



28,468         5,976       1,375       9,105         559        190    1,191          955       1,069









                                                                                                                              105









Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns









                                Fish Consumption    be harmful to the public,                   are more sensitive (e.g.,
                                Advisories and                  some States have considered    children and women of
                                                                local factors such as           childbearing age). Fishing
                                Bans                           consumption rates for            bans generally prohibit
                                                                general consumers, sports-      consumption of one or more
                                  Toxic chemicals discharged   men, or subsistence fisher-      species of fish and apply to
                                to rivers, lakes, and estuaries   men; type of fish consumed;   all potential consumers.
                                may be absorbed or ingested   and duration of exposure.           National statistics on
                                by aquatic organisms that         In 1988, 29 States reported   fishing restrictions are
                                are, in turn, consumed by       finding concentrations of       incomplete. Many States rely
                                larger predators such as fish.   toxic contaminants in fish     on local authorities to impose
                                Toxic pollutants can collect    tissue exceeding FDA action    these restrictions, and there-
                                (bioaccumulate) in the          levels or other levels of       fore do not keep statewide
                                tissues and organs of these     concern in localized areas.     tallies of their numbers,
                                fish, which poses a potential    Many States respond to the     locations, and the species of
                                health hazard to people who    finding of elevated levels of    fish affected. However, as
                                eat them. Various methodol-    toxic substances by imposing   water quality reporting
                                ogies (e.g., FDA "action        fishing bans or fish consump-   improves, we are gathering
                                levels, "Water Quality          tion advisories. Advisories     more information on this
                                Criteria, or levels of State    typically recommend limiting  topic.
                                concern) have been used by      consumption of certain            In their 1988 State Section
                                the States or local authorities   species of fish from given    305(b) reports, 47 States,
                                to impose fish consumption      waterways to a few meals per  jurisdictions, and Interstate
                                restrictions. To determine      week or month and differen-   Commissions (hereafter
                                whether the levels of fish      tiate between general           referred to as States)
                                tissue contamination could      consumers and those who         provided information on
                                                                                                fishing advisories and bans in
                                                                                                their waters. Of these, eight
                                                                                                 States reported that no fish-
                                                                                                 ing restrictions were in place
                                                                                                 in their waters. 'able 6-2
                                                                                                 summarizes this information
                                                                                                 by State. Figure 6-1 illus-
                                                                                                trates the national distribu-
                                                                                                 tion of fishing advisories and
                                                                                                 bans combined. Thirty-nine








                                                                                  - 0orNR

                                                                                  ,,   6-10
                                               -    '::,.r ' ..:::::.. -   SI   %    il ~11-50
                         A,% -                 .                             \     _,10



 Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports
 Figure 6-1. Fishing Restrictions Nationwide
106









                                                                                            Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns


 Table 6-2. Fishing Restrictions Reported by the States

                                 No. of Restrictions                                     Area Affected
                                Advi-                          River             Lake             Estuary           Great Lakes
                               sories          Bans           Miles             Acres             Sq. Mi.           Shore Miles
Arizona                           2                0              -                   -
Arkansas                          0                1              -                   -
California                        8               12              92            292,867                 3
Colorado                          5                0              -                   -                -
Connecticut                      3                 0              65                 -                225
Delaware                         2                 0
Delaware River Basin             4                 0
District of Columbia             0                 0
Florida                          0                 0
Hawaii                           2                 0              -                  -
Illinois                         8                 4            534             990,021
Indiana                         10                12             585                 -                 -                     43
Iowa                              1                0
Kansas                           3                 1              44                 -
Kentucky                          1                1             112                 -
Louisiana                        6                 0              25              1,066
Maine                             1                4             128              1,976
Maryland                         3                 1              -                  -
Massachusetts                    7                 1              -                  -
Michigan                        38                 3            383              24,128                -                   3,288
Minnesota                      235                50           1,599          1,245,929                -                    272
Mississippi                      0                 1              12                 -                 -                      -
Missouri                         15                0             833                700
Montana                           1                0              -                  -
Nevada                            1                0              -                  -
New Hampshire                     0                0              -                  -
New Jersey                       6                 7              -                  -                 72
New Mexico                       0                 0              -                  -
New York                        16                24
North Carolina                    1                0              -               1,900
North Dakota                      0                0                                 -
Ohio                              5                6             160                  -
Ohio River Valley                 1                0              40
Oklahoma                         2                 0              -                  -
Oregon                            1                0              -                1,139
Pennsylvania                     6                 2                                 -
Rhodelsland                       1                1
South Carolina                    2                0
South Dakota                      0                0              -
Tennessee                        13                0             204                  -
Vermont                           1                1               0            174,175
Virgin Islands                    0                0              -                   -
Virginia                          2                1             296                  -
Washington                       12                0              19                  -                34
West Virginia                     1                0              48                  -
Wisconsin                      160                 1             304            102,083                -                    495
Wyoming                           0                1               4                   0
Totals                         586               135           5,487          2,835,984               334                  4,098
- Not reported.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.                                                                                      107









Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns









                               States reported a total of 586    2,835,984 lake acres were     ized and complete reporting
                               advisories, and 21 States      affected (including 976,640      is in effect. Bans and advi-
                               reported 135 bans. The         acres of Lake Michigan,          sories, once imposed, tend to
                               pollutants most commonly       reported by Illinois). Four      remain in place for a number
                               identified as causing adviso-    States reported that 4,098     of years because of the
                               ries or bans include PCBs,     Great Lakes shoreline miles      persistence of many of the
                               chlordane, mercury, dioxin,    were affected by fishing         chemicals involved. Thus, a
                               and DDT. Table 6-3 indicates    restrictions.                   large apparent change in the
                               how many States cited            These numbers summar-          number of bans and adviso-
                               particular pollutants as       izing fishing advisories and     ries reported by the States
                               causing fishing restrictions.  bans should be interpreted      over a 2-year period is more
                                 General categories of        with caution and should not    probably the result of
                               sources contributing these     be compared with the find-       increasingly comprehensive
                               contaminants include indus-    ings of previous State Section   reporting and monitoring
                               trial discharges; land disposal   305(b) reports until standard-   rather than actual water
                                (hazardous waste sites and
                                landfills); nonpoint sources   Table 6-4. Sources Associated with Fishing Restrictions
                                such as spills, in-place
                                                                                                           Number of States
                                contaminants, and atmos-
                                pheric deposition; and
                                agricultural activities. Table    Industry                                       14
                                6-4 depicts the number of      Land Disposal                                      8
                                States attributing fishing     Other Nonpoint Sources                             8
                                restrictions to these sources.   Agriculture                                      7
                                  In addition to reporting on    Urban Runoff                                     6
                                the number, causes, and        Resource Extraction                                5
                                sources of restrictions, States   Municipal Facilities                            3
                                were asked to report on the    Natural Sources                                    3
                                area affected by fishing
                                advisories and bans. Twenty-   Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                one States reported that
                                4,487 stream miles were
                                affected, 4 States reported
                                that 334 estuarine square
                                miles were affected, and
                                12 States reported that


Table 6-3. Pollutants Associated with Fishing Restrictions
                                            Number of States
Pollutant                                     Reporting
PCBs                                              22
Chlordane                                         17
Mercury                                           15
Dioxin                                            9
Other Metals                                       9
DDT                                               7
Organics (unspecified)                             5
Dieldrin                                          4
Pesticides (unspecified)                          4
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.

108









                                                       Public Health/A quatic Life Concerns








quality changes. In addition,    fishing restrictions may not  U Maine reports that a
for any given waterway a       have extensive monitoring       health advisory was issued in
combination of advisories      programs to detect fish tissue   May of 1985 recommending
and bans may be imposed for   contamination.                   that consumption of fish
different fish species or may    The following examples        caught from the Andro-
apply differently to different   cited by the States in 1988   scoggin River be limited to
segments of the waterway or   help illustrate the variety      two or three times per
to different people (e.g.,     of pollutants and sources       month. The advisory was
children or women of child-    responsible for fish tissue     issued by the State after
bearing age). Last, a great    contamination and subse-        dioxin contamination was
deal of variability is evident  quent fish consumption         detected in a whole-fish
between States in the criteria   restrictions.                 sample collected by the U.S.
used to impose fishing                                         EPA; dioxin levels in the
restrictions and the programs  a  In Arizona in 1986-1987,     fillet were determined to be
in place to monitor, analyze,    intensive pesticide analyses  below the FDA action level.
and report fish tissue data.   of fish and other tissues were    Kraft-process pulp manufac-
  Therefore, the high          conducted in the vicinity of    turing was determined to be
numbers of restrictions        the Gila River below metro-    the source of the dioxin.
reported by some States are    politan Phoenix. Findings of
more likely attributable to    toxaphene and metabolites       U Nevada reports that an
the criteria and procedures    of DDTI in fish tissue and     intensive study of mercury
used in deciding on restric-   sediment samples at Painted    contamination in the Carson
tions and to sophisticated,    Rock Borrow Pit Lake and       River, its sediments, and fish
well-established fish tissue   the Gila River upstream have    tissue led to the imposition of
monitoring programs in those   resulted in a continuing       a health advisory in 1985.
States, rather than to         health advisory against        Sediment contamination was
unusually degraded water       consuming fish caught there.    found throughout the lower
quality conditions. By the                                    Carson River system, from
same token, States with no     U As a result of a special     Dayton to the lower reaches,
data or with only a few        study of a number of urban     and in the canal networks of
                                drainage areas in Maryland,    the Newlands irrigation
       ~~~~~ ~~~~the State has issued adviso-                 project, Indian Lakes
                                ries against consumption of    complex, and the Carson
                                channel catfish, carp, black   sink. The fish consumption
                                crappie, and American eels     advisory was revised in 1986
                                taken from Back River, Balti-   and remains in effect; the
                                more Harbor, and Lake          source of the mercury is
                                Roland (Jones Falls water-     believed to be mining opera-
                                shed). The warning, issued in   tions conducted in the late
                                1986, was imposed because      iSO0s.
                                of chlordane contamination.
                                Other finfish, oysters, and
                                crabs were not found to be
                                affected, and no other toxic
                                compounds were identified
                                as problems.









                                                                                        109








Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








                               * In July 1986, South Caro-    in lake trout. Individuals       serve as a continuing source
                               lina issued a health advisory    over 15 years old were         of toxics to the water column
                               cautioning people not to eat    advised to eat no more than     and to aquatic organisms.
                               fish taken from Langley Pond   one meal or 1/2 pound of lake    Bottom-dwelling animals
                               in Aiken County. Levels of     trout per month. Children        such as aquatic insects, for
                               mercury above the FDA          under 15, pregnant women,        example, may take in sedi-
                               action levels were found in    and women planning to bear    ment contaminants as part of
                               fish tissue, and sediments      children were advised to        their feeding activities and
                                were found to contain high      avoid consuming lake trout.     may themselves serve as food
                                levels of chromium, mercury,   The sources of the contam-       for animals higher in the food
                                and PCBs. The sediment          ination may include a nearby    chain (including humans).
                                contamination is tied to       Superfund site, urban runoff/ In addition to potential
                                discharges of partially         combined sewer overflows in   impacts on the water column
                                treated or untreated waste-    Burlington and other             and biota, sediment contam-
                                water, primarily from textile    communities along the lake,    ination can pose obstacles to
                                manufacturing facilities,      and atmospheric deposition. the maintenance dredging of
                                discharged in the area since                                    harbors and navigation
                                the late 1800s. Several                                         channels. Disposal of dredge
                                former dischargers are under Sediment                           spoil can become a difficult
                                order to conduct a study to     Contamination                   issue if that spoil contains
                                determine the sources,                                          unacceptable levels of PCBs,
                                nature, and extent of             Contamination of stream,      mercury, dioxin, and similar
                                contamination in Langley        lake, and estuarine sedi-       chemicals. Methods of
                                Pond.                           ments by toxic substances       disposal such as open water
                                                               has been identified by some     dumping, confinement in
                                * In Vermont and New York,   States as a growing concern.    diked containment areas, and
                                a fishing advisory for all of   Although some contaminants   spreading in coastal areas,
                                Lake Champlain (174,175         are broken down by microbes   wetlands, and "reclaimed
                                acres) went into effect in      in sediments, others can be     lands" could clearly create
                                August 1987 because of          retained for many years after   new-and possibly more
                                elevated levels of PCBs found   a discharge has ceased, and     severe-environmental




















 Contaminants in sediments
 can be retained for many years
 after a discharge has ceased.
  110








                                                                                       Public Health/A quatic Life Concerns








                                problems. Other impacts that   have reported on available      thousand acres of lakes show
                                may occur in certain cases     data. Therefore, the follow-    impacts from sediment
                                when dredging takes place      ing discussion of State-        contamination. Leading
                                include resuspension of        reported information on         pollutants associated with
                                toxics into the water column,   sediment contamination is      sediment contamination
                                habitat alteration, and the    limited and probably under-     include heavy metals (e.g.,
                                smothering of bottom-          states the extent of the        copper, mercury, lead,
                                dwelling aquatic organisms.    problem. As methodologies       cadmium, chromium, and
                                Since it may be necessary to    develop and more emphasis      zinc); PCBs; pesticides such
                                dredge harbors simply to       is placed on reporting, the     as DDT, chlordane, and
                               keep them open for naviga-     comprehensiveness of State    dieldrin; and dioxin.
                               tion purposes, the States face   data will doubtless improve.    The following examples
                               difficult decisions where        Thirty-five States provided    from the 1988 State Section
                               sediment contamination is a    some information on sedi-       305(b) reports serve to
                               concern.                       ment contamination in their    illustrate the variety of
                                 Methods of analyzing         waters. Thirty-four of          pollutants and sources
                               sediments and interpreting     these States indicated that     contributing to sediment
                               analytical results are still in  instances of sediment         contamination problems.
                               their infancy. EPA is in the   contamination exist in their
                               process of issuing criteria    waters; one State reported      U In Connecticut's urban
                               for 12 contaminants in sedi-   no problems. A total of 533     harbors (such as portions of
                               ments and is beginning to      separate instances of sedi-     Stamford, Norwalk, Black-
                               document methodologies for    ment contamination are           rock, New Haven and New
                               assessing contamination.        reported by 30 of the 35       London Harbors), historical
                               Many States, therefore, do     States. Eight States specify    wastewater discharges,
                               not have the analytical tools    that about 2,700 streamn      runoff from urban areas, and
                               and resources for sediment     miles are affected, and six     other sources have resulted
                               monitoring; others may not     States report that roughly a    in the contamination of some























Sediment contamination
can pose obstacles to the
maintenance dredging of
harbor and navigation
channels.








Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








                              sediments with heavy           programs such as intensive     active hazardous waste
                              metals, oil and grease, and    basin stream surveys and       disposal facility. Followup
                              other synthetic organics.      fixed station networks.        sediment sampling in 1986
                                The State reports that       Sediment chemistry results     confirmed the presence of
                               dredging is routinely          are compared to a classi-      PCBs, and fish tissue
                               performed in coastal waters    fication system developed by   analyses found elevated
                               to maintain navigation chan-   the Illinois EPA. Among the    concentrations of two toxic
                               nels and access to marinas.    findings reported in 1988      hydrocarbons. A major
                               Dredge material disposal       were elevated levels of heavy   portion of Devil's Swamp
                               involves the use of four open   metals (such as arsenic, lead,   north of the lake had been
                               water disposal sites in Long   and copper) and organics       previously identified as
                               Island Sound. A dredged        (such as chlordane and DDT)    contaminated by an aban-
                               material management plan       in some sediments in the Des   doned hazardous waste
                               entitled "Interim Plan for the   Plaines river basin. The     disposal facility. A cleanup
                               Disposal of Dredged Material   sources of the heavy metals   plan has been established for
                               from Long Island Sound"        are believed to be municipal    the site, and a swimming and
                               (1980), prepared by the        dischargers and surface        fish consumption advisory
                               former New England River       runoff; nonirrigated crop     was issued for Devil's Swamp
                               Basins Commission, guides      production and surface         Lake.
                               State and Federal decision-    runoff were identified as the
                               making on dredged-material    most significant sources of    ï¿½ Michigan reports that
                               disposal. This plan estab-    organics.                      sediment contamination in
                               lishes three tiers of sediment                               the Detroit River is wide-
                               quality and requires special   ï¿½ Louisiana reports on        spread, with higher concen-
                               management practices for       sediment contamination in     trations on the U.S. side
                               the disposal of contaminated    Devil's Swamp Lake, north-   downstream of the Rouge
                               sediments.                     west of Baton Rouge. In late    River and in the Trenton
                                                               1985, PCBs were detected in   Channel. These sediments
                               * In Illinois, sediment       sediment from the lake and     may be a source of contam-
                               chemistry samples are          an effluent channel flowing    inants to Lake Erie through
                               collected through several      into the lake from a nearby   translocation; they may be























                              1,1
  112









                                                        Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








available to aquatic animals    River estuary, contain rela-    * Develop a Program
for bioaccumulation or may      tively high levels of over 300    Summary Report identifying
cause direct physiological      toxic metals and organic        EPA sediment-related activi-
effects through resuspen-       compounds. Biological           ties among different offices
sion. However, the signifi-     studies have shown that         and under varying statutory
cance of these in-place         communities of bottom-          authorities;
pollutants to human health,    dwelling organisms and fish
to aquatic biological orga-     are affected.                   U Develop a Sediment
nisms, and as a source to                                       Classification Methods
Lake Erie is still unknown. A    In 1983, the Chesapeake Bay    Compendium-an "encyclo-
1982 study by the Michigan      Program identified the Eliza-   pedia" of the methods used
Department of Natural           beth River system as one of     to assess chemically contam-
Resources found 43 priority     the most highly polluted        inated sediments;
pollutants in the soft          bodies of water in the entire
sediments of the Detroit        Bay watershed. State and        U Revise the Technical
River, including heavy          local officials recognized that   Support Document for Water
metals, polynuclear aromatic    a comprehensive water           Quality-Based Toxics
hydrocarbons, and PCBs.         quality management plan         Controls to account for the
                                was needed, including           effects of sediment on water
* In North Dakota, approxi-    setting water quality goals      quality;
mately 30 acres of sediments    and standards, controlling
in Nelson Lake have been        point and nonpoint sources      U Prepare Sediment
affected by arsenic, zinc, and    of pollution, addressing      Chemical Fact Sheets
copper. The source of the       toxics. and dredging.           summarizing all known
contaminants is a nearby          Through the cooperative       toxicity and regulatory data
coal-fired power station.       efforts of State and local      on 47 toxicants; and
                               officials, industry represen-
* Virginia reports that sedi-   tatives, researchers, and       ï¿½ Coordinate EPA-wide
ments in the Elizabeth River,   environmental organizations,   (and eventually interagency)
a tidal tributary of the James   a Comprehensive Elizabeth      contaminated sediment-
                               River Restoration Strategy      related activities.
                               has been developed for
                               implementation during             The Office of Water
                               1988-1990.                      Regulations and Standards/
                                                               Criteria and Standards
                               New Initiatives                 Division has developed
                                                               interim sediment quality
                                 Efforts are under way at      criteria for 12 nonionic
                               EPA to provide States with      organic contaminants using
                               better tools to assess and      the Equilibrium Partitioning
                               control sediment contamina-   Approach. The method for
                               tion problems. EPA has          generating interim sediment
                               established steering and        criteria is being reviewed by
                               technical Sediment Oversight   EPA's Science Advisory
                               Committees to identify,         Board, and the results of this
                               coordinate, and provide         review are expected in
                               guidance on activities          August of 1989. A major
                               relating to the assessment      effort is under way that
                               and management of contam-    focuses on the development
                               inated sediments, and to        of a method for generating
                               facilitate the decisionmaking   sediment criteria for metal
                               process. Among the activities   contaminants. Science Advis-
                               of these committees are to:     ory Board review of this

                                                                                        113









Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








                                method will also be sought.    fish kills and report them to    ï¿½ Two of these States
                                  In addition to the develop-   fish and game wardens or        indicated that no pollution-
                                ment of sediment criteria,     other State officials. Many      caused kills occurred in their
                                efforts are under way that     fish kills may go unnoticed or    waters.
                                focus on developing standard   unreported; others may be
                                bioassays that can be used to   difficult to investigate. (Dead    ï¿½ Thirty-five States
                                assess chronic and bioaccu-    fish may be carried quickly      provided information on the
                                mulation effects of contam-    downstream, for example, or    number of kills, for a total of
                                inants in sediments.           may be difficult to count        996 incidents (see Figure
                                                                because of turbid condi-         6-2).
                                Fish Kills Caused              tions.) Reporting on pollu-
                                                                tion-caused fish kills is new    ï¿½ In the 24 States that
                                by Pollution                   to the State Section 305(b)      indicated the number of fish
                                                                process, and a number of        killed, over 36 million fish
                                  One obvious and important   States either did not provide      were reported killed. Sixty-
                                indicator of water quality      data, did not present a         four percent of that total was
                                problems is the occurrence of  comprehensive tally of kills,    in one State alone (Texas).
                                fish kills caused by pollution.   or did not specify the cause
                                Information on fish kills is    and/or magnitude of kills.      ï¿½ Toxic substances such as
                                not complete; the informa-      Available data reported by      heavy metals and pesticides
                                tion presented below,           the States are presented in     appear to be a less common
                                reported by the States in       Table 6-5.                      cause of fish kills than
                                 1988, most probably under-       Table 6-5 shows that 37        conventional pollutants such
                                 estimates the extent of the     States provided some infor-     as biochemical oxygen-
                                 problem for several reasons.    mation on the occurrence of    demanding substances. In
                                 In many cases it is the         pollution-caused fish kills     those States that specified
                                 public-fishermen, campers,    during the 1986 to 1988           the distinction, nearly five
                                 and hikers-who first notice    reporting period:                times more kills were attrib-

















                                                                                                                  Kills
                                                114                                                                   0orNR
                                                                                                                       I1-1
                                                                                                                  :11-30
                                                   io                                                            ~7--~ 31.70
                                                                                                                  l  70


                                 Soure: 1988 State Section 306(b) reports.
                                 Figure 6-2. Fish Kills Distribution Nationwide
 114








                                                                                          Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








 Table 6-5. Fish Kills Caused by Pollution*

                                                                       Kills Caused by                   Kills Caused by
                               No. of           No. Fish              Toxics Pollutants              Conventional Pollutants
 State                        Fish Kills          Killed           No. Kills        No. Fish         No. Kills          No. Fish
 Alabama                              8             43,370                6           33,370                2             10,000
 Connecticut                          6              2,820                2            1,710                4              1,110
 Delaware                             1            124,588               -                -                 1           124,588
 District of Columbia                 3                 -                 0               -                 3                 -
 Florida                            25           5,500,000               -                -                -
 Hawaii                               0                  0               -                -                -
 Illinois                           49            561,049                -                -                -
 Indiana                            41            428,331                -                -                -
Iowa                               45            286,601                10         119,324                35           167,277
Kansas                             51             174,263               11          133,708              40             40,555
Kentucky                           53             359,143                6           19,155               47           339,988
Maine                                6              6,450               -                -                 6              6,450
Maryland                           40                  -                 8               -                32                 -
Minnesota                          80             112,419               11            5,663               69           106,756
Mississippi                          6             70,400                4           69,500                2               900
Montana                              9              3,000                9            3,000               -                  -
Nebraska                           52                  -                -                -
Nevada                               4                 -                -                -                -
New Jersey                           9                 -                 1               -                 8
New Mexico                           5                 -                 2               -                 3                 -
New York                           24              21,980               13           12,530               11             9,450
North Carolina                     88           4,052,000                4            1,200               84         4,050,800
North Dakota                         0                  0               -                -                -
Ohio                               28             608,042                4           30,720               24           577,322
Oklahoma                            16             74,160                1            2,000               15            72,160
Oregon                               2                200                1               -                 1               200
Puerto Rico                        16                  -                 2               -                14                 -
South Carolina                    144                  -                14           20,382              130
South Dakota                         3                 -                -                -                -
Tennessee                           33                 -                 6               -                27
Texas                               69         23,225,000                       -                         -
Utah                               13                  -                 7               -                 6
Vermont                              1                 -                 1               -                -
Virgin Islands                       2                 -                -                -                 2
Washington                          13                 -                -                -                -
West Virginia                       17             52,322                6           24,739               11            27,583
Wisconsin                          34             411,394                6           43,365               28           368,029
Totals                            996          36,117,532              135         520,366               605         5,903,168
*During 1986-1988 reporting period only; excludes kills due to natural causes when a breakout was possible.
- Not reported.
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.

                                                                                                                           115








Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns








                               uted to conventional pollut-    Ba           A                     Thirty-one States provided
                               ants than to toxic substances. Bathing    rea                    some information on the
                                                              Closures                        closure of bathing areas. In
                               * Leading causes of fish                                         13 States, no closures were
                               kills include biochemical         Information reported by        reported to have occurred; in
                               oxygen demand/low dissolved   the States on the closure of       the remaining 18 States, 224
                               oxygen, oil and gas, pesti-     bathing areas such as            beach closure incidents were
                               cides, ammonia and chlorine,   beaches and recreational          reported. Most of these clos-
                               temperature changes, and        lakes is extremely limited. As    ures were probably of short-
                               herbicides (Table 6-6).         for other types of informa-      term duration and are attrib-
                                                              tion in this section, beach     uted primarily to microbial
                               * The most commonly             closures are often the           pathogen indicators such as
                               reported sources of fish kills    responsibility of State health    fecal coliform bacteria,
                               are agriculture (in particular,    agencies and local govern-    which may indicate the
                               runoff from animal holding      ments (i.e., cities and coun-    presence of disease
                               areas and feed lots and appli-   ties) that may not coordinate    organisms from municipal
                               cation of fertilizers and       reporting with pollution         sewage treatment plants,
                               nutrients), spills, municipal   control agencies preparing       combined sewer overflows,
                               sewage treatment plants, and   the State Section 305(b)          urban runoff, and spills.
                               industrial dischargers (Table    reports. Thus, comprehensive
                               6-7).                           tallies of bathing area
                                                               closures are not yet available.

Table 6-6. Pollutants Associated with Fish Kills
                                          Number of States
Pollutant                                      Reporting
BOD/DO                                             19
Oil and Gas                                        14                    S'RRi
Pesticides                                         14
Ammonia                                            8
Chlorine                                           8
Temperature                                        8
Acidity                                            6
Inorganics                                         5
Nutrients                                          5
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.




Table 6-7. Sources Associated with Fish Kills                                                     ,             HA    ARD
                                           Number of States
Source                                         Reporting          !                     I f    ~l
Agriculture                                        24                      p~ c    be    i.  ry
Spills                                             17                        a h'tnee oi    n r 
Municipal Facilities                               16   ' Wate r.
Industry                                           13             d M        toinry Q jrilrtv 1-   li ltif   I bI It 
Land Disposal                                      6
 Urban Runoff                                       4  
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports. 
116














Ground-Water
Quality and
Protection





































Introduction






  Ground water is a vital      programs to address ground
natural resource that is with-   water.
drawn for drinking water,        Ground-water protection is
irrigation, industrial use, and    especially important because
livestock watering. In many    of the difficulty and expense
parts of the United States,    involved in cleaning up
ground water is the only       contaminated aquifers,
reliable source of water.      providing alternative water
Under certain geological       supplies, or adding treatment
conditions, ground water can   to public water systems. The
also be quite vulnerable to    States and Territories have
contamination. An increas-     identified a broad range of
ing number of pollution inci-    contaminants and contanm-
dents affecting both public    ination sources, such as
water supplies and private     underground storage tanks,
wells have been reported       septic systems, and landfills.
throughout the country.        Controlling these sources of
While in a majority of situa-  contamination has become a
tions only low levels of       central focus of State
contamination have been        ground-water protection
found, there are some local-    programs.
ities that have experienced      This section discusses
contamination above the        many of these State and
drinking water standards.      Territorial programs (e.g.,
As a result of a growing       ground-water protection
awareness of the important     strategies, Wellhead
nature of this resource and    Protection Programs, and
its vulnerability, many States   aquifer classification and
and Territories are develop-   mapping projects) and the
ing and expanding legisla-     contaminants and sources of
tion, regulations, and         contamination addressed by
                                                        119








Ground-Water Quality and Protection








                               these activities. In addition,  government has provided          In addition to the data
                               Federal activities to protect  grant money to the States to    from the State Section 305(b)
                               ground water are described     develop their water quality     reports, this section reports
                               in this section. However, this   programs. The States have,    supplemental ground-water
                               section is not intended to     in turn, been required to       use data from the U.S.
                               provide a summary of all       submit data and information    Geological Survey's 1984 and
                               State and Territorial ground    describing their State         1986 National Water
                               water-related activity.        programs under the Section      Summaries and Open File
                               Instead, it describes only     305(b) reporting process.       Report 88-112. Reports
                               certain State and Territorial    EPA requested that each       prepared by the U.S. EPA
                               programs in order to illus-    State and Territory provide     Office of Ground-Water
                               trate the scope of ongoing     information concerning its      Protection were also used in
                               activities. The absence of a   ground-water protection        the development of this
                               State description under one    program, the sources of        section.
                               or more of the section         ground-water contamination       This section summarizes
                               headings does not indicate     identified in the State, and   the following information:
                               that a particular State        the contaminants observed      ground-water withdrawals
                               program does not exist,        in the State's ground water.    and use, ground-water
                                 The Agency collected the     This chapter summarizes the    quality, State ground-water
                               information reported in this    data provided by 52 States     legislation and programs,
                               section primarily from 1988    and Territories and the         and Federal statutes and
                               State Section 305(b) reports.    District of Columbia; infor-  programs to protect ground
                               Under Section 106 of the       mation was not available for    water.
                               Clean Water Act, the Federal    two States and one Territory.
































 120








                                                                                     Ground-Water Quality

























                                              Ground-Water Quality






                                              Current                          ground water to provide ta
                                                                              domestic supply for less ta
                                              Ground-Water Use   25 percent of their
                                                                              population.
                                                                                In many parts of the
                                                Just over 50 percent of the    country, ground water is also
                                              Nation's population relies on    relied upon as a water source
                                              ground water as a source of      for uses other than domestic
                                              drinking water (U.S. Geologi-    supply: 68 percent of all
                                              cal Survey, 1986 National        ground-water withdrawals in
                                              Water Summary). Figure 7-1    the U.S. are used for irri-
t!   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~depicts the distribution of                                  gation; 13 percent are
                                              population served by ground    consumed by industry; and a
                                              water for domestic supply in    small percentage (less than 2
                                              the U.S. The importance of       percent) of withdrawals are
                                              good-quality ground water as   used for watering livestock.
                                              a drinking water source is      In the East and South,
                                              illustrated by the heavy        ground-water withdrawals
                                              reliance on ground water in     are largely used for industrial
                                              all regions of the country. In  and domestic purposes. In
                                              12 States and Thrritories       the West, most ground water
                                              (hereafter referred to as       is withdrawn for irrigation.
                                              States), ground water             In 1985, ground-water
                                              supplies drinking water for      withdrawals in the U.S.
                                              greater than 75 percent of       totaled approximately 76
                                              the population. The vast        billion gallons per day. As
                                              majority of the Nation's rural    shown in Figure 7-2, these
                                              population relies on potable    withdrawals are concen-
                                              ground-water sources to          trated in a limited number of
                                              provide water for domestic       States. California and Th-xas
                                              use. Only five States rely on   both withdraw greater than
                                                                                                       121








Ground-Water Quality









                               10 billion gallons per day and    Ground-Water                 can be vulnerable to
                               together account for approx-                                   contamination. At issue is
                               imately one-third of the        Quality                        keeping ground-water qual-
                               Nation's total withdrawals.                                    ity high so that costly
                               Five other States-Arizona,        The States are demon-        remedial actions are not
                               Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, and    strating a growing awareness   required.
                               Nebraska-each withdraw          and interest in ground-water     In an effort to protect and
                               more than 4 billion gallons of   quality. Nine States reported   maintain their resources,
                               ground water per day. These    that their ground-water         many States are engaging in
                               seven States use ground         quality is excellent, and      studies to better understand
                               water primarily for irrigation    17 States reported generally    the quality of their ground
                               and are responsible for two-    good quality. The remaining    water, identify potential
                               thirds of the Nation's ground-   States did not express a      sources of contamination,
                               water withdrawals.              judgment. The 1988 State       and determine the vulner-
                                 The national use of ground   Section 305(b) reports          ability of the resource to
                               water has grown signifi-       indicate that, overall, the     pollution. This section
                               cantly over the last 40 years.    quality of the Nation's      describes a number of these
                               Figure 7-3 illustrates the     ground water is quite good,     State studies and concludes
                               trend in ground-water with-    based on the testing that has   with a discussion of the
                               drawals from 33 billion        been done to date. Human        contamination sources and
                               gallons per day in 1950, to a    activity may occur in zones   ground-water contaminants
                               high of 82 billion gallons per    where ground water is with-    reported by the States.
                               day in 1980, and to approx-    drawn for public water
                               imately 76 billion gallons per   supply; under certain geolog-
                               day in 1985.                   ical conditions, these wells
























                                                                                  Puerto    Virgin
                                                 Samoa           Northern        Rico      Islands               50-74
                                                  w               Marianas                                     i 25-49
                                             Guam                 c"                                         m  10-24

                               Source: 1988 State 305(B) Water Quality Reports or 1986 USGS National Water Summary
                               Figure 7-1. Percentage of State and Territory Populations Served by Ground Water for
                                           Domestic Supply
122








                                                                                                  Ground-Water Quality









                                                                                           Ground-Water
                                                                                           Studies

                                                                                            Over 30 States reported
                                                     </,  .. -. ~ ~,               .'       conducting broad-ranging
                                                                .'~ ES~ L  ' {  /  A      ground-water quality studies,
                                                        -~  1l~lg ~             ....E .  - 20 v  2 ,hC ,  with an average of 1 to 3
                                                           _,a  i   r a   .    .  T    Ax   '  /  ',. ,~.~.,  studies by each State. A few
                                                                                          States have also begun
                                                     /'mffl ' l l.8  0    ? ,-H, "/ studying more innovative
                                                                                          approaches to ground-water
                                                                 iï¿½---.~~~~ . .   . . ?-,protection (e.g., aquifer
                                                                                          vulnerability and land use
                                                                                          studies).
                                                                     '~  `ï¿½    ?' .The most common types of
                                                                     !s ii! !i!!1   '/,assessments reported by the
                                                                                          States were ground-water
                                                                          se gen{>X-~,    ' d  quality studies. At least 10
                                                                                          States conducted both state-
                                                                    '   '~  Legend
                                                                        \ Million gallons per day   wide studies and more local-
                                                                              9,700-14,600    ized or regional studies;
                                                Puerto    Virgin         =   4,800-9,699   another 10 States conducted
                 Samoa           Northern        Rico     Islands         i   2,400-4,799    broad statewide sampling
                 GuMarianam                                                I ~" :arna  1,500-2,399
             Guam                                                              1,500-2,399 studies alone, and the
                                                                         I G  0-1,499
                                                                                          remaining 10 States
Source: 1988 State 305(b) Water Quality Reports or 1986 USGS National Water Summary.        conducted only localized
                                                                                          studies in response to
Figure 7-2. National Breakdown of Ground-Water Withdrawals                                  studies in response to
                                                                                          anticipated contamination
                                                                                          problems. The majority of
                                                                                          these studies involved moni-
                                                                                          toring programs aimed at
        90                                                                                  evaluating the impact of a
                                                                                          specific contaminant (e.g.,
        , 80                                                                                nitrate) or a contaminant
                                                                              a  /  _     source (e.g., septic tanks).
                                                                                            Statewide surveys are
      ï¿½ 70                                                                                  becoming more common as
                                               0                                           many States are seeking to
                                                                                          track their ambient ground-
      ai60 water quality. The Texas
      _,,                             /                                                     Water Development Board
        50  maintains a 5,800-well
                                          _U~~~~~~ I                                      ~~~~~~~ground-water quality moni-
                                                                                          toring network and analyzes
        B 40       0100/                                                                    water quality samples from
                                                                                          approximately 1,200 of those
        30 1                                                                                wells annually. Data from
                                                                                          these surveys will be main-
          1950     1955      1960       1965      1970    1975                              tained in the Texas Natural
                                                                                          Resource Information
                                           Year                                            System. New Jersey will
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-112.                                     sample 25 to 30 wells in 1988
Figure 7-3. National Use of Ground Water 1950-1985                                           in its ambient ground-water

                                                                                                                  123








Ground-Water Quality








                               quality network. New Jersey   pollution complaint investi-      Minnesota recently
                               will also intensively study    gations. The Virginia data     conducted a ground-water
                               40 to 45 additional wells in   base incorporated 301 new      survey designed to deter-
                               the northern portion of the    event reports during the       mine the extent of the
                               State. Florida is tracking     1988 reporting period,         problems caused by "normal"
                               ambient ground-water qual-       In many States, the focus    use of pesticides in pesticide-
                               ity in a statewide monitoring   of concern for ground-water    sensitive areas (i.e., pesticide
                               program.                       studies is on regional         use not associated with spills,
                                A number of the States       problems. In 1987, Kentucky    leaks, or mishandling). The
                               conducting ground-water        undertook studies of domes-    study was a cooperative
                               quality studies have estab-    tic well water quality in eight   effort by the Departments of
                               lished or are beginning to     counties. Well water was       Agriculture and Health. The
                               establish data bases to        analyzed for 81 constituents    Department of Agriculture
                               catalog ground-water data      including bacteria, pesti-     sampled ground water by
                               and known or suspected         cides, primary and secondary   using shallow observation
                               contamination incidents        drinking water constituents,    wells placed at the edge of
                               throughout the State. For      and priority pollutants. The   agricultural fields. The
                               example, Indiana has created   studies indicated isolated     Department of Health
                               a data base to track known     incidents of contamination,    focused on sampling public
                               incidents of ground-water      specifically high fecal        and private drinking water
                               contamination. This data       coliform bacteria levels,      supplies in rural areas. Of the
                               base currently contains 228      States have also reported    500 water well and drinking
                               case histories of ground-      agricultural activities as a   water samples collected, 38
                               water contamination. Of        regional source of concern,    percent had detectable levels
                               the 228 cases, 16 percent      and many studies have been    of one or more pesticides.
                               involved public water          initiated to investigate this  The State did not report the
                               systems. Florida is devel-     problem. For example, during   number of these samples
                               oping a data base to manip-    1986 and 1987, Kansas          that exceeded drinking water
                               ulate the data from its State    completed two phases of a    standards.
                               ground-water quality moni-     three-phase Farmstead Well       Connecticut recently spon-
                               toring program. New Mexico    Contamination Study. The        sored investigations of pesti-
                               has started work on a          study estimated the number    cides in groundwater and
                               ground-water/vadose zone       of farmstead wells in Kansas    detected concentrations of
                               contamination inventory.       contaminated by volatile        1,2-dichloroethylene,
                               Presently, there are over 850    organic compounds (VOCs),    atrazine, and metalochlor at
                               identified ground-water        inorganic compounds, or        several sites above State
                               contamination incidents in     pesticides and helped iden-    drinking water standards and
                               New Mexico, involving over    tify the factors contributing    EPA advisory levels.
                               1,000 documented wells. The   to such contamination. The        Salt-water intrusion has
                               inventory will include a       information gathered in        also become a local ground-
                               narrative abstract of each     Phases I and II will be used in   water quality problem in
                               situation and will have many    the third phase to develop an
                               variables available for cross-    educational program. The
                               referencing, including loca-   program will address ground-
                               tion, depth to ground water,    water contamination and its
                               aquifer, contaminants,         relationship to agricultural
                               contaminant concentrations,   practices, farmstead activi-
                               and monitoring dates.          ties, well construction, and
                               Virginia also maintains a data   well siting.
                               base to track ground-water





 124








r                                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ground-Water Quality








            many areas. The U.S. Geolog-    ethene, and Freon-113) were    preventing both short- and
            ical Survey has established a    found to exceed Arizona      long-term degradation of
            sampling network of 240        Department of Health           ground-water quality. Iowa is
            wells in New Jersey specif-    Services action levels. The    also investigating the use of
            ically to track saltwater      largest area of detectable     protection standards in its
            encroachment. Delaware and   VOC in ground water was          ground-water regulatory
            Maryland are conducting a      near a municipal landfill.     program and the impact of
            joint study on the prevention    In some instances, States     ground-water contamination
            of saltwater intrusion in their   examined specific sources of    on human health in the
            States. Virginia has also      contamination. Rhode Island   State.
            begun a saltwater intrusion    and Colorado conducted           Other unique activities
            study program.                 studies of the impact of       are being developed by the
              Other States assessed        surface impoundments on         States to support their
            ground-water quality, either    ground-water quality.          ground-water programs.
            regional or statewide, by      Washington investigated the    North Carolina developed a
            focusing on specific contain-    effect of 45 existing on-site  computer-based Ground
            inants. During the past 2      sewage systems on ground        Water Advisory system to
            years, North Dakota has        water and completed a study   assist the permitting staff in
            performed a nitrate screen     of agricultural chemicals in    evaluating the potential
            on over 4, 000 private well    ground water in 3 counties.     impact of waste disposal
            samples. Nitrate-nitrogen in    The agricultural chemicals     activities on ground-water
            excess of 2 mg/l was found in   survey sampled 81 welis in    quality. Minnesota has
            23 percent of the samples,     the 3 counties and found        initiated a project to assess
            and 11 percent of the          detectable levels of sampled    the relative susceptibility of
            samples exceeded the drink-    pesticides in 23 of the wells  ground water to contamina-
            ing water standard of          and nitrate levels above       tion in the State. Data from
            10 mg/I.                       health standards in 15 wells.    digitized base maps is being
              A few States combined        Washington did not report       combined and ranked to
            ground-water quality studies   whether the detected pesti-    highlight those areas of the
            with contamination source      cides exceeded health          State most vulnerable to
            investigations. As part of the    standards.                  contamination from land
            U.S. EPA-funded 205Q)           A few States have devel-      surface and near-surface
            program, Arizona examined    oped studies to assist in        activities. This program will
            the VOC content in ground      broadening the scope of        assist in setting priorities
            water surrounding the City    ground-water protection in      for Minnesota programs and
            of Mesa. Water samples were   their States. Studies include   raising public awareness of
            collected from 47 wells, and    assessments of current regu-    the vulnerability of ground
                     perhlooetylee, ichoro caesdevelopment of new          In addition to those studies
                                           approaches to ground-water     described above, the States
                                           protection regulation. The     also require routine monitor-
                                           New Mexico Environmental       ing of certain water wells to
                                           Improvement Division           assess ground-water quality
                                           conducted a study to deter-    (e.g., monitoring public
                                           mine the quantitative contri-    water supplies, testing
                                           bution of major chemical and    individual domestic wells,
                                           biological contaminants from    and monitoring at waste
                                           domestic septic tanks to       disposal unit boundaries). All
                                      -   ground water. The study         of these State studies are
                                      -    evaluated the adequacy of      geared toward understanding
                                           the State liquid waste regula-   or controlling the contamina-
                                           tions regarding lot size and   tion sources and contain-
                                        ~: disposal-field clearance in    inants described below.


                                                                                                    125








Ground-Water Quality








                               Overview of                     Figure 7-5 illustrates         top five source-, of concern.
                                                               these rankings. The most         In addition to the sources
                               Contamination                   frequently noted top priority   of contamination listed in
                               Sources                         concern was underground        Figures 7-4 and 7-5, the
                                                               storage tanks (ranked first    States identified other
                                 The States identified major   by 15 States). Abandoned       contaminant sources of
                               sources of ground-water         hazardous waste sites were     concern, such as hazardous
                               contamination in their          ranked as the top priority     material spills, mining waste,
                               Section 305(b) reports. The    concern by eight States,        abandoned and poorly con-
                               number of States identifying    while agricultural activity    structed wells, and above-
                               each of the sources as a        and septic tanks were each     ground tanks. The priority
                               priority of concern is indi-    identified as the top priority    rankings assigned to these
                               cated in Figure 7-4. Over half   concern by five States.       other contaminant sources
                               classified underground stor-     Underground storage tanks   are indicated in Figure 7-6.
                                age tanks, septic systems,     were most frequently identi-    Mining wastes, sewer leaks,
                                agricultural activities,        fied among the top five        cyanide heaps, construction,
                                municipal landfills, surface   contamination sources of        and manufacturing were
                                impoundments, and aban-        concern (ranked by 34           each identified by one State
                                doned hazardous waste sites    States). Twenty-five States     as its top priority source of
                                as major threats to ground-    characterized municipal         concern.
                                water quality. With very       landfills among the top five      The broad range of activi-
                                minor differences, these are    sources of concern, while 23    ties identified by the States
                                the same sources of concern    States ranked agricultural      as priority contaminant
                                reported in the 1986 State     activity among the top five.    sources indicate that ground-
                                Section 305(b) reports.        Abandoned hazardous waste    water protection from
                                  Many of the States           sites (ranked by 21 States)     unacceptable contamination
                                assigned a priority ranking to   and septic tanks (ranked by   requires controlling many
                                these contamination sources    20 States) ranked fourth and    different processes and
                                that reflects their level of   fifth, respectively, among the   waste management
                                concern about each source.                                     practices.
                                                        Source
                                                          Other    ttt>    es
                                              Salt and Brine Pits ~ 
                                                      Salt Water  v    -mm
                                                      Road Salt*se* 
                                                Land Application    sast
                                 Regulated Hazardous Waste Sites- iaise
                                                  Injection Wells      etse~n
                                                  Other Landfills
                                               Industrial Landfills
                                Abandoned Hazardous Waste Sites e~     ite         emsa
                                           Surface Impoundments
                                               Municipal Landfills     t t t*5
                                              Agricultural Activity  ttlt'
                                                    Septic Tanks'       ï¿½tttS~                                 
                                       Underground Storage Tanks OM* MMMiI. RMr~eae
                                                                0    5    10   15   20   25   30    35   40   45   50
                                                                                Number of States and Territories

                               Source: 1988 State Section 3051b1 reports.
                                 Figure 7-4. Frequency of Reported State and Territory Concern with Ground-Water
                                            Contamination Source
 126









                                                                                Ground-Water Quality









                           Sources
                      Road Salting                              .                           1st Priority
                 Industrial Landfills                                                       2nd Priority
                Salt Water Intrusion                                                         3rd Priority
                   Land Application                                                          4th Priority
  Regulated Hazardous Waste Sites                                                             5th Priority
                     Other Landfills
                     Injection Wells     ~ u'*"'7i-
             Oil and Gas Brine Pits '
                 Municipal Landfills    :
            Surface Impoundments            .    :::               I
                      Septic Tanks
                Agricultural Activity                  t:.       .
Abandoned Hazardous Waste Sites
        Underground Storage Tanks
                                    0        5        10       15       20        25       30       35
                                                    Number of States and Territories
Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.

Figure 7-5. Priority Ranking of Ground-Water Contamination Sources









                      Sources
          Municipal Wastewater                                                      1st Priority
                     Tankyards                          ,                          2nd Priority
             Agricultural Wells                          .3dri
                                                                               3rd Priority
                     Sink Holes .
        Fertilizer and Pesticides  ...--..                                     .- .  4th Priority
                   Waste Piles
                                                                            [] 5th Priority
                   Salt Storage                          .- -..,r:t
              Abandoned Wells ~::cc.`..  c:s        :
                  Urban Runoff
  Above-Ground Storage Tanks
                         Spills     :     :    .    .    ':.:
                      Feedlots  maw~
                 Manufacturing
                  Construction
                Cyanide Heaps
                  Sewer Leaks          ::::
                Mining Wastes . .........
                               0         1          2          3          4         5          6
                                                Number of States and Territories

Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
Figure 7-6. Priority Ranking of "Other" Ground-Water Contamination Sources

                                                                                                  127








Ground-Water Quality









                               Overview of                     earlier finding; the only       are responsible for that risk.
                               Contaminants                    exception is a reduction in     In 1986, 12.3 percent of the
                                                               the number of States report-    ground water-based systems,
                                 In addition to identifying    ing sewage problems in 1988.   serving 6.8 percent of the
                               sources of contamination,         In another approach to        population using these
                               the States identified the       assessing ground-water          systems, violated MCLs; in
                               contaminants they have          contamination and trends        1987, 11.1 percent of these
                               observed in their ground        across the United States, EPA   systems, serving 6.4 percent
                               water. Figure 7-7 presents      has used State data reported    of the population, violated
                               these ground-water contam-    to the Federal Reporting Data   MCLs.
                               inants of concern. As shown    System to analyze the degree
                                in the figure, more than half   to which ground water-based
                                of the States identified        water supply systems are
                                nitrates, pesticides, volatile  meeting all applicable Maxi-
                                organic compounds, petro-       mum Contaminant Levels
                                leum products, metals, and      (MCLs). EPA used this indi-
                                brine as contaminants of        cator to provide: information
                                concern. Other contaminants   on the number and propor-
                                reported by the States          tion of ground water-based
                                include bacteria, solvents,    public drinking water
                                acids, and tanning wastes.     systems meeting applicable
                                  In 1986, the States           MCLs and some indication of
                                reported sewage, nitrates,      the degree of risk posed by
                                synthetic organic chemicals,    those systems not meeting
                                volatile organics, brine/ the standards; the geographic
                                salinity, and metals to be the    distribution of that risk
                                most common ground-water    across States; and an indica-
                                contaminants. The current       tion and identification of the
                                reports generally parallel this  specific contaminants that


                                                    Contaminant
                                                  Other Inorganics       . ï¿½  ï¿½
                                                        Fluorides
                                                          Arsenic ~~ ~' ~
                                    Other Agricultural Contaminants .mm_ S'-    "     n
                                               Radioactive Material  *.-   ,'.t.t.iiN,
                                                 Coliform Bacteria  MSt g .       t.:
                                       Synthetic Organic Chemicals   .
                                                            Brine    - -  . .  ---e
                                                           Metals iintnnmS-a
                                               Petroleum Products   .:  -               '    .     .     SS.-
                                        Volatile Organic Compounds    snmmmmma,-m.
                                                        Pesticides am' ~'in  t     is'"m~         'n'n*t  ~
                                                          Nitrates*tittt   ttiti                      .       NS.4
                                                                 0     5    10    15    20    25    30    35    40    45
                                                                                Number of States and Territories
                                Source: 1988 State Section 305(b) reports.
                                 Figure 7-7. Number of States and Territories Reporting Ground-Water Contaminant as a
                                            Concern
 128

































Ground-Water

Protection Programs



State Programs                   Ground-Water
                               Protection Strategies
  The States are currently
engaged in a number of             At least 49 States and Terri-
ground-water protection          tories (hereafter referred to
activities to address con-       as States) have Ground-Water
taminants and sources of          Protection Strategies or are
contamination. These activ-      in the process of developing
ities include: adopting and      them. Many of the States
implementing ground-water        reported that they used
protection strategies; enact-    portions of their Section 106
ing ground-water legislation     grants under the Clean Water
to create comprehensive          Act to prepare their Strate-
ground-water protection          gies. These Strategies typi-
programs and develop             cally outline goals and
protection regulations,          objectives for addressing
standards, and special           ground-water problems;
controls for specific contain-    contain information on the
inant sources; adopting          nature and location of
wellhead protection and          ground water in the State;
ground-water classification      and describe legislative and
and mapping programs; and        regulatory programs to
establishing procedures to       protect groundwater and
better coordinate the            develop public interest and
ground-water management          support for protection
activities of State agencies.    activities. Many of these
                               State Strategies have also
                               been accompanied by



                                                       129









Ground-Water Protection Programs









                              changes in State laws or       the development of ground-    underground storage tank
                              regulations to bolster         water classification and       monitoring and remediation,
                              ground-water protection        discharge regulations for      and hazardous waste
                              activities. The following      regulating all discharges to   management. The Florida
                              section contains examples of    ground water; a proposed      Strategy also outlines State
                              the comprehensive legisla-     program to certify well pump   initiatives such as a ground-
                              tive and regulatory programs    installers and all non-water  water discharge permitting
                              that have been adopted by      well drillers in Kentucky; a   program, septic system regu-
                              many of the States to achieve   proposal to reform oil and gas  lations, and ground-water
                              the goals of their Strategies.    laws; and various funding   classification to create
                               In November 1987,            proposals to protect aquifers,   special aquifer protection
                              Kentucky published its         cleanup non-Federal aban-       areas. Florida is developing
                              Ground-Water Protection        doned hazardous waste sites,   water supply well location
                              Strategy. Kentucky describes    and expand ground-water       guidelines to control drilling
                              its Strategy as a working      research and data manage-       in known or suspected areas
                              document that announces        ment.                           of contamination. The
                              major new ground-water           The Florida Ground-Water    Florida Strategy describes an
                              initiatives. The foremost      Protection Strategy focuses     extensive ambient ground-
                              component of the Strategy is   on programs to control         water quality monitoring
                              the adoption of a ground-      ground-water contamination   network and a computerized
                              water protection goal to       and on plans to implement      data base to track water
                              maintain and protect the       ground-water monitoring        quality data. Florida even-
                              resource for its highest and   and data collection activities.  tually plans to use these data
                              best use, and to minimize or    The Florida Strategy outlines   to support the development
                              prevent ground-water degra-   a number of activities to       of a geographic information
                              dation. Program elements       protect ground water,          system to track expected
                              announced in the Strategy      including the implementa-      sources and areas of ground-
                              include: a proposed classifi-    tion of federally mandated   water contamination.
                              cation system equivalent to    programs such as under-
                              that proposed by U.S. EPA;     ground injection control,






















          C  WNorthborouqh, Massachusetts.

Ground-water planning map for130
Northborough, Massachusetts. a

130








                                                                                          Ground-Water Protection Programs








                                  Virginia has prepared a      amending ground-water            This legislation has led to
                                Ground-Water Protection        legislation and regulations.   the promulgation of regula-
                                Strategy that is overseen and    A sample of these legal and   tions that, in many States,
                                implemented by an inter-       regulatory activities are       stipulate controls for the
                                agency committee, the          described below.                management of specific
                                Groundwater Protection                                         sources of contamination and
                                Steering Committee. The        Ground-Water                   standards for ground-water
                                components of the strategy     Protection                     quality protection. These
                                include a Virginia pollution                                  standards may be used to
                                abatement permit program       Legislation,                   apply limits on the allowable
                                to control animal waste        Regulations, and               discharges from contamina-
                                lagoons, industrial waste      Standards                      tion sources or to set contain-
                                lagoons, and land application                                 inant targets or threshold
                                of sludge, as well as regula-    Although most of the         levels for ground-water
                                tions affecting underground    States have authority to       cleanup. Ground-water
                                storage tanks, landfills, and  develop ground-water            protection standards can
                                new well construction. The     protection programs under      involve either narrative
                                Virginia strategy also calls for   general clean water statutes,    descriptions of nondegrada-
                                ground-water data collection   over the past several years a    tion goals or numeric levels
                                and management and techni-   majority of the States have      that set allowable health-
                                cal training and educational    either passed legislation     based concentrations for
                                programs.                      designed specifically to       specific compounds in
                                  The Ground-Water Protec-    protect ground water, or         ground water.
                                tion Strategies described      have amended existing water
                                above generally form the       quality statutes to better
                                basis for ground-water         account for ground-water
                                quality control programs in    problems. At least 31 States
                                the States. To implement       have adopted specific
                                these protection activities,   ground-water protection
                                many States are adopting or    legislation.























A water treatment facility
in Florida.
                                                                                                                        131








Ground-Water Protection Programs








                                Portions of three State     ground-water supply in the     ments to control these
                              programs are summarized       State. Tob facilitate ground-  sources, especially within
                              briefly to illustrate the broad   water protection planning,  public water supply recharge
                              array of ground-water pro-    Arizona has adopted a          areas. Three State agencies
                              tection activities throughout   ground-water basin scheme.    have responsibilities under
                              the United States.            The basins are designed        the Act-the Department
                                Under the Arizona Envi-     primarily on the basis of local   of Energy and Natural
                              ronmental Quality Act of      physiography, surface drain-    Resources, the Department
                              1987, the Arizona Depart-     age patterns, subsurface      of Public Health, and the
                              ment of Environmental         geology, and aquifer charac-    Environmental Protection
                              Quality was given primary     teristics. Based on this       Agency. These responsi-
                              responsibility to protect     scheme, Arizona has identi-    bilities include a permit
                              aquifers supplying drinking    fled four "Active Manage-     program for noncommunity
                              water to the State. The Act   ment Areas" where ground-    wells, a ground-water
                              stipulates statewide monitor-   water supplies are imperiled.   protection planning program,
                              ing of ground water and soils   The State has developed      a ground-water data collec-
                              to detect contamination.      management plans to protect   tion and Automation
                              Monitoring requirements are   both ground-water quality      program, ground-water
                              also included in the public   and safe yields.              standards development, an
                              drinking water supply           Illinois enacted a Ground-   interagency coordinating
                              programs, hazardous waste     Water Protection Act in 1987    committee, a ground-water
                              management programs, and    that established a protection    protection needs assessment,
                              Federal and State "Super-     policy to prevent degradation   and community water well
                              fund" programs. The Arizona  and to preserve beneficial     surveys. Furthermore, the
                               Department of Water           uses of ground water. The      State Department of Energy
                               Resources and the U.S.        Act requires the State to      and Natural Resources is
                               Geological Survey have        identify sources of ground-    planning a considerable
                               primary responsibility to     water contamination and        research effort to implement
                               study and manage available    establish technical require-  the goals of the Act. This
                                                                                            effort includes water supply
                                                                                             recharge area mapping,
                                                                                             evaluation of the impact of
                                                                                            pesticide use on ground-
                                 Nw:, ~t:                        A                          water quality, a statewide
                                                                                             ground-water quality and
                                                                                             quantity assessment, and the
                                                                  ,2-D     1-D      2-c    creation of an automated
                                                                                   .    - : l||system to track ground-water
                                                                                             data.














 Display of a cross section of
 monitoring well locations.
132








                                                       Ground-Water Protection Programs








  South Dakota recently         The New Jersey Depart-         In addition to the controls
passed legislation mandating    ment of Ground-Water         the States have established
the development of State      Quality Management issues      on well-known sources of
wellhead protection guide-    ground-water discharge         ground-water contamination,
lines to be used by local     permits under the general      such as landfills and septic
governments in their          authority of the New Jersey    systems, other States and
program development           Discharge Elimination          'ITerritories have adopted
efforts. The program          System. Ground-water           specific controls on other
elements described in the     discharges that have been      minimally regulated sources
Governor's Centennial Envi-    or can be issued a permit     of contamination. For
ronmental Protection Act      include surface impound-       example, Puerto Rico
mirrors the elements in the   ments, infiltration/percola-   established an animal waste
Federal Safe Drinking Water    tion lagoons, landfills,      management system to help
Act. The State intends to     injection wells, spray irriga-    control contamination from
have these guidelines in      tion, overland flow, and land    animal runoff. Michigan
place by June 1989.           application of residuals for   requires storage permits and
 In addition to improved     hazardous and nonhazardous   pollution prevention plans
planning, monitoring activ-   wastes. Work involved in       for nonhazardous wastes.
ities, and specific source    permit issuance ranges from    Guam regularly monitors
controls (such as those       pre-application conferences    urban runoff collection
mandated under under-         and application reviews to     surface impoundments for
ground storage tank, under-    public notices and hearings.    pesticides and heavy metals.
ground injection control, and   All permitted facilities must
solid and hazardous waste     perform routine discharge      Wellhead Protection
regulations), a number of     and aquifer (upgradient and    Programs
States are also protecting    downgradient) monitoring.
their ground water through    Final permits are issued for    Since the reauthorization
the adoption of underground   5 years. New Jersey also       and amendment of the Safe
discharge permitting          conducts a review of other    Drinking Water Act in 1986,
programs. New Jersey's        permit requirements for        many States and local
program is described below.    potential ground-water       governments are actively
                              discharges. These reviews     moving to develop and
                              include industrial waste      implement Wellhead Protec-
                              management facilities, the    tion (WHP) Programs.
                              statewide sludge manage-      Section 1428 of the Act
                              ment program, and best        specifies that each State
                              management practices for      must prepare a WHP
                              stormwater and emergency      Program and submit it to
                              cleanup from major indus-     EPA by June 19, 1989. lTo
                              trial facilities. New Jersey  date there have been 30
                              is also revising its statute  submittals to EPA. EPA has
                              addressing "Standards for     provided States and local
                              Individual Subsurface Sew-    governments with extensive
                              age Disposal Systems." The    assistance in this area,
                              new standards will reflect    including technical assist-
                              current scientific knowledge    ance documents, workshops,
                              and engineering practices to   training sessions, and pilot
                              protect ground-water quality   projects.
                              and to reduce the frequency     The State summaries listed
                              of septic system malfunc-     below are representative of
                              tions.                        the types of WHP Programs




                                                                                     133








Ground-Water Protection Programs








                              being developed by the           Maine's ground-water         WHP work plan, with the
                               States and give a clear        protection program is coordi-   goal of having a program in
                               indication that many States    nated by the State Planning    place within 2 years. The
                               and local governments are      Office with technical assist-    State has also put together a
                               actively conducting specific    ance from the Department of   proposal for a GIS pilot
                               WHP activities.                Environmental Protection.      project that would comple-
                                 The Connecticut General      Together they are finalizing   ment various elements of an
                               Assembly has recently          the statewide ground-water     actual WHP Program. The
                               adopted the recommenda-        protection strategy. The       project includes mapping all
                               tions of a legislative task    WHP Program was drafted        public water supply wells/
                               force to begin an aquifer      for review by the State WHP    wellfields in the State,
                               protection program state-      Program workgroup. The         locating contaminant sources
                               wide. The State is requiring    program was published for     around those supplies, and
                               water companies to delineate  review in November 1988.        identifying alternate water
                               zones of contribution to      The resulting State WHP         supply sources for those
                               public water supplies and is    Program underwent public      communities using ground
                               also requiring towns to        review and was submitted to    water as their public water
                               create local boards to        the legislative session         supply source. Part of this
                               consider ground-water          (Winter-Spring 1989) and       project also involves devel-
                               protection. A legislative task   then to EPA.                 oping a ground-water flow/
                               force is developing recom-      The Missouri Department       transport model that can be
                               mendations on which land-      of Natural Resources           used by emergency response
                               use controls should be exer-    submitted a coordinated       personnel to track the
                               cised in the aquifer protec-   work plan for WHP activities   movement of a contaminant
                               tion areas. Connecticut has    in late 1988. The State then   spill from an identified
                               submitted a WHP Program to   began implementing the           source within a WHP
                               EPA.                           activities identified in the   Program, should such an
                                                                                              event occur.



                                                                     N~i..i if      PR ON    PROUGRAM





















Wellhead protection map for
Dade County, Florida.
 134








                                                                      Ground-Water Protection Programs








                 In New York, the responsi-    technical assistance to any   supply. Many of the State
               bilities for ground-water      municipality that wants to     classification programs are
               management and public          develop a WHP Program and,   designed to support the
               water supply protection are    to date, has completed two     application of ground-water
               divided between the New        such projects in the State.    quality standards. A few
               York State Department of       The Commission also has        examples are cited below.
               Environmental Conservation    proposed a Class V injection      Colorado's ground-water
               (NYSDEC) and the New York    well regulatory strategy that    classification program was
               State Department of Health,    would include participation    established under the State
               respectively. The NYSDEC       by local governments and       Water Quality Control Act.
               has been designated as the     would incorporate WHP. In      The State is planning to
               lead agency for developing     addition, Austin has enacted    classify its groundwater
               and implementing a state-      local regulations to protect   according to water use or
               wide WHP Program. The          several aquifer recharge       potential use and water
               State has submitted a WHP      areas. The Del Rio area        quality, to the extent that the
               Program to EPA.                has implemented a WHP          quality affects the appro-
                 The Te'bxas Water Commis-    Program designed to prevent    priate use of the water.
               sion has launched a program    contamination of an open       Based on the ground-water
               for local education and tech-    spring, which is the town's  classifications, the State will
               nical assistance on WHP. The    only water source. Texas has    apply numeric organic water
               Commission is conducting a     submitted a WHP Program to   quality standards on a site-
               series of seminars for local   EPA.                           specific basis. The State is
               officials and public water       Vermont is conducting a      also planning to adopt an
               system operators on the        joint pilot study between the   aquifer-based classification
               State's existing ground-water    Department of Health and     system because of the need
               protection programs and        the Department of Environ-    for a more resource-oriented
               what can be done on a local    mental Conservation to         approach. The Colorado
               level to protect ground water.   demonstrate the coordina-    Water Quality Control
               The Commission offers its      tion of inventories of Class V    Commission has promulgated
A free-flowing artesian well.                 underground injection wells    rules to implement basic
                                              with implementation of WHP   control regulations and
                                              plans in Vermont. A Source     intends to promulgate
                                              Protection Plan has been      numerical standards in the
                                              developed that will be incor-   fall of 1989.
                                              porated into the WHP            Hawaii is in the process
                         ï¿½~~e~~~ ~project. The Source Protec-               of mapping and classifying
                                              tion Plan addresses the iden-   ground water on all the
                                              tification and assessment of    islands using a methodology
                                              threats, along with the man-    created by the Water
                                              agement of the existing risk.   Resources Research Center at
                                              Vermont has submitted a       the University of Hawaii.
                                              WHP Program to EPA.           This methodology was
                                                                             derived using definitions for
                                              Ground-Water                   Class I, 11, and III ground
                                                                             water contained in EPA
                                              Classification and
                                                                             Draft Classification
                                              Statewide Mapping              Guidelines.
                                              Programs

                                                Over 40 States report
                                              active programs to classify
                                              the ground waters of the
                                              State or map vulnerable
   0 ï¿½~~~~~~~~~ ~'%~ ~:~ ;:sources of ground-water
                                                                                                     135









Ground-Water Protection Programs








                                       Coordination of        to develop a series of MOUs     tional capability to protect
                               Coordination of
                                                               between the agencies that       ground water is to strengthen
                               Protection Programs            have specific responsibilities    State programs. Accomplish-
                               Among State                    for ground-water protection.    ments over the last 4 years
                               Agencies                                                        include addressing major
                                                               Federal Ground-                 sources of contamination
                                 Sources of ground-water      Water Protection                 more comprehensively
                               contamination have histor-     Water Protection                 through stronger statutory
                               ically been regulated by       Programs                         authorities and EPA initia-
                               many different agencies                                         tives, and building States'
                               within the States. Coordi-       In recent years, the Federal    capabilities through more
                               nating the activities of these    government has joined the     effective and coordinated
                               agencies to ensure an effec-    States in their efforts to      use of resources for State
                               tive ground-water protection   protect the Nation's ground      grants, technical support,
                               program is a priority in at    water. The following sections    and research and
                               least 12 States.               briefly describe the Federal     development.
                                 The diffuse responsibilities    programs and laws that deal
                               for ground-water regulation    specifically with the control
                               typically found in the States    and study of contaminant       Ground-Water
                               is clearly illustrated by the   sources.                        Classification System
                               situation in Louisiana. Seven-
                               teen different agencies have                                      As a part of the EPA
                                a responsibility for various    Ground-Water                    Ground-Water Protection
                                aspects of ground-water         Protection Strategy             Strategy, EPA developed a
                                protection in Louisiana. Of                                     ground-water classification
                               the 17, the Department of         In 1984, EPA developed a      system, and EPA is now
                                Environmental Quality is the    Ground-Water Protection         developing additional guide-
                                lead agency for ground-water   Strategy that provides an        lines for performing site-by-
                                quality. To date, coordination   approach to integrating        site classification. Class I
                                between the agencies has        source-specific control and     ground waters are highly vul-
                                been primarily informal,        cleanup programs into a         nerable, irreplaceable as
                                However, on certain issues,     comprehensive policy and        sources of drinking water,
                                memoranda of under-             institutional framework for     or ecologically vital. These
                                standing (MOU) have been        protecting the resource.        receive the highest level of
                                developed. One major goal of     The Strategy recognizes        activity necessary to protect
                                the State's Ground-Water       that the most effective way      ground water. Current or
                                Protection Strategy will be     to increase national institu-   potential drinking water

















 s136e-
 136








                                                                                        Ground-Water Protection Programs








                               sources not meeting Class IGrudWtrDaSferikn
                               requirements are designated GrudWtrD a                         Sferikn
                               Class II ground waters. Class   Management                     Water Act (SDWA)
                               HII ground waters are those
                               ground waters that are not   ' lb better support Federal        The Safe Drinking Water
                               potential drinking water      and State ground-water          Act and its 1986 amendments
                               sources because of wide-      protection efforts, EPA has     created three programs to
                               spread human or natural       been working to improve         protect ground water.
                               contamination or insuffi-     ground-water data manage-
                               cient yield.                  ment requirements. As an        U The Underground
                                                              initial step in developing data   Injection Control Program
                                      National urvey forstandardization, EPA has            establishes technical criteria
                                      National  urvey for    developed a minimum set of    and standardsfoth
                                      Pesticies in Dinking data elements for ground         construction, operation,
                               Water Wells                    water and has convened a       monitoring, and testing of
                                        This Survey ~workgroup to develop defini-   wells to control the under-
                                     .hsSre is jointly       tions and formats for these    ground injection of wastes.
                              sponsored by EPA's Offices of  terms. Ground-water data       Many States reported enforc-
                              Drinking Water and Pesticide   accessibility will be addressed   ing their own underground
                              Programs. It is a national     by improving capabilities to   injection control programs.
                              statistical survey designed to   share information among
                              determine the presence of      programs and organizations.    U The Sole Source Aquifer
                              pesticide residues in two      EPA has also begun initia-     Program authorizes EPA to
                              distinct populations of drink-   tives, such as the study of  undertake a special review
                              ing water wells: public water   geographic information        of possible ground-water
                              system wells and private,      systems and improvements       impacts from federally
                              domestic drinking water        to the STORET system, to       funded projects in desig-
                              wells. Over 1,300 wells are    enhance ground-water data      nated areas that receive
                              being analyzed for over 100    analysis capabilities.         Federal financial assistance.
                              pesticides specifically          In addition to these EPA
                              selected for their propensity    programs, Federal statutes
                              to leach and their degrada-    mandate certain ground-
                              tion products. Each well will   water protection activities.
                              also be analyzed for nitrate.
                              The Survey is scheduled for
                              completion in 1990.


















Large public water supply well. 
                                                                                                                     137








Ground-Water Protection Programs







                               * The Wellhead Protection    U The Nonpoint Source
                               Program provides assistance   Control Strategies are
                               to States to develop programs   required from the States by    Conservation and
                               to protect the wellhead area    the 1987 CWA Amendments.    Recovery Act
                               of all public water systems    Under CWA Section 319,          (RCRA)
                               from ground-water contain-    States must describe strate-
                               inants that may adversely      gies to coordinate and            A number of programs
                               affect human health. EPA       implement best management   established under RCRA
                               has published guidelines to    practices; measures to          provide for ground-water
                               assist the States in devel-    control nonpoint sources;       protection and cleanup.
                               oping their Wellhead Protec-    and the nature of State and    These programs emphasize
                               tion Programs.                 local nonpoint source control   prevention of releases to
                                                              programs. In addition, under    ground water and other
                               Clean Water Act                Section 319(i), the EPA         environmental media through
                               (CWA)                          Administrator may make          management standards and
                                                              grants to States to conduct    cleanup requirements. Most
                                The Clean Water Act          ground-water quality protec-   States are currently manag-
                              authorizes two programs        tion activities that will       ing or developing new
                              directly relevant to ground-   advknce the State toward        programs derived from the
                              water protection. implementing a comprehen-                    following major sections of
                                                              sive nonpoint source pollu-     RCRA:
                               * The CWA Section 106          tion control program.
                               Grant Program supports                                         U Subtitle C-Hazardous
                               State programs to improve                                      Waste-requires design,
                               institutional capabilities                                     operating, and closure stand-
                               through the development of                                     ards for all hazardous waste
                               State ground-water protec-                                     treatment, storage, and
                               tion strategies.                                               disposal facilities. It also
                                                                                             requires post-closure care
                                                                                             and ground-water monitor-
                                                                                             ing for land disposal facilities.






















An irrigation canal in Arizona.
138








                                                                                       Ground-Water Protection Programs








                               * Subtitle D-Solid             protect or clean up contami-    Federal
                               Waste-requires minimum         nated ground water. Using its
                               national management stand-   emergency response authority  Insecticide,
                               ards for municipal solid       under "Superfund," EPA          Fungicide, and
                               waste landfills to be adopted    responds to releases of       Rodenticide Act
                               and implemented by States.    hazardous substances into        (FIFRA)
                                                              the environment, thereby
                               * Subtitle I-Underground   removing those hazardous              FIFRA protects ground
                               Storage 'lanks-requires        substances before they have     water indirectly by control-
                               EPA to develop a compre-       the opportunity to contami-     ling the use of pesticides
                               hensive program for manag-    nate ground water. In a          through registration and
                               ing certain categories of      Superfund remedial action,      certification procedures. EPA
                               underground storage tanks      EPA undertakes long-term        may deny registration for a
                               containing petroleum and       efforts to provide a perma-     pesticide if its normal use
                               chemical substances.           nent remedy to existing         will result in unreasonable
                                                              releases of hazardous wastes    adverse effects on the envi-
                                                      Comprehensive  that pose a serious, but not  ronment, including ground-
                                                              immediate, danger to public     water contamination.
                               Environmental                  health. Remedial actions
                               Response,                      often involve cleaning up
                               Compensation,                  contaminated ground water.
                               and Liability Act              The "Title III" Emergency
                               (CERCLA)                       Planning and Community
                                                              Right-to-Know Act (a free
                                                              standing act created as part
                                 CERCLA and the Super-         of SARA) requires industry
                               fund Amendments and            and Federal, State, and
                               Reauthorization Act of 1986    local governments to work
                               (SARA) created several         together in developing emer-
                               programs being operated by     gency plans, emergency
                               EPA and States that act to     release notification proce-
                                                              dures, "community right-to-
                                                              know" reporting, and toxic
                                                              chemical release reporting.






                                Or












Installation of underground fuel tanks.                        A Superfund site in Pennsylvania.
                                                                                                                      139














Water
Pollution
Control
Programs




































Introduction






 The Clean Water Act of        depending on pollutants
1972 determines the way the   typically discharged, treat-
Federal government and the    ment technologies available,
States regulate point and       etc., but are applied uni-
nonpoint sources of pollu-      formly to every facility in a
tion.                           regulated industrial category.
  The Clean Water Act (CWA)   Technology-based limits for
established two basic types     publicly owned treatment
of approaches for controlling    works provide for "second-
pollution from point sources:    ary treatment," as specified
the technology-based            in the Act. Technology-based
approach and the water          limits for industries and
quality-based approach.         municipal sewage treatment
 Technology-based controls      plants do not take into
consist of uniform, EPA-        consideration the condition
established standards of        of the water to which the
treatment that apply to cer-    effluent is dicharged.
tain industries and municipal     Water quality-based
sewage treatment facilities.    controls, on the other hand,
These effluent standards are    are based on the quality of
limits on the amounts of        the receiving water. This
pollutants that may be          approach relies on the use of
discharged to waterways.        water quality standards set
Limits for industries are       by the States and approved
derived from the technol-       by EPA. State water quality
ogies that are available for    standards consist of desig-
treating the effluent and       nated uses to be made of the
removing pollutants, and on     streams (e.g., fishing and
considerations of economic      swimming) and the criteria
achievability. These stand-     (or limits on pollutants)
ards vary by industry,          necessary to protect those
                                                         143









Water Pollution Control Programs









                              uses. Individual discharge       The CWA provides the         generally administered at the
                              requirements are based on      impetus for nonpoint source    local or State level.
                              the effluent quality that is   controls but does not provide    Programs to control point
                              needed to ensure compliance   direct authorities to regulate    and nonpoint source pollu-
                              with the water quality stand-   these sources. Water quality    tion will be discussed in more
                              ards. The water quality-       standards must be developed    detail below, along with
                              based approach is used to      for all waters of the U.S.,    obstacles to their implemen-
                              develop stricter effluent      and these standards are to     tation, successes achieved,
                              limits where technology-       be attained regardless of      and new initiatives for the
                              based controls will not be     the sources of pollution.      future. Further information
                              stringent enough to ensure     However, nonpoint source       on programs specific to lakes,
                              that waters can support their   pollution is difficult to     estuaries, coastal waters, and
                               uses. EPA's point source regu-   control because of its diffuse,   wetlands, can be found in
                               latory approach may there-     episodic nature. To address    Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5.
                               fore be characterized as one    nonpoint sources, State and
                               in which technology-based      local governments develop
                               controls provide a baseline    control programs that are
                               level of surface water pollu-    sometimes regulatory but for
                               tion requirements, and water   the most part encourage
                               quality-based controls         voluntary actions, with
                               provide regulatory supple-     incentives and technical
                               ments to deal with environ-    support provided by a
                               mental "hot spots," critical   number of State and Federal
                               habitats, and otherwise        agencies. Nonpoint pollution
                               sensitive waters.              controls are often applied on
                                                               a case-by-case basis and are




























 Water-quality standards must
 be developed for all waters of
 the U.S.
 144
















                                                                                                                      9















                                                                Point Source Control

                                                                Program



                                                                 The Water Quality Act of       each such point source.
                                                                1987 (WQA) reinforced both       These individual control
                                                                the water quality- and tech-    strategies are National Pollut-
                                                                nology-based approaches to       ant Discharge Elimination
                                                                point source control, requir-    System (NPDES) permits
                                                                ing EPA to develop and           with new or more stringent
                                                                update technology-based          limits on the priority pollut-
                                                                standards and adding specific   ants of concern and with
                                                                direction as to how water        supporting documentation to
                                                                quality-based limits should      show that the permit limits
                                                                be used to achieve additional    will meet water quality
                                                                improvements. One of the         standards within the satis-
                                                                Act's primary emphases lay       factory timeframe. The
                                                                in strengthening the Nation's    general effect of Section
                                                                toxics control program.          304(1) is to immediately focus
                                                                                               national surface water
                               : 1   "                            Toxics Control                    quality protection programs
                                                                Toxics Control:                  on addressing known water
                                                                Section  304(I) of               quality problems due entirely
                                                                                               or substantially to point
                                                                C   ;-"the Clean Water           source discharges of Section
                                 -"  -1:"         ,              Act                               307(a) toxic pollutants.
                       Co b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~Controls for these pollutants
                                                  Nc      B      y 1 Z Bj;g i Section 304(1) of the CWA  must be established as soon
                                                                requires States to develop       as possible but no later than
                                                                lists of impaired waters,        the statutory time frames set
                                                                identify point sources and       forth in Section 304(1).
                                                                the amounts of pollutants          EPA has been implement-
                                                                they discharge causing toxic    ing control measures for all
               i2E F ~~~~a~~~cJ~~~~ ~impacts, and develop indi-                                       toxic pollutants as part of
.f i| -~ i~ i 8~ I~                                                  vidual control strategies for  its ongoing surface water
                                                                                                                         145








Point Source Control Program








                               program. Section 304(1)         preliminary listing activities
                               emphasizes the importance       or to refine preliminary lists,    Developing Control
                               of the water quality-based      States were asked to develop    Strategies
                               and technology-based            needed data quickly. EPA
                               approaches in protecting        asked States to report            Section 304(1) requires that
                               surface waters from the         preliminary lists of waters,    individual control strategies
                               priority toxic pollutants and    point sources, and amounts     (ICSs) be developed by
                               establishes a number of one-    by April 1, 1988, in their      February 4, 1989, to reduce
                               time requirements. After the   Section 305(b) reports. These    the discharge of toxic pollut-
                               Section 304(1) deadlines pass,   lists were then refined and    ants from each point source
                               EPA will continue identi-       expanded by the statutory       identified under Section
                               fying impaired waters and       deadline of February 4, 1989.   304(1)(1)(c).
                               controlling the discharge of      The immediate emphasis          These ICSs are to consist of
                               toxic and other pollutants      of Section 304(1) and the       effluent limitations under
                               through existing reporting,     national program for toxics     402 of the CWA. This is the
                                standards setting, and per-     control is for States and EPA   provision establishing the
                                mitting programs.               to address problems identi-     NPDES permit program.
                                                               fied through review of exist-    Therefore, to ensure com-
                                Identifying Impaired            ing and readily available       pliance with the 1992 dead-
                               Waters                          data. However, States and       line, each ICS is to consist of
                                                                EPA Regions will continue to    final enforceable NPDES
                                 In developing lists of        collect new water quality        permits, to the extent pos-
                               impaired waters, States used    data as an ongoing obligation   sible, and accompanying
                                a variety of available data     under the national program      documentation (i.e., fact
                                sources (including State        to ensure that changes in       sheets). Where a State
                                Section 305(b) reports). At a    water quality are identified   demonstrates that a final
                                minimum, dilution analyses      and any important gaps in       permit cannot be issued by
                                were conducted based on         existing data are filled to     February 4, 1989, a draft
                                existing or readily available   provide a reasonable basis for   permit and supporting docu-
                                data. Where data could be       identifying and addressing      mentation may be accepted
                                readily developed to complete  impaired waterbodies.            as an ICS. However, such a
























A lumber mill in California.
 146









                                                                                              Point Source Control Program









                                draft permit must be accom-    Results of 304(I) (as            as 1,745. States initially
                               panied by a schedule provid-    of June 1989)                   listed a total of 16,719 waters
                               ing for final issuance by no                                    and EPA added a total of 646
                                later than February 4, 1990,     As of June 9, 1989, the        for a national total of 17,365
                               and providing for compliance   EPA Regions had made             on the long list as of June 12,
                               with the limitations such      approval or disapproval          1989. The long list will be
                               that water quality standards    decisions on Section 304(1)     used for long-term planning
                               will be achieved by June       submissions from 55 States       and setting of priorities for
                                1992.                          and Territories.                 monitoring, total maximum
                                 Section 304(1)(2) requires     Nationwide, as of June 12,    daily load (TMDL) develop-
                               that EPA approve or dis-       1989, States had listed 495      ment, nonpoint source
                               approve the lists of waters    waterbodies as impaired          controls, and permit
                               and each ICS within 120 days   primarily by point source        revisions.
                               after the February 4, 1989,    discharges of Section 307(a)      Of the listed facilities con-
                               deadline for the submittal of   toxic pollutants. EPA added     tributing to toxic contam-
                               lists of waters and ICSs.      100 waters to these lists for   ination, about 240 are
                               Controls must achieve the      a total of 595. In addition,     municipal (such as sewage
                               applicable water quality       States indicated that 769        treatment plants and
                               standard within 3 years (no    point source discharges were    combined sewer overflows)
                               later than June 4, 1992).      primarily responsible for        and about 627 are industrial,
                               If the lists or ICSs are       impairing the quality of these    including 135 metal-finishing
                               disapproved, or if the State   waters, and EPA added 110       and manufacturing facilities,
                               fails to submit the required   point sources to this list for   94 pulp and paper mills,
                               lists or ICSs, EPA must, in    a total of 879.                 21 petroleum-refining
                               cooperation with the States,     The States were also           facilities, and 27 organic
                               develop these lists and ICSs   required to submit "long"        chemical and plastics and
                               within 1 year (June 4, 1990)    lists of all waters impaired by    synthetics plants. All other
                               and controls must ensure       any pollutant from either       industrial categories
                               that standards are met no      point or nonpoint sources.      numbered 20 or fewer facil-
                               later than 3 years thereafter    States' long lists of waters  ities. In addition, there are
                               (June 4, 1993).                ranged from zero to as many      12 Federal facilities on the
                                                                                               lists.
                                                                                                 EPA is providing public
                                                                                               notice and requesting
                                                                                               comment on the States' lists
                                                                                               and individual control strate-
                                                                                               gies that it disapproved. EPA
                                                                                               is also providing public
                                                                                               notice if a State did not
                                                                                               involve the public when it
                                                                                           was developing its lists and
                                                                                      s       individual control strategies.
                                                                                               EPA will consider public
                                                                                               comments and make its final
                                                                                               decisions no later than June
                                                                                               1990.





Setting a seine to trap and
evaluate a representative
sample of stream fauna.     '
                                                                                                                        147









Point Source Control Program









                               Treating Municipal
                                                               July 1, 1988, for eligible      project using a State priority
                               Wastewater                     plants, was established for     system that is based on water
                                                               the achievement of "second-    quality and public health
                                 Municipal treatment facil-    ary treatment," a level of     objectives; the development
                               ities receive wastewater from   treatment that removes at      of a detailed facilities plan
                               residential sources, as well as   least 85 percent of several  and project design; the distri-
                               from industry, ground-water    key conventional pollutants.    bution of Construction Grant
                               infiltration, and stormwater    If secondary treatment is      funds to States (based on an
                               runoff. The array of pollut-   not enough to meet water        allotment formula specified
                               ants that may be associated    quality standards, the Clean    by the CWA); and, finally, the
                               with these sources includes    Water Act mandates addi-        issuance of grants to fundable
                               suspended solids, organics,    tional treatment, as            high-priority projects.
                               heavy metals, nutrients,       necessary.                        These expenditures, along
                               acids, viruses, and bacteria.    Under the Clean Water         with funding from State and
                                 Adequate treatment of        Act, EPA is authorized to       local sources, have produced
                               municipal wastewater is        help municipalities solve       significant gains in municipal
                               important for the protection    their wastewater treatment     wastewater treatment. In
                               of the Nation's water          problems by providing grants    1972, 85 million people were
                               resources and public health.    (and now loans) for construc-    served by facilities providing
                               Without adequate treatment,   tion. For this purpose, $18      secondary treatment or
                               this pollution poses a poten-    billion was originally appro-  better. Today, 77 percent of
                               tially serious threat to fish  priated to the Construction     all facilities provide second-
                               and shellfish communities,     Grants program. Funding has    ary or advanced levels of
                               recreational opportunities,    continued since the initial     treatment for approximately
                               surface water drinking         appropriation, and the Fed-     144 million people. These
                               supplies, ground-water         eral investment in municipal    facilities process 84 percent
                               drinking supplies, and the     wastewater treatment is         of the Nation's wastewater.
                               general health and stability   approximately $50 billion to    Fewer than i percent of all
                               of many of the Nation's        date. Projects eligible for     facilities (serving about 1.5
                               streams, rivers, lakes, and    grant assistance include        million people) are currently
                               estuarine ecosystems.          wastewater treatment facil-    discharging raw sewage.
                                 The Clean Water Act          ities that provide secondary    Table 9-1 displays the
                                requires municipalities to     or advanced treatment,          improvements in treatment
                                achieve treatment levels       interceptor sewers, and         capabilities (by number of
                               based on technology            correction of infiltration/ facilities, design capacity,
                               performance. A July 1977       inflow problems in sewer        and population served) from
                                deadline, extended by the      systems. The grants process      1984 to 1988.
                                1981 CWA amendments to         includes the ranking of each      The States, in their 1988
                                                                                               Section 305(b) reports,
Table 9-1. Levels of Municipal Wastewater Treatment (1984-1988)                                provided some examples of
                                                                                               water quality improvements
                                                                        Population Served     due to municipal construc-
                    Number of Facilities     Design Capacity (MGD)          (millions)         tion and upgrading. For
Treatment Level   1984    1986    1988    1984    1986    1988    1984   1986   1988    example:
Raw                 202      149      118       -        -        -      1.3    1.6    1.5   * Alabamareportsthat
L.T. Secondary     2,617   2,112    1,789   6,510    5,529    5,030   33.7   28.8   26.5   since the enactment of the
Secondary          8,070   8,403    8,536  14,603   15,714   16,087   70.7  72.2   78.0   Clean Water Act, the State
GT. Secondary      2,965   3,115    3,412  13,874   14,373  15,488   59.5   54.9   65.7   has reduced the discharge of
No Discharge       1,726   1,762    1,854      938      973    1,034     5.5    5.7    6.1   primary-treated wastewater
                                                                                               from 65 million gallons per
Totals            15,580  15,541   15,709  35,925   36,589  37,639   170.7  163.2  177.8   day (MGD) to none and the
Source: U.S. EPA. 1988 Needs Survey Report to Congress.                                        volume of raw discharge
148









                                                                                          Point Source Control Program








                              from 2.5 MGD to none. A        and total suspended solids     pesaukee River collection
                              total of 112 public waste-     have decreased dramatically.   and treatment system as well
                              water treatment facilities                                    as the construction of facil-
                              have been constructed/ U Idaho reports that more              ities on tributaries to the
                              upgraded.                     than 30 State and EPA grant-   Merrimack. Completion of
                                                             assisted projects have been    the Hall Street facilities in
                              * The District of Columbia    completed in Idaho during       Concord has led to a resur-
                              reports on improvements       the 2-year reporting period.    gence in recreational interest
                              made to the Blue Plains        As a result, nearly 30,000     in the Merrimack River. New
                              sewage treatment plant, a     more people are now receiv-    facilities in Bennington,
                              large sewage treatment plant   ing full secondary treatment    Hillsborough, and Hopkinton
                              that contributes about 70     services. have significantly improved
                              percent of the municipally                                    the quality of the Contoocook
                              treated water directly         U Massachusetts reports        River.
                              entering the Potomac River. that significant segments of
                              Over the past 15 years,       the Assabet, Hoosic, Millers,    U In North Carolina, water
                              with assistance from the      Charles, and Merrimack          quality problems in the
                              Construction Grant program,   Rivers have improved            upper Deep River have been
                              Blue Plains has implemented   dramatically because of the     addressed by upgrading
                              several advanced treatment    construction of municipal       treatment facilities at four
                              measures to reduce biochem-   facilities.                     plants. A substantial reduc-
                              ical oxygen demand (BOD),                                     tion in the amount of oxygen-
                              suspended solids, phos-        U In New Hampshire, the        demanding substances being
                              phorus, and nitrogen loadings  Winnipesaukee River and        discharged to the River has
                              to the estuary. Although       most of the upper Merrimack    been noted, along with a
                              flows of wastewater have       River are now fishable/swim-   reduction in the toxicity of
                              increased since 1970,          mable because of the           these wastes. While some
                              loadings of nutrients, BOD,    construction of the Winni-

























A sewage treatment facility
with settling basins in
foreground.
                                                                                                                      149









Point Source Control Program









                               water quality problems         beaches, and shellfishing      larger facilities have
                               remain in portions of the      areas were reopened in         increased flow because they
                               river, a steady improvement    Warren.                        serve a larger percentage
                               can be seen in most areas.                                    of the population, and the
                               The greatest improvements      U Since 1972, Virginia has     population is growing.
                               were observed below the old   completed 149 Construction    However, since the newer
                               Jamestown sewage treat-       Grant projects at a total cost    plants provide a higher
                               ment plant (ceased discharge   of over $1 billion. These      degree of treatment, the
                               in 1984) and below the Ashe-   projects have extended treat-   actual quantities of pollut-
                               boro plant (upgraded in        ment to populations not        ants discharged have
                               1986).                        previously served by treat-     dropped.
                                                              ment facilities. As a result
                               * Rhode Island, reporting      of this construction activity,  Funding Needs for
                               on the results of recent       Virginia reports a general     Wastewater
                               sewage facility upgrades,      trend towards an increase in
                               notes that the upgrading of a   treated flow from municipal
                               facility in Westerly, Rhode    sewage treatment plants over     The Needs Survey, a
                               Island, coupled with sewer-    the past decade. Compared      biennial Report to Congress,
                               age works construction in      with 1976, the average state-   is the primary mechanism for
                               Stonington, Connecticut, has   wide aggregate flow of         assessing national waste-
                               resulted in the opening of     municipal wastewater has       water treatment needs.
                               shellfishing areas in Little   increased by about 46          Based on the latest survey,
                               Narrangansett Bay. The         percent. However, over the     $36.9 billion is needed for
                               upgrading of the Woonsocket   same period, the amount of      upgrading or constructing
                               plant has raised the Black-    BOD discharged from these      secondary wastewater treat-
                               stone River from a Class D to   facilities decreased by 45    ment facilities, correcting
                               a Class C stream, making it    percent, and the amount of     infiltration/inflow problems,
                               consistent with water quality   TSS discharged dropped by     or building new interceptor
                               goals. Improvements at the     about 47 percent. These        sewers. As shown in Table
                               Warren and Scarborough         changes are the result of      9-2, three other categories of
                               plants have improved bath-     construction of new treat-     projects are reported in the
                               ing water quality at nearby    ment facilities. The new,      Needs Survey-replacement



Table 9-2. Needs for Publicly Owned Wastewater Treatment
          Facilities (January 1988 Dollars, in Billions)
                                     Current      Design
                                       1988       Year 2008
Needs Category                        Needs        Needs
I   Secondary Treatment                $20.2        $26.8
II  Advanced Treatment                   3.9           5.0
lilA Infiltration/Inflow Correction      2.9           2.9
IIIB Replacement/Rehabilitation          3.7           3.7
IVA New Collector Sewers                10.9          13.8
IVB New Interceptor Sewers               9.9          14.9
V   Combined Sewer Overflow              16.4         16.4
Categories I-V                          67.9          83.5
Treatment Categories I and II           24.1          31.8
Categories 1, 11, lilA, and IVB         36.9          49.6
Source: U.S. EPA. 1988 Needs Survey Report to Congress.
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                                                             Point Source Control Program








and rehabilitation for sewers,   ï¿½ The population receiving     The 1987 Amendments to
new collector sewers, and      treatment or collection        the CWA will affect many
combined sewer overflows.      would increase by approx-      areas of wastewater treat-
These projects are typically    imately 40 percent.           ment. For example, in those
ineligible for Construction                                   areas where waters are not
Grants funding. However,       ï¿½ National treatment           meeting designated uses
because the Clean Water Act   capacity would increase by      because of toxicity, States
(CWA) allows a Governor to     approximately 20 percent.      are required to determine
use up to 20 percent of the                                   the extent to which munici-
State's Construction Grants    ï¿½ The number of facilities     pal facilities are contributing
allotment on these projects,    providing secondary treat-    to the problem. If they are
these needs are included.      ment or greater would          contributing, municipal facil-
Needs for these latter three    increase by 25 percent, while   ities will be required to
categories were $31 billion;   the number of facilities       develop control strategies to
thus, the aggregate for        providing less than second-    reduce or eliminate toxicity
meeting current wastewater    ary treatment would             to the greatest degree
treatment needs is $67.9       decrease by almost 100         possible.
billion.                       percent.                         Sludge, the residual
  "Design year needs"                                         material from the waste-
(current needs plus needs to    ï¿½ All facilities still        water treatment process, can
serve the population through   discharging raw sewage         also be a source of environ-
the year 2008) have also been   would be eliminated or        mental pollution. Approxi-
included in this table. Based    replaced.                    mately 7.6 million dry metric
on Needs Survey data, $83.5                                   tons of sludge are generated
billion is required to meet all   ï¿½ The removal of biochem-    by the municipal wastewater
needs for the population       ical oxygen demand and total   treatment process every year.
through the year 2008. A       suspended solids would         Pursuant to the 1987 Amend-
number of national benefits    increase by approximately      ments, EPA is required to
could result if all needs were    75 percent and 60 percent,  identify all toxic pollutants
met. For example:              respectively,                  of concern in sludge, set



























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                                numerical limits for each         Perhaps the most signifi-     Treating Industrial
                                pollutant, and establish        cant item in the Amend-         Wastewater
                                management practices.           ments relating to municipal
                                Standards for sludge use and    treatment was the provision       The Clean Water Act
                                disposal are to be imple-       creating a new financing        required EPA to establish
                                mented through permits. The   mechanism for municipal           uniform, nationally consist-
                                1987 Amendments also            wastewater treatment. In        ent effluent limitation
                               'direct EPA to impose condi-    order to transfer financial     guidelines for industrial
                                tions in sewage treatment       responsibility for wastewater   discharges. At this time, EPA
                                plant permits or take other     treatment from the Federal      has established Best Avail-
                                appropriate measures to         government to the States,       able Technology Econom-
                                protect public health and       Congress provided for the       ically Achievable (BAT) and
                                the environment from the        use of a State Revolving Fund   Best Conventional Pollutant
                                adverse effects of pollutants    (SRF) program as an alterna-    Control Technology (BCT)
                                in sewage sludge prior to the    tive to the Construction       guidelines for about 28
                                promulgation of the stand-      Grant program. Federal seed    industrial categories. EPA
                                ards for sludge use and         money will be appropriated      has also promulgated tech-
                                disposal.                       to the States to establish the    nology-based guidelines for
                                  The amendments also           loan program while the          approximately 15 additional
                                direct attention to storm-      Construction Grant program    secondary industries that
                                water management. A time-    is gradually being phased          represent Best Practicable
                                table was established for       out.                            Control Technology Cur-
                                EPA to develop regulations        Under the grant program,      rently Available (BPT) levels.
                                for issuing permits for: (1)    strict requirements limited     EPA is studying an additional
                                municipal stormwater            how money could be spent.       dozen industries for future
                                sources serving more than       Funding was directed            guideline development.
                                100,000 people and (2)          primarily toward upgrading        In addition to these
                                industrial stormwater           or constructing treatment       technology-based require-
                                sources.                        facilities, except for the      ments, in 1984 EPA issued a
                                                                Governor's 20 percent discre-   policy on the water quality-
                                                                tionary monies, which           based control of toxic pollut-
                                                                allowed funding for other       ants discharged by point
                                                                types of projects. The SRF      sources. In 1985, a technical
                                                                loan program provides States   guidance document was
                                                                with much more discretion in   issued to support the national
                                                                selecting projects for fund-    policy. Both the policy and
                                                                ing. States are now able to     guidance recommend using
                                                                finance projects they may       overall toxicity as a measure
                                                                consider to be of higher        of adverse water quality
                                                                priority, such as nonpoint      impact and as a regulatory
                                                            -   source, estuarine, combined      parameter. The use of toxic-
                                                                sewer overflow, or storm-       ity testing as a regulatory
                                                                 water control projects.         tool is a relatively new
                                                                Thirteen States had approved   concept, but, coupled with
                                                                 SRF programs in place as of
                                                                 January 1989.







                                                                 Stormwater runoff.
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                                                             Point Source Control Program









chemical testing for pollut-   Pretreatment                     Based on data reported by
ants that are hazards through                                 the control authorities, about
bioaccumulation, provides a      The goal of the National     13 percent of the SIUs are
powerful means of detecting    Pretreatment Program is to    significantly violating
and controlling toxic          protect municipal waste-       pretreatment requirements.
problems.                      water treatment plants and     This compares with a rate of
 States are making progress    the environment from damage  7 percent of the industrial
in developing the capability    that may occur When toxic or   majors in the NPDES
to assess and regulate toxic   hazardous wastes are           program that discharge
discharges using biological    discharged by industries into   directly to waterbodies. The
techniques. As of May 15,      a sewer system. This protec-    EPA has recently begun an
1989, 20 delegated States     tion is achieved by regulating   enforcement initiative
required effluent toxicity     the wastewater discharged to   because 47 percent of the
monitoring by dischargers.     municipal facilities from      sewage treatment facilities
Four States either required    industrial or nondomestic      are failing to implement the
toxicity testing in over half of  users. The principal responsi-   pretreatment program.
their major NPDES permits      bility for administering the     There are three types of
or had more than 50 permits    program lies with the munici-  pretreatment standards.
with testing requirements;     palities that, by virtue of the   Categorical pretreatment
489 permits included permit    size or environmental signif-   standards are developed for
limitations on effluent        icance of their treatment      specific industrial categories
toxicity; at least 496 major   works, must develop and        and are based on an assess-
permits required effluent      receive approval to operate    ment of available treatment
toxicity monitoring; and       local pretreatment programs.   technologies and economic
2,424 permits required          EPA and the States have       impact on the industry. EPA's
ambient field biological      begun evaluating municipal      1986 Report to Congress on
assessment.                    programs and have contin-      the Discharges of Hazardous
                               ued to enforce requirements    Wastes to Publicly Owned
                               for pretreatment among the    Treatment Works (the
                               estimated 50,000 significant    "Domestic Sewage Study")
                               industrial users (SIUs). Full    projected a 94-percent
                               implementation will signifi-    reduction in total metals
                               cantly reduce loading of      loadings to sewage treatment
                               metals and organic toxic      facilities after full implemen-
                               pollutants to municipal        tation of categorical pretreat-
                               facilities, thus providing     ment standards for 30 indus-
                               protection to publicly owned   trial categories.
                               treatment works and receiv-      National prohibited
                               ing streams.                   discharge standards forbid
                                 As of September 30, 1988,    certain types of discharges
                               1,429 local programs had       by any nondomestic sewage
                               been approved out of a total    system users, regardless of
                               of 1,481. Of those remaining,    whether or not these dis-
                               43 municipalities were         charges are covered by
                               recently identified and are    categorical pretreatment
                               on compliance schedules to     standards. Discharges that
                               develop local pretreatment     are prohibited include those
                               programs. Eight other sew-     that create a fire hazard,
                               age treatment facilities have    have a pH less than 5.0, are
                               been sued to develop approv-   solid or viscous enough to
                               able programs and implemen-   interfere with the operation
                               tation.


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Point Source Control Program








                              of the sewage treatment        ï¿½ In the early 1960s, fish     ï¿½ The City of Rockford,
                              facility, or are hotter than   kills occurred regularly in    Illinois, decreased levels of
                               104ï¿½ Fahrenheit.               Michigan's Grand River as the   cadmium, chromium, and
                                Local limits, the third type   result of cyanide and heavy  zinc in treated wastewater by
                              of pretreatment standard,      metals in the wastewater       more than 85 percent after
                               are established by sewage      discharged by the Grand        implementing local pretreat-
                              treatment facilities to address  Rapids sewage treatment      ment limits and national
                               site-specific conditions. Local   plant. Controls on industrial    categorical pretreatment
                               limits are numeric limitations   discharges of cyanide and    standards. Toxic metal
                               implementing the national      metals were implemented        concentrations in the nearby
                               prohibited discharge stand-    in 1969. Since that time,      Rock River declined by
                               ards. Where necessary to       concentrations of heavy        almost 50 percent.
                               achieve pretreatment objec-    metals have been reduced
                               tives, local limits are more   by over 90 percent in both       The continued implemen-
                               stringent than categorical     incoming and treated           tation of effective local
                               standards.                     wastewater.                    pretreatment programs will
                                 Pretreatment of toxic                                       achieve the environmental
                               wastes has produced signifi-    ï¿½ In the early 1970s, sewage   benefits envisioned by
                               cant improvements in envi-     sludge from Virginia's Hamp-   Congress. However, the task
                               ronmental quality, increased   ton Roads Sanitation District   of the pretreatment program
                               effectiveness of sewage        showed high metals levels     is far from complete. Such
                               treatment systems, and         because of industrial          items as revising and/or
                               reduced contamination of       discharges. The District       implementing EPA regula-
                               sewage sludge. Pretreatment   began its sanitation program    tions in response to recom-
                               has also reduced the poten-    in 1972. By 1985, the quality   mendations of the Pretreat-
                               tial for sewage collection     of the sludge from eight of    ment Implementation
                               system and treatment plant    nine treatment plants had       Review Task Force (PIRT) and
                               corrosion, explosions, and     improved enough to allow       the Domestic Sewage Study
                               worker hazards. For example:   land application.              (DSS), and following through




























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                                                                                             Point Source Control Program








                               with the National Enforce-       The National Enforcement    Permitting
                               ment Initiative still lie ahead.   Initiative has begun against
                                 The PIRT final rule was      sewage treatment facilities      During the early 1980s, the
                               promulgated on October 17,    that failed to adequately       rate of permit issuance feli
                                1988. The purposes of the      implement their approved       behind the rate of permit
                               PIRT revisions are to address    pretreatment programs. A     expiration, and large back-
                               deficiencies in the existing   schedule has been estab-       logs of unissued permits
                               pretreatment regulations,      lished to identify noncomply-   developed. Efforts to remedy
                               respond to the recommenda-    ing facilities and to initiate  these backlogs have been
                               tions of the PIRT Tahsk Force,    appropriate enforcement     largely successful. As'Thble
                               and make pretreatment regu-   action.                         9-3 illustrates, the backlog of
                               lations compatible with          EPA is expected to promul-   major unissued permits has
                               equivalent provisions of the   gate sludge standards by late   been brought down to about
                               NPDES regulations. The next    1991 for the safe and bene-    13 percent and the backlog of
                               task is to foster implementa-    ficial use of municipal sludge.   minors to about 32 percent.
                               tion of these new PIRT regu-    The application of increas-
                               lations in sewage treatment    ingly stringent discharge Cmlac n
                               plant pretreatment programs.   standards governing toxic                 ac        n
                                 On February 22, 1989, the    pollutants to municipal treat-   Enforcement
                               comment period closed on       ment plants is also expected.
                               the DSS regulatory revisions.    Where industrial or other      Despite examples of water
                               These revisions were           nondomestic wastes are         quality improvements asso-
                               designed to implement the      limiting a municipal treat-    ciated with the construction
                               recommendations of the         ment plant's sludge manage-    and upgrading of municipal
                               Domestic Sewage Study and      ment practices or compliance   sewage treatment plants,
                               ensure adequate control of     with its discharge permit, the   13 percent of major muni-
                               hazardous waste discharges     plant's pretreatment program   cipal facilities that have
                               to sewage treatment plants     will be the vehicle for achiev-   completed construction do
                               through Clean Water Act        ing the necessary pollutant    not meet the requirements
                               programs. EPA expects to       reductions.                    of their National Pollutant
                               promulgate the final rule-                                    Discharge Elimination
                               making in early 1990.                                         System permits. Industrial






Table 9-3. Status of Permit Issuance
                               Major                 Minor
                              Permits               Permits
Total Facilities*               6,986                51,089
EPA-issued:
Total                           2,405                11,768
Expired                          452                  6,163 2
Percent                           19                    52
State-issued:
Total                           4,581                39,321
Expired                          430                 10,267
Percent                            9                    26                           R
*Note: Totals do not include ill major and 4,308 minor "unknown" permits issued.
Source: Permit Compliance System, January 3, 1989.







Point Source Control Program








                              permittees have achieved a        Table 9-4 illustrates rates   The National
                              higher rate of compliance       of significant noncompliance,    Municipal Policy
                               and as of December 31, 1988,   based on statistics main-
                               only 7 percent of the           tained by EPA for the report-     Because of the generally
                               completed facilities are now    ing period of June 1984         poor municipal compliance
                               unable to meet their final      through September 1988. It      record, and because of
                               permit limits.                  is important to note that at    Congressional concern over
                                 EPA and the States are        the beginning of FY 1986, the   the performance of treat-
                               responsible for ensuring that    NPDES program modified its    ment plants built substan-
                               municipal and industrial        definition of significant       tially with Federal funds,
                               facilities comply with the      noncompliance to promote        EPA and the States devel-
                               terms of their discharge        greater consistency and         oped the National Municipal
                               permits. Currently, 39 States    clarify what quantifiable and   Policy (NMP) to address the
                               have approval to administer    qualitative violations needed    entire spectrum of municipal
                               their own NPDES programs.    to be reported by the States.    noncompliance. On January
                               EPA has the lead implemen-    This redefinition included a      23, 1984, the EPA Adminis-
                               tation responsibility in the    strict interpretation of the    trator signed the NMP into
                               remaining States. Along with   resolution of significant        effect. The NMP clarifies and
                               the States, EPA monitors        noncompliance and a stronger  emphasizes EPA's resolve to
                               discharger compliance with      emphasis on violations of       ensure that municipalities
                               permit limits. Facilities in    reporting requirements and      comply with the Clean Water
                               noncompliance are subject to   enforcement orders. As a         Act as quickly as possible,
                               Federal as well as State        result, rates of significant    regardless of whether Federal
                               enforcement action.             noncompliance increased         grant assistance is available
                                                               during FY 1986.                 for treatment facility
Table 9-4. National Composite Rates of Facilities in                                            construction.
          Significant Noncompliance (in percents)
Quarter Ending          Non-Municipals            Municipals
12/31/83                        8                     19
 3/31/84                       10                     20
 6/30/84                        6                     14
 9/30/84                        6                     13
12/31/84                        5                     12
 3/31/85                        5                     13
 6/30/85                        5                     10
 9/30/85                        5                      9
12/31/85*                       8                     14
 3/31186*                       8                     16
 6/30/86*                       8                     15 
 9/30/86*                       7                     14
12/31/86*                       7                     14
 3/31/87*                       8                     13
 6/30/87*                       9                     16
 9/30/87*                       7                     14
12/31/87*                       7                     14
 3/31/88*                       7                     16
 6/30/88*                       7                     14
 9/30/88*                       6                     12
*Reflects NPDES Rule Change.
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                                                                                              Point Source Control Program








                                 The NMP required EPA          The principles of the policy    New  Initiatives in
                               and the States to identify      have been adopted by States    Point Source
                               affected municipal facilities   and accepted in several court
                               and their construction needs    decisions as equitable and      Control
                               and to prepare individual       logical approaches to assess
                               facility action plans to bring  penalties for violations of     Toxicity Testing
                               these facilities into full      NPDES permit conditions.
                               statutory compliance by July      Results of NMP efforts          The States and EPA
                                1, 1988. After the NMP took     immediately following the       Regional offices are incorpo-
                               effect, EPA and the States      July 1, 1988, deadline are      rating toxicity limits and
                               identified about 1,500 major    displayed in Figure 9-1.        toxicity testing requirements
                               and over 2,000 minor facili-    Eighty-seven percent of all     into permits. When toxicity
                               ties that needed some           publicly owned sewage treat-   testing shows a permittee's
                               construction to meet require-   ment plants met the dead-       discharge contains toxicity at
                               ments. A major municipal        line. Eighty-nine percent       unacceptable levels, permit
                               sewage treatment facility is    of all majors came into         limitations and conditions
                               one that discharges one         compliance under the NMP,       require the permittee to
                               million gallons per day or      and 86 percent of all minors    reduce toxicity so that no
                               greater, or serves an equiva-   achieved compliance. This       unacceptable effects occur
                               lent population of 10,000.      represents increases in         instream.
                                 In February 1986, EPA         overall compliance of 28 and      Toxicity reduction evalua-
                               issued a revised Clean Water    7 percent for majors and        tions (TREs) are a way to
                               Act Penalty Policy for deter-   minors, respectively. EPA is    identify and implement
                               mining penalties that are       committed to continuing the   whatever actions are needed
                               appropriate for settlements.    drive for 100 percent           to reduce effluent toxicity
                                                                compliance for all facilities.    to the levels specified in the
                                                                  In the 1987 Water Quality    permit. TREs combine toxic-
                                                                Act amendments to the          ity testing, chemical analyses,
                                                                Clean Water Act, EPA was       source investigations, and
                           POTW                                given authority to seek         treatability studies to
                          (15Universe                          administrative penalties        determine either the actual
                                                                from violators of the Clean    causative agents of effluent
                                                                Water Act. EPA issued guid-    toxicity and/or the control
                                                                ance and delegated the         methods that will reduce
                                                                authority to the regional      effluent toxicity. EPA is
             Majors1                      Minors2               level in August 1987. The      currently documenting
             (3,731)                     (11,755)               first Administrative Penalty    successful TREs conducted
                                                                Order (APO) was issued in      by permittees, States, and
                                                               September 1987. Through        EPA researchers. Methods
                                                               January 1989, more than 175   and procedures for conduct-
                                                               APOs have been issued.         ing TREs are described in
       In      I   Out of          In           Out of         These orders have addressed   several EPA guidance
   Compliance3   Compliance    Compliance3   Compliance         many individual violations,    documents.
     (3,308)        (423)        (10,083)       (1,672)         such as spills or isolated       In addition, EPA's Permit
                                                                reporting violations, which    Writer's Guide to Water
  1 Majors are facilities serving 100,000 or more people or treating  had not been penalized in  Quality-Based Permitting
   1 million gallons of wastewater per day.                     the past. The APO is filling    for ibxic Pollutants urges the
  2Minors are facilities serving less than 10,000 people or treating  an important niche in the  use of an integrated toxics
   less than 1 million gallons of wastewater per day.           overall enforcement scheme.   control strategy with both
 3"In compliance" means that the facility does not meet criteria for
   listing under the Significant Noncompliance Regulation.

Figure 9-1. Status of Compliance for Municipal Facilities
           (July 1, 1988)
                                                                                                                         157








Point Source Control Program








                              whole effluent toxicity-based   Prior to the 1987 amend-     based on different methodol-
                              assessment procedures and     ments to the Clean Water       ogies and approaches.
                              pollutant-specific assessment   Act, the authorities and      Section 406 of the Water
                              procedures to uphold State    regulations related to the use   Quality Act of 1987, which
                              water quality standards.      and disposal of sewage         amends Section 405 of the
                                                              sludge were fragmented and    Clean Water Act, for the first
                              Sludge Management             did not provide States and     time sets forth a comprehen-
                                                              municipalities with adequate   sive program for reducing the
                                The need for effective      guidelines on which to base    environmental risks and
                              sludge management is          sludge management deci-        maximizing the beneficial
                              continuous and growing. In    sions. There was no single     uses of sludge. The program
                              the United States, the quan-    legislative approach or      is based on the development
                              tity of municipal sludge      framework for integrating      of technical requirements for
                              produced annually has         the various Federal laws to    sludge use and disposal, and
                               almost doubled since 1972.    ensure that sludge would be    the implementation of such
                               Municipalities currently      used or disposed of in a       requirements through
                               generate approximately 7.6    consistent or environmen-      permits.
                               million dry metric tons of    tally acceptable manner.        Pursuant to Section 405,
                               wastewater sludge per year,    While the Clean Water Act,    EPA is developing regula-
                               or approximately 32 kilo-     the Clean Air Act, the         tions for each of the major
                               grams per person per year.    Resource Conservation and      use and disposal options for
                               Improper sludge manage-       Recovery Act, the Marine       sewage sludge. These options
                               ment could lead to signifi-   Protection, Research and       include land application,
                               cant environmental degrada-   Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA),       incineration, landfilling,
                               tion of water, land, and air.  and the Toxic Substances      distribution and marketing,
                               Failure to properly dispose of   Control Act all regulate some   and surface disposal sites.
                               sludge could have impacts on   aspect of sludge manage-      EPA will ensure that these
                               ground water and wetlands,    ment, coverage is uneven,      regulations also comply with
                               as well as human health.      and the requirements are       other relevant statutes such






















The States and EPA are incor-
porating toxicity limits and
toxicity testing requirements 
into permits.                                                                             . -:
158









                                                                                            Point Source Control Program









                              as the Solid Waste Disposal     Combined Sewer                  develop statewide permit-
                              Act. The first set of regula-   Overflow Control                ting strategies by January 15,
                              tions, addressing 28 pollut-                                    1990, for the development
                              ants in sewage sludge, was        Large projects to mitigate    and implementation of
                              proposed in February 1989.      the water quality impacts of    measures to reduce pollutant
                              Development of a compre-        combined sewer overflow         discharges from CSOs.
                              hensive set of disposal option   (CSO) discharges have been
                              regulations will give the       undertaken in a number of
                              States and municipalities a     municipalities. However,        NPDES Stormwater
                              basis for making environ-       most CSO discharges are         Controls
                              mentally appropriate and        currently not addressed or
                              cost-effective sludge man-     are inadequately addressed         Since 1972, State and EPA
                              agement decisions.              in NPDES permits. In recog-     efforts under the NPDES
                                In May 1989, EPA promul-    nition of this, EPA issued the    program have traditionally
                              gated regulations for includ-    final National CSO Control     focused on controlling
                              ing sludge management           Strategy in August 1989. The    pollutant discharges from
                              conditions in NPDES permits   objectives of the strategy are    publicly owned treatment
                              and to issue sludge-only       to ensure that if CSO dis-       works (POTWs) and industrial
                              permits. These proposed         charges occur, they are only    process wastewaters. As
                              rules also outline the require-   as a result of wet weather; to    these sources of pollution
                              ments for State sludge         bring all wet weather CSO        came increasingly under
                              management programs that    discharge points into compli-    control, the need for control-
                              seek EPA approval to imple-    ance with the technology-        ling pollutants in stormwater
                              ment the new statutory         based requirements of the        point source discharges
                              requirements. In addition,     CWA and applicable State         became more critical to
                              regulations that address       water quality standards; and    efforts to achieve the goals of
                              sewage sludge disposal in      to minimize water quality,       the CWA. As reflected in this
                              municipal solid waste land-    aquatic biota, and human         report, stormwater discharges
                              fills were proposed in August   health impacts from wet         from a variety of sources,
                               1988 and are scheduled to be   weather overflows. The           including storm sewers
                              promulgated in December        National CSO Control Strat-      discharging urban runoff,
                               1989.                          egy calls upon States to         feedlot runoff, construction



















The need to control pollutants
in stormwater is becoming
more critical as other sources
come under control.
                                                                                                                        159









Point Source Control Program









                                site runoff, runoff from        populations of 100,000 or       EPA is required to issue
                                resource extraction activi-     more, and for stormwater        regulations by no later than
                                ties, and runoff from land      discharges associated with      October 1, 1992. These regu-
                                disposal sites are major        industrial activity. In the     lations are to designate
                                sources of use impairment.      December 1988 notice, EPA       additional stormwater
                                In addition, man-made storm-  proposed to address storm-        discharges to be regulated to
                                water drainage systems can     water discharges from a          protect water quality and
                                directly or indirectly cause    number of industrial sources,    establish a comprehensive
                                hydromodification impacts.     including manufacturing          program to regulate such
                                  Prior to enactment of the     facilities, mining activities,  designated sources, including
                                Water Quality Act of 1987      oil and gas facilities, certain  requirements for State
                                (WQA), EPA had promul-          construction activities, and    stormwater management
                                gated effluent guideline        land disposal sites that        programs.
                                limitations for stormwater      received hazardous and/or
                                discharges from a number of   industrial wastes. EPA is also
                                industrial categories, includ-    developing two stormwater
                                ing petroleum refineries,       reports to Congress. The first
                                certain mining activities, and   will identify stormwater
                                large feedlots. Section 405 of   discharges, and determine, to
                                the WQA established a time-    the maximum extent practi-
                                table and framework for EPA   cable, the nature and extent
                                to address other stormwater    of pollutants in such
                                discharges under the NPDES    discharges. The second study
                                program by adding Section      is for the purpose of estab-
                                402(p) to the CWA. On           lishing procedures and
                                December 7, 1988, EPA           methods to control storm-
                                proposed permit application    water discharges to the
                                requirements for discharges    extent necessary to mitigate
                                from municipal separate         impacts on water quality.
                                storm sewer systems serving    Based on the two studies,



























 160
















                                                                                                              10















                                                           Nonpoint Source

                                                           Control Program



                                                             Sections 208 and 303(d) of    late and control nonpoint
                                                           the Clean Water Act of 1972    sources, and are in the best
                                                           established the framework      position to weigh local needs
                                                           for addressing nonpoint        and conditions.
                                                           sources of pollution. Funds      Traditionally, then, EPA's
                                                           provided by EPA under          role has been to provide
                                                           Section 208 were used by       program guidance, technical
                                                           States and local planning      support, and limited funding
                                                           agencies to analyze the        to the States in their efforts
                                                           extent of nonpoint source      to manage and control non-
                                                           (NPS) pollution and develop    point sources. Various nation-
                                                           water quality management       wide programs begun in the
                                                           programs to control it. Best   late 1970s with EPA sponsor-
                                                           management practices were    ship or cooperation have had
                                                           evaluated, assessment          significant results, including
                                                           models and methods were        the Model Implementation
                                                           developed, and other types     Program, the Nationwide
                                                           of technical assistance were   Urban Runoff Program, and
                                                           made available to State and    the Rural Clean Water Pro-
                                                           local water quality managers.   gram (RCWP). These projects
                                                             In fact, under the Clean      were not comprehensive, but
                                                           Water Act, as amended,         did result in some successes.
                                                           States are granted primary     (See "References and
                                                           authority to prevent and       Further Reading" for a list
                                                           control nonpoint source        of reports summarizing the
                                                           pollution. Because of their     results of these projects.)
                                                           very nature, nonpoint source     Either as part of these
                                                           problems are diverse and       nationwide projects or in
                                                           site-specific; States are      addition to them, a number
                                                           closest to the problems, have    of States have made progress
_ Li~P -L~dPPYAR~r~P~    B]~-;P~s~PI~CIIL~iQ~~   the legal authority to regu-                in reducing the impacts of
                                                                                                                  161









Nonpoint Source Control Program








                              nonpoint sources in specific    mented the effectiveness of    in-lake water quality is
                              waters. Some highlights of     retention and detention        continuing to improve. Other
                              these State nonpoint source    areas for runoff and storm-    Clean Lakes Projects recently
                              activities are described       water control. In addition,    completed (Green Valley
                              below. other urban NPS controls,                              Lake, Iowa; Spiritwood Lake,
                                Urban NPS Control:           such as runoff and construc-    North Dakota; Panguitch
                              The City of Baltimore, with    tion ordinances, have been     Lake, Utah; Swan Lake,
                              assistance from EPA's Clean    demonstrated as effective in    Iowa; and Broadway Lake,
                              Lakes Program, retrofitted     the South Fork Rivanna         South Carolina) show water
                               existing stormwater deten-     Reservoir (Virginia), Lake     quality improvements as a
                               tion ponds for water quality    Ballinger (Washington), and   result of agricultural NPS
                               purposes. Initial analysis of  Devil's Lake (Oregon).         control activities.
                               the quality of the water        Agricultural NPS Control.       Several RCWP projects
                               entering and leaving the       Through the Clean Lakes        have documented water
                               modified basins indicates      Program, the Illinois Envi-    quality improvements asso-
                               that the retrofit design       ronmental Protection ciated with agricultural NPS
                               removes over 90 percent of     Agency, in cooperation with    management. These projects
                               all particulate material and   various Federal and State      include: Rock Creek, Idaho
                               between 30 and 40 percent      agencies, demonstrated the     (irrigated agriculture); Thylor
                               of total phosphorus. The low    effectiveness of watershed    Creek, Florida (dairy man-
                               cost of the modifications and   management in improving       agement); Tillamook Bay,
                               the high degree of sediment    the water quality in Lake      Oregon (dairy management);
                               removal make this project a    Le Aqua-Na. After imple-       Highland Silver Lake, Illinois
                               model for urban NPS control    mentation of all watershed     (soil erosion control); Prairie
                               projects.                      management activities, sedi-    Rose Lake, Iowa (soil erosion
                                 Other Clean Lakes projects,   ment yields fell 57 percent    control); and St. Albans Bay,
                               such as Lake Jackson (Flor-    from prerestoration levels.    Vermont (manure manage-
                               ida), Iroquois Lake (New       Continued monitoring of        ment).
                               York), and Lake Hopatcong      dissolved oxygen and visual
                               (New Jersey), have docu-       examinations indicate that


























 162








                                                        Nonpoint Source Control Program








 In-place Pollutants: The     anticipated yet have not       U Illinois enacted a 5-year,
State of Vermont, with assist-   been measured to date. For   $20 million component of the
ance from the Clean Lakes      example:                       "Build Illinois" program for
Program, successfully demon-                                  cost-sharing to enhance
strated the treatment of       U The Massachusetts            efforts to meet "T by 2000"
phosphorus-laden, hypolim-    transportation bond bill        goals established in 1985.
netic sediment with alum       authorizes $5 million for
and sodium aluminate to        stormwater runoff grants to    U Indiana established a
reduce internal phosphorus     cities and towns.              "T by 2000" program that
loading in Lake Morey. Two                                    included a lake enhancement
years of post-treatment        U The new Chesapeake Bay    component. The program is
monitoring documented          Agreement calls for a 40       funded from a dedicated tax
a reduction in total           percent reduction of           on tobacco.
phosphorus concentration       nitrogen and phosphorus
ranging from 50 to 75          loads to the Bay by the year   U Wisconsin adopted
percent from pretreatment      2000.                          legislation in 1988 that
concentrations. Dredging,                                     created regulatory authority
another technique that is      U Pennsylvania is promoting   for nonpoint source abate-
used to abate in-place         nutrient management tech-      ment associated with severe
pollutant problems, was        niques in 14 watersheds in     water quality problems.
successfully used in Clean     the Susquehanna River
Lakes projects in Lake         basin.                         U Wyoming initiated a
Lansing, Michigan, and Ada                                    contract to test the effective-
City Lake, Oklahoma.      a       North Carolina's Agricul-    ness of best management
 State Program Activities:    ture Cost Share Program        practices in controlling
In addition to those activities   provides $7 million per year  channel erosion from irri-
described above, States have    to share, with farmers, the   gated lands in the Ocean
initiated or continued many    costs of implementing best     Lake watershed.
activities for which water     management practices.
quality improvements are
























                                                                                       163









Nonpoint Source Control Program










                              The Water Quality    identify best management                 Revolving Fund (Section 603
                              Act of 1987                    practices (BMPs) for each      (c)(2)). Both the 1 percent
                                                              nonpoint source category or    reserve and 20 percent set-
                                Based upon lessons learned   particular nonpoint source;    aside depend upon Construc-
                              from past and ongoing Fed-     and the State and local        tion Grant funds that are not
                              eral and State NPS programs,   programs that would imple-     authorized for appropriation
                              Congress established a         ment controls. The Manage-     after fiscal year 1990.
                              .comprehensive framework       ment Program, covering a         In addition, as described in
                               for accelerated efforts to     4-year period, must identify    Chapter 9, the Water Quality
                               control NPS pollution. This    the following: actual BMPs to   Act of 1987 established new
                               framework was established      address the problems docu-     deadlines for the develop-
                               as part of the Water Quality    mented in the Assessment      ment of a permit program for
                               Act (WQA) Section 319          Report and programs to         stormwater discharges asso-
                               amendments of 1987. Major    implement the BMPs; sources   ciated with industrial activ-
                               new requirements for States    and proposed uses of all       ities and municipal separate
                              are that each State prepare    nonpoint source control        storm sewers. This new pro-
                               and submit to EPA, by          funding; and Federal           gram will be used to address
                               August 4, 1988, a nonpoint     programs and projects that     runoff from urban areas. The
                               source Assessment Report       States wish to review for      substantive requirements of
                               and Management Program.        consistency with their own     these programs are still being
                               The Assessment Report must   nonpoint source programs.        evaluated.
                               identify State waters that      The WQA provided several        Finally, EPA is required
                               will not attain or maintain    funding sources for imple-     to provide annual reports to
                               water quality standards        menting Section 319 Manage-   Congress on the States'
                               without additional nonpoint    ment Programs. Under           progress in controlling
                               source controls; the cate-     Section 319, the WQA           nonpoint source pollution.
                               gories of nonpoint sources or   authorizes a total of $400    At the end of the 4-year
                               particular nonpoint sources    million from fiscal year 1988    period provided by Congress
                               responsible; the process to   to 1991 to be used for imple-    for the States' initial Manage-
                                                              menting approved Manage-       ment Programs, EPA is
                                                              ment Programs. However, no    further required to recom-
                                                              Section 319 funds have been    mend programs (including
                                                              appropriated to date. In       enforcement) that are
                                                              addition, the WQA reserves     needed to control nonpoint
                                                              under Section 205(j)(5) an     sources sufficiently to attain
                                                              additional 1 percent of each    and maintain water quality
                                                              State's annual Construction    standards and the goals of
                                                              Grant allotment to be used     the Act.
                                                              to prepare the Assessment
                                                              Report and Management          The State Section
                                                              Program and to implement The State Section
                                                              the Management Program.        319 Reports
                                                              The WQA also makes imple-
                                                              mentation of approved           The NPS Assessment
                                                              nonpoint source Manage-        Reports and Management
                                                              ment Programs eligible for     Programs developed by the
                                                              funding under the Gover-       States under Section 319 are
                                                              nor's 20 percent discretion-   a critical element of EPA's
                                                              ary set-aside of the State's   national NPS program. They
                                                              annual Construction Grant      will be of great value in
                                                              allotment (Section 201(g)      providing direction for NPS
                                                              (1)(B)) and under the State    activities in the States,
                                                              Water Pollution Control        among other Federal agen-

164









                                                         Nonpoint Source Control Program








cies, and within EPA; identi-    of 1987. The 'hsk Force        4. Regulatory Programs-
fying NPS-related problems      established the following          Help States and local
in all media (air, surface      national NPS agenda goal:          governments improve
water, sediments, ground                                           their capability to develop
water) and assisting in           Tob protect and restore          their own regulatory
setting priorities and            designated uses of the           solutions.
targeting funds for their         Nation's waters by provid-
mitigation; identifying areas     ing strong leadership for     5. Good Science-Develop
requiring stormwater              the national nonpoint            the tools States and local
discharge permits; develop-       source program, and by           governments need to
ing management plans for          helping States and local         establish sound water
national priority areas such      governments overcome             quality-based programs
as the Great Lakes, Puget         barriers to successful           for NPS, particularly
Sound, and the Chesapeake         implementation of NPS            water quality criteria and
Bay; and expanding NPS            measures.                        monitoring protocols that
pollution control efforts to                                       are specifically designed
more fully address ground         Other Federal agencies,          to evaluate NPS controls.
water, wetlands, estuaries,     private interest groups, and
and coastal zones.              environmental groups were
                               invited to comment on an        New  Directions
The NPS Agenda    early draft of the NPS
                               agenda, and a widespread          As part of the new initia-
Task Force                     public comment period was        tives brought about by Sec-
                               held prior to deciding on the    tion 319, EPA's NPS program
  In 1988, EPA initiated an    final Agenda. The Agenda         will work with the Agency's
NPS Agenda Task Force to       focuses on the Section 319       monitoring programs to
lay out plans for its NPS      State NPS Management             develop and refine NPS
activities for FY89-93. The    Programs as the cornerstone    assessment, analysis, and
Thsk Force was created to      of the national NPS program.    quantification techniques.
explore new, creative, pro-    Approved by the EPA Admin-   EPA will also provide leader-
active approaches to imple-    istrator on January 18, 1989,    ship for State and local infor-
menting the NPS provisions    the Agenda includes the           mation/education programs
of the Water Quality Act        following general themes:       and define NPS research
                                                               needs. EPA will work with
                               1. PublicAwareness-Help         the States to develop ade-
                                  States and local govern-     quate water quality criteria
                                  ments raise the level of     for assessing NPS impacts
                                  public awareness about       and will work with various
                                  how NPS pollution affects   Federal agencies to identify
                                  water quality and their      where NPS concerns can be
                                  daily lives.                 addressed within their regu-
                                                               latory, financial assistance,
                               2. Successful Solutions-        and technical support
                                  Provide States and local     programs.
                                  governments with infor-
                                  mation on practical, feas-
                                  ible solutions to prevent
                                  or control NPS pollution.

                               3. Financial Forces and
                                  Incentives-Examine the
                                  economic forces that
                                  drive behavior causing
                                  the NPS problem.
                                                                                        165









Nonpoint Source Control Program









                               The President's                 restrictive regulation and      icals and ground-water con-
                               Water Quality                   sustains an economical and      tamination, and the exten-
                               Initiative                      safe supply of food and fiber.    sive degree of interagency
                                                                 The primary objectives        coordination, collaboration,
                                 President Bush recom-         of the multi-agency, multi-     and program integration
                               mended a new initiative for     disciplinary plan for this      required to successfully
                                enhancing water quality in      program are to: (1) determine    achieve its goals.
                                his 1990 budget proposal to     the precise nature of the         A total of eight principal
                                the Congress, presented on      relationship between agricul-   USDA Agencies and their
                                February 9, 1989. The Presi-    tural activities and ground-    cooperating State institu-
                                dent's initiative defines a     water quality, and (2) develop   tions and Agencies are col-
                                vigorous effort to protect      and facilitate the adoption of   laborating with EPA, the US
                                ground and surface water        technically and economically    Geological Survey, and the
                                from potential contamina-       effective agrichemical man-     National Oceanic and Atmos-
                                tion by agricultural chem-      agement and agricultural        pheric Administration in this
                                icals and wastes, especially    production strategies to        program.
                                pesticides and nutrients.       protect water quality.
                                  The primary goal of the         The plan has three major
                                Water Quality Program is to     integrated and interdepend-
                                provide farmers, ranchers,      ent functional components:
                                and foresters with the know-    (1) education and technical
                                ledge and technical means to   assistance; (2) research and
                                respond independently and       development; and (3) data
                                voluntarily in addressing       base development and eval-
                                on-farm environmental con-    uation.
                                cerns and related State           The Administration's Water
                                water-quality requirements.    Quality Program supplements
                                The Administration plans to    existing programs. Its distinc-
                                achieve this goal in a way      tion arises from its particular
                                that reduces the need for       focus on agricultural chem-


























 166















                                                     11















Surface Water

Monitoring



  EPA works with the States    characterization studies used
to monitor the quality of      by EPA to determine typical
surface waters in the U.S.     constituents of specific types
Under the Clean W ater Act,    of industrial dischargers.
States receive Federal grants
to conduct water monitoring    ï¿½ Ambient monitoring
activities and report the      involves all forms of monitor-
results of their assess-       ing conducted beyond the
ments to EPA. EPA, in turn,    immediate influence of a
provides monitoring guid-      discharge pipe. It can include
ance and technical support     water column, sediment, or
to the States and sponsors     biological sampling, and
special studies addressing     may be conducted through
issues of national concern.    networks of fixed stations,
  There are two main           special surveys, or statis-
approaches to water quality    tically designed special
monitoring:                    studies.

* Source monitoring             States most often use a
involves assessing the         combination of fixed station
composition of industrial      networks and intensive
or municipal effluents         surveys to conduct their
discharged into waterbodies,   ambient monitoring. At fixed
and of the mixing zone         stations, samples are repeat-
where effluents merge with    edly collected over time to
the receiving water. It may    provide an overview of water
be conducted through self-    quality conditions and trends
monitoring by dischargers,    at specific sites. Intensive
compliance sampling inspec-   surveys are more detailed
tions that check on discharger  studies of water quality,
self-monitoring, or effluent    sediments, and/or aquatic life
                                                       167








Surface Water Monitoring








                               at specific sites or in rela-   and identify problem waters;   management programs is
                               tively well-defined areas       (2) support the development    used to establish or revise
                               such as river basins. Special   of water quality manage-        designated use categories in
                               studies, such as EPA's Dioxin    ment priorities, plans, and    water quality standards,
                               Study, are most often one-      programs; and (3) evaluate      classify specific waterbodies
                               time surveys with a broad       the effectiveness of pollution   as to their assigned desig-
                               geographic coverage and a       control actions.                nated uses, develop site-
                               specific focus.                   Monitoring to characterize    specific or State-specific
                                 In addition, EPA encour-      water quality should identify   criteria to support desig-
                               ages States to supplement       whether or not waterbodies    nated uses, and provide site-
                               their water monitoring          meet EPA-approved water         specific data to develop
                               activities with evaluations     quality standards (criteria     wasteload allocations for
                               based on the best profes-       and designated uses) and the   permit limits and nonpoint
                               sionaljudgment of trained       fishable/swimmable goals of    source controls, or determine
                               personnel and data such as      the Clean Water Act. Ideally,    compliance with pollution
                                mathematical models, citizen   monitoring to characterize       control requirements. In
                                complaints, results of citizen    ambient water quality also    addition, ambient data and
                                monitoring, and surveys of      identifies specific pollutants,   discharger self-monitoring
                                fisheries personnel.            the sources of pollution, and    data may be used in develop-
                                                                any impacts such as fishing     ing priorities for control,
                                Goals of the Water    restrictions or fish kills.               regulation development, or
                                Monitoring                      Results of ambient water        additional monitoring.
                                                                quality monitoring are            Monitoring to evaluate the
                                Program                         reported to EPA via Section     effectiveness of pollution
                                                                305(b) and other provisions     control actions, while not
                                 The primary objectives        of the Clean Water Act          traditionally an emphasis in
                                of the surface water quality    (e.g., Sections 303(d), 319,    the water quality monitoring
                                monitoring program are to:      and 314).                       program, is becoming
                                (1) characterize the quality of   Monitoring conducted in       increasingly important. In
                                the Nation's water resources    support of water quality        general, this type of moni-

























 168








                                                                   Surface Water Monitoring








toring consists of "before-     may not be sufficiently         way into surface waters.
and-after" studies to docu-     extensive in some States.       Difficult to analyze toxico-
ment the effects of municipal   Finally, more effort must be    logically, their effects may be
construction or upgrades,       made to assess the ecological   influenced by site-specific
watershed monitoring to         health of our water resources   factors and exposure condi-
assess the effects of nonpoint   in order to adequately         tions, which in themselves
source management prac-         address nonpoint source-        are difficult to assess. Eco-
tices, or assessments of water   related problems and wet-      logical monitoring is often
quality problems at permitted   land preservation, as well as    limited by a shortage of
dischargers.                    more traditional concerns.      skilled personnel in State
                                  In part, these deficiencies   monitoring programs.
The Need  for                   stem from the cost and            Another reason that the
                                complexity of monitoring.       monitoring program has not
Change                          Nonpoint source loadings are   adequately addressed these
                                often episodic and unpredict-   issues is that monitoring has
  A number of concerns          able, and may vary from         been principally oriented
have been raised about the      long-term, low-level inputs     toward point source pollu-
methods, capabilities, and      to high-level, concentrated     tion problems. Historically,
direction of the surface        pulses. They may be asso-       States relied on periodic
water monitoring program.       ciated with toxic and           sampling of water column
For example, comparatively      nontoxic pollutants, as well    chemistry at fixed stations to
little monitoring is currently    as with stresses that States  characterize water quality,
aimed at detecting problems    have not traditionally           identify problem waters,
caused by diffuse sources of    addressed, such as habitat      and determine trends. Fixed
pollution such as agricultural   loss. Monitoring for toxic     station monitoring was
runoff, in part because they    substances is limited by the    generally designed to
are so difficult to identify.   high cost of laboratory         measure the impacts of local-
Similarly, monitoring for       analysis. In addition, a        ized point sources of pollu-
toxic substances in water,      bewildering array of toxic      tion and tended not to
fish tissues, and sediment      substances can make their       support conclusions about

























                                                                                          169








Surface Water Monitoring








                               upper watershed problems,       intensive surveys, many         for Change, evaluated the
                               assessment of habitat and       States have had to reduce       performance of the EPA and
                               ecological conditions, or       their number of fixed           State water quality monitor-
                               detection of episodic           stations.                       ing program.
                               problems. Further, most           Despite these problems,         The study identified
                               States are strongly oriented    the need for monitoring data    numerous deficiencies in the
                               toward measuring conven-        has never been greater. The     monitoring program and
                               tional pollutants such          Water Quality Act of 1987       recommended that EPA and
                               as oxygen-demanding             included new requirements       the States:
                               substances and nutrients,       for water quality informa-
                               and have only recently         tion, particularly on toxic      U Develop guidance on
                               begun to monitor for "prior-    substances and nonpoint         designing scientifically
                               ity pollutants" and use         sources. According to the       sound, cost-effective assess-
                               ecological assessment           Act, States were to identify    ment programs that make
                               methods.                        waters affected by these        use of new and emerging
                                 Surveys are also usually      problems and develop            approaches such as eco-
                               conducted to support point     control strategies or manage-   regions, volunteer monitor-
                               source control activities such   ment plans to address them.    ing, and biological moni-
                               as construction of waste-      New emphasis was also            toring methods to comple-
                               water treatment plants and     placed on increasing our         ment traditional water
                               permitting of major indus-     understanding of lakes and       chemistry techniques;
                               trial and municipal            estuarine/coastal waters.
                               dischargers. To a certain        At about the time of the       U Accelerate the develop-
                               extent, more intensive          passage of the Water Quality    ment and application of
                               surveys are now being          Act, EPA's Offices of Water      promising biological moni-
                               conducted to aid in defining    and Policy, Planning, and       toring techniques and
                               limits for toxic chemicals in  Evaluation issued a major        evaluate the role that
                               industrial discharges and to    study of the Agency's surface   biological methods should
                               support other point source     water monitoring activities. play in monitoring programs;
                               control decisions. However,     This study, Surface Water
                               in order to conduct more       Monitoring: A Framework




















 A recent EPA study recom-
 mended accelerated develop-
 ment of biological monitoring i
 methods.                     B
170








                                                                                                  Surface Water Monitoring








                                * Analyze the feasibility       the effectiveness of water      recommends monitoring
                                of requiring NPDES permit-    quality management actions,   approaches, and discusses
                                tees to conduct ambient         and promote the use of water   analytical methodologies
                                monitoring;                     data in decision-making.        appropriate to the assess-
                                                               Therefore, EPA has devel-       ment of nonpoint source
                                * Improve their ability to      oped a number of initiatives    pollution.
                                document progress in water    to implement the "frame-
                                pollution control;              work" recommendations.          U  EPA is also preparing a
                                                                                               guidance document on devel-
                                * Centrally coordinate EPA    ï¿½ EPA is organizing regular    oping volunteer monitoring
                                activities to integrate water-    national symposia to discuss    programs within State moni-
                                related data; and               technical and programmatic    toring programs. A second
                                                               surface water quality issues    guidance document and a
                                * Make existing monitoring    and build consensus between   videotape are being devel-
                               data more accessible and        States and the Federal          oped for volunteer lake
                               useful to water quality         government on ways to           monitoring programs.
                               managers.                       address them.
                                                                                               * EPA is developing
                               New  Water                      ï¿½ A Federal/State work-         national policy statements
                               Monitoring                     group has been established       on the role of ambient water
                                                               to develop revised program      quality information and on
                               Initiatives                     guidance for monitoring         the more specific topic of the
                                                               activities and develop a        use of ecological assessments
                                 EPA recognizes that           5-year framework to provide    and biocriteria.
                               implementing the recom-         support to State programs.
                               mendations made in the                                          ï¿½ EPA is exploring ways to
                               "framework for change"          ï¿½ EPA is developing a           use "indicators" of environ-
                               study will enhance State/       Nonpoint Source Monitoring    mental accomplishments to
                               EPA capabilities to charac-     and Evaluation Guide that       judge the effectiveness of its
                               terize problems, evaluate       outlines data needs,            programs.





















Indicators of environmental
accomplishments will help EPA ~
judge the effectiveness of 
pollution control programs.

                                                                                                                        171









Surface Water Monitoring








                              ï¿½ EPA has developed             workgroup will be estab-        ï¿½ EPA has conducted a
                              rapid ecological assessment     lished to develop recommen-    feasibility study on requiring
                              methods for wadeable            dations for these two issues.    NPDES permittees to conduct
                              streams. The methods manual                                     ambient monitoring and the
                              has been published, training    ï¿½ EPA has established the       feasibility of imposing permit
                              workshops are being held        Water Quality Data Systems      fees to fund monitoring.
                              throughout the U.S., and a      Steering Committee to advise   EPA is encouraging use of
                              training videotape is being     senior EPA management on        ambient monitoring in
                              developed.                      direction for all data systems    NPDES permits through
                                                              handling water quality infor-   program guidance.
                              * EPA has developed a           mation.
                              data system to manage water
                              quality assessment informa-    U  EPA has integrated            Outlook for Water
                              tion. This system, the Section   several separate CWA assess-    Quality Monitoring
                              305(b) Waterbody System,        ments pursuant to 303(d),
                              makes assessment informa-       319(a), and 314(a) with the       By developing and imple-
                              tion more accessible for        State Section 305(b) report-    menting these new initiatives
                              management decision-            ing process. These assess-      and continuing various
                              making. The system also         ments are to be coordinated     successful current monitor-
                              helps integrate the various     with each other, and EPA has   ing efforts, the monitoring
                              assessments that are often      proposed rules to combine       program is moving from a
                              developed by different          these assessments (especially   fragmented, reactive
                              agencies within the State.      303(d)) through the biennial    approach to one with
                                                              State Section 305(b) process.    forward-looking objectives
                               * EPA has initiated studies                                     and the ability to meet the
                              to examine methods used to      ï¿½ EPA is encouraging States   growing demand for ambient
                              determine designated use        to supplement water column    data. The ultimate goal is to
                              support and methods used to    chemical criteria with criteria  develop an integrated moni-
                              estimate total waters in a      for water column toxicity,      toring program that serves as
                              State. A Federal/State          sediment quality, habitat       an early warning system in
                                                              quality, and biological         detecting emerging problems;
                                                              quality.                        effectively integrates data
























172








                                                                   Surface Water Monitoring








from a variety of sources,        We have already made          provide valuable contribu-
agencies, and monitoring        progress toward this goal. For   tions to the assessment and
approaches; analyzes these      example, current monitoring    decisionmaking processes.
data and makes the data         programs such as EPA's Bio-       EPA is committed to
accessible to water quality     accumulation Study are at       continuing this progress by
managers at all levels of       the vanguard of efforts to      implementing the new initia-
government; evaluates the       characterize emerging toxic    tives resulting from the
effectiveness of control        contamination problems;         "framework for change"
programs and tells us where     State and EPA activities        study and helping States
we need to focus our pollu-     under Section 304(1) of the     meet the challenges of the
tion control resources; and     Water Quality Act to identify   water quality management
fosters a sense of public       waters with toxic impacts       issues they face. Forging a
ownership of our natural        have shown that data from       strong working partnership
resources by involving citi-    many sources can be success-   among Federal authorities,
zens in identifying problems    fully integrated; and many      State and local governments,
and working toward solu-        States have already demon-      and citizens is key to the
tions.                          strated that citizens can       success of this effort.







































                                                                                        173








Surface Water Monitoring

















                    ~ --   .~  The field of water pollution   spend on data collection and  Existing citizen monitoring
                              control has become increas-    analysis. In many areas of the   programs cover a broad
                              ingly complex. While the      country, citizen volunteers   spectrum of waterbody types
                              regulatory focus of the 1970s   have been mobilized to      and use volunteers to collect
                              was on controlling conven-    collect some of this much-    data on a wide variety of
                              tional pollutants from point    needed environmental data.    water quality parameters.
                              sources, most current           In May 1988, EPA and        The programs fulfill three
                              controls address conven-      Rhode Island Sea G      rant  overall monitoring objec-
                              tional and toxic pollutants   sponsored a workshop on the   tives: identification of long-
                              from point sources as well as   Role of Citizen Volunteers in   term water quality trends,
                              from less defined nonpoint    Environmental Monitoring.    studies of specific water
                              sources. These water quality    The participants in this    quality problems, and identi-
                              problems are harder to iden-    workshop identified approxi-  fication and resolution of
                              tify and controls are more    mately 37 active citizen   a cute water quality impair-
                              difficult to design and       monitoring programs that      ments.
                              implement. Environmental      collect environmental data.
                              managers are faced with       Of these, 22 are designed to  1. Monitoring to identify
                              increasing needs for moni-    collect surface water data       long-term wa ter quality
                              toring information and        The geographical distribution trends: These programs
                               decreasing resources to       of these programs is shown in    use volunteers to collect
                                                             Figure 11-.  water quality data at

















                             --' _  ~ . ~    ï¿½           | I               ~  No Program
      ~~                    \ ~.                                ; ~0 ,\ ' " '  State Managed
                                                       '"-I -   ~  ~ ~%. ~.~~.  ~Not State
                                                                               Managed





 Figure 11-1. States with Citizen Monitoring Programs (CMPs)                                  These programs use
174








                                                                                                  Surface Water Monitoring








                                   citizen volunteers to        raising the level of public      ï¿½ Insufficient funding:
                                   evaluate water quality       awareness, identifying NPS       Although citizen monitoring
                                   conditions in their local    problems, and evaluating the    is cost-effective, adequate
                                   areas and report on          effectiveness of controls. The    funding and management
                                   acute problems and           contribution of citizens is      support are needed.
                                   violations of water          especially significant since
                                   pollution control laws       citizens often have a local      ï¿½ Insufficient data sharing
                                   and regulations.             knowledge of water resources   and coordination: Citizen
                                                               and are familiar with stream    monitoring programs must
                                                               conditions before, during,      share data and techniques
                                An  Emerging Area    and after stream events; are    and coordinate their activ-
                                for Citizen                     familiar with land uses in       ities if they are to succeed.
                                   for Citizen                  their areas and can help
                                Involvement-                    identify specific sources of
                                Nonpoint Source    pollution; and have a vested   EPA Support of
                                Pollution                       interest in evaluating best     Citizen Monitoring
                                                               management practices and
                               Assessment                      monitoring their progress.        EPA is actively researching
                                                                                               existing citizen monitoring
                                 Nonpoint source pollution    Obstacles to                     programs. A guidance docu-
                               is primarily caused by land                 Monitoring    ment  directed at State
                               use and misuse. Since land      Citizen                         managers is being developed
                               use is generally controlled     Efforts                         to provide information on
                               at the local level, public                                      how to start and manage a
                               awareness of NPS problems         Citizen monitoring efforts    citizen monitoring program.
                               and their solution is consid-   have been very successful in    EPA will also be writing a
                               ered critical to effective NPS    many areas of the country.    methods manual for citizen-
                               management. Citizen moni-       However, a number of obsta-   based lake monitoring.
Volunteers measuring water      toring and involvement           cles remain to be overcome,     Citizen monitoring is a
clarity using a Secchi disk.    programs can greatly assist in   including the following:        central component of EPA's
                                                                                              National Estuary Program
                                                               * Professional distrust         and is also being incorpo-
                                                               of volunteer data: Many         rated into the nonpoint
                                                               water quality professionals     source program.
                                                               are skeptical about using         EPA has recognized the

                                                               evidence that volunteers can   toring programs and will be
                                                               collect scientifically credible    working to further integrate
                                                               data.                           these programs into its water
                                                                                              pollution control efforts. As
                                                               a Mismatchesbetween             citizen monitoring activities
                                l8; ~~~~   3~~~                information needs and the       grow in popularity through-
                                                               capabi   s of citizen volun-    out the U.S., EPA can and
                                                               teers: Managers of volunteer    will help encourage and
                                                               programs need to carefully      coordinate these programs to
                                                               select volunteers who can       maximize their benefits to
                                                              provide the type of infor-      State monitoring programs.
                                                               mation most likely to be
                                                              accepted and used.





                                                                                                                       175
















                                                  12















Costs and Benefits of

Pollution Control


  Section 305(b) of the Clean    of administering environ-
Water Act calls for States to   mental programs at the local,
provide estimates of the        State, and Federal levels.
economic and social costs       Therefore, more inclusive
necessary to achieve the        data, prepared by the U.S.
objectives of the Act. States   Department of Commerce's
are also requested to report    Bureau of Economic Analy-
on the economic and social      sis, are shown in Table 12-1.
benefits of these achieve-        Government capital
ments. This section draws       expenditures for water
upon information submitted      pollution control (primarily
by the States and additional    wastewater collection and
information collected by        treatment) peaked in the
other State and Federal         mid-1970s when the Federal
agencies that address the       government was heavily
costs and benefits of water     financing construction of
pollution control. sewage treatment facilities.
                              Since 1982, government
                              capital expenditures have
Costs                           begun to rise again as local
                              governments have sought
 In those instances where      to meet the deadlines for
cost information is presented    compliance with secondary
by States, most report the      wastewater treatment guide-
capital costs for wastewater    lines. Estimated government
treatment systems funded        expenditures on new capital
with State and Federal          rose to $7.7 billion in
grants. This information does    1986-an increase of $0.8
not include local and indus-    billion since 1984. The cost
trial expenditures for water    of maintaining the growing
pollution control or the costs
                                                       177









Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control








                                  stock of wastewater treat-          Expenditures on pollution       resource programs in 1986
                                  ment capital has contributed    control, defined here as the        are presented in Table 12-2.
                                  to the steady increase in         costs of private and govern-      The results have been sum-
                                  government operating and         ment research and develop-         marized according to the per
                                  maintenance expenditures         ment, and government regu-         capita expenditures for
                                  from $3.4 billion in 1972        lation and monitoring, have        water quality and quantity
                                  to $6.6 billion in 1986.          remained relatively constant    programs managed by States,
                                    Capital expenditures by         since 1972. Private industry      and the percentage of total
                                  private industry peaked a         expenses have accounted for    State funds allocated to
                                  few years earlier than did        50 to 60 percent of the total     these programs. The results
                                  government capital spending    research and development             indicate that State expenses
                                  in the 1970s, have continued    annual expenditures, the            for water quantity/quality
                                  to decline into the mid-1980s,   remainder being primarily          programs range from less
                                   but have leveled off at about    Federal research. Govern-          than $5 per capita to over
                                   $3.0 billion since 1983.          ment expenditures for             $15 per capita. The table
                                   Private industry operation        regulation and monitoring         suggests that there is no
                                   and maintenance expend-           were split 50-50 between          apparent relationship
                                   itures have risen at a rate       Federal and State/local in        between State expenditures
                                   comparable to that of             1983, but in 1986 State and       for water quantity/quality
                                   government expenditures,          local governments were bear-   programs and delegation of
                                   although at a slightly lower      ing 55 percent of these costs.    NPDES authority to States.
                                   aggregate level-from $2.7           The results of a survey of      States without NPDES
                                   billion in 1972 to $5.3 billion    State expenditures for envi-     authority do not tend to
                                   in 1986.                          ronmental and natural
 Table 12-1. Spending for Water Pollution Abatement and Control (billions of constant 1986 dollars)
                                         Pollution Abatement                                      Pollution Control
           Operation & Maintenance              Capital                                        Research    Regulation         Total
          Govern-  Indus-             Govern-  Indus-              Nonpoint       Total            &             &        Abatement
 Year      ment      trial   Other*    ment       trial    Other   Controls   Abatement  Development  Monitoring   & Control
 1972        3.4      2.7      0.2        8.1      3.7      2.3        2.1         22.6           0.4            0.4          23.3
 1973        3.8      3.1      0.3        8.5      4.1      2.4        2.4         24.5           0.5           0.5           25.4
 1974        3.9      3.1      0.5        9.5      3.8      1.9        1.9         24.6           0.4           0.6           25.6
 1975        4.0      3.3      0.6       10.6      4.8      1.5        1.6         26.2           0.4           0.6           27.2
 1976        4.3      3.7      0.5       11.0      5.2      1.6        1.7         28.1           0.4           0.6           29.0
 1977        4.8      4.1      0.5       11.0      5.0      1.8        1.1         28.3           0.4            0.7          29.4
 1978        5.2      4.3      0.6       11.9      4.9      2.2        1.8         30.7           0.4           0.7           31.8
 1979        5.4      4.6      0.6       11.5      4.5      2.0        1.8         30.5           0.4           0.7           31.5
 1980        5.5      4.5      0.3       10.5      4.2      1.7        1.6         28.3           0.4           0.7           29.4
 1981        5.8      4.6      0.2        8.1      3.7      1.5        1.4         25.3           0.4           0.7           26.3
 1982        6.1      4.4      0.3        7.2      3.5      1.5        1.4         24.3           0.4           0.6           25.3
 1983        6.1      4.7      0.5        6.2      3.0      1.7        1.2         23.5           0.3           0.4           24.3
 1984        6.0      4.9      0.5        6.9      3.0      2.0        1.3         24.6           0.3            0.4          25.3
 1985        6.0      5.0      0.7        7.1      2.9      2.0        1.2         25.0           0.3            0.5          25.8
 1986*       6.6      5.3      0.6        7.7      2.9      2.0        1.2         26.3           0.3           0.5           27.1
 Totals     76.9     62.3      6.9      135.8    59.2    28.0         23.6        392.8           5.4            8.6         406.8
   Consists largely of spending for private connections to public sewer systems.
  *Preliminary.
  Note: Pollution abatement and control expenditures cover: direct pollution abatement expenditures by industry, household, and governmental units for reduction of point
       and nonpoint source discharges; regulation and monitoring expenditures by government for activities that "stimulate and guide action to reduce pollutant emissions";
       and research and development expenditures to support abatement and increase the efficiency of regulation and monitoring.
  Source: Kit Farber and Gary Rutledge. "Pollution Abatement and Control Expenditures, 1983-1986:' Survey of Current Business, May 1988, p. 22.
  178









                                                             Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control








Table 12-2. Distribution of 1986 State Expenditures for Water Quantity/Quality Programs


                                 Percent of State Budget Allocated for Water Programs*
                       Less than 0.1%    0.1% to 0.2%           0.2% to 0.3%    Greater than 0.3%
Less than $5           Arkansas**           Georgia             Indiana             Pennsylvania
expended               Hawaii                Texas**            Oklahoma**          Nebraska
per capita                                   Ohio               Iowa
                                             Kentucky           Alabama
                                             S. Carolina        N. Carolina
                                             Minnesota          Kansas
                                             W. Virginia        Connecticut
                                             New York           Nevada
                                                                 Louisiana**

$5 to $10                                                       Colorado            Vermont
expended                                                         New Mexico**    Illinois
per capita                                                      Arizona**           Virginia
                                                                                    Maine**
                                                                                    Wyoming
                                                                                    Utah
                                                                                    Mississippi
                                                                                    Maryland
                                                                                    Tennessee
                                                                                    Florida**
                                                                                    Missouri
                                                                                    Washington
$10 to 15                                                                           Michigan
expended                                                                            N. Dakota
per capita
Greater than $15                                                                    Oregon
expended                                                                            Rhode Island
per capita                                                                          Massachusetts**
                                                                                    Idaho**
                                                                                    Delaware
                                                                                    New Hampshire**
                                                                                    New Jersey
                                                                                    Montana
                                                                                    California
                                                                                    Wisconsin
                                                                                    Alaska**
                                                                                    S. Dakota**
 *Expenses expressed as a percentage of total State expenditures for all services in 1986 fiscal year. Expenditures for water
  quality and quantity include drinking water, marine and coastal programs, watershed management districts, water quality, and
  water resources. Other categories may serve to improve water quality, but they were not included (e.g., mining reclamation,
  land management, soil conservation).
**States to which NPDES delegation had not been granted by 6130/86.
Source: Resource Guide to State Environmental Management. Council of State Governments: Center for the Environment and
       Natural Resources, 1988.




                                                                                                     179









 Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control








                                spend less on water quantity/ managed by States. Total          and benefits of water pollu-
                                 quality programs than do        current (1988) annual          tion control programs cannot
                                 States with NPDES authority.  expenditures are estimated       yet be made at the national
                                  As States assume a greater    to be $429 million for          level.
                                proportion of the regulation    all State water programs.         Selected local projects,
                                 and monitoring responsibility   Surface water quality           often involving a single or
                                and the many new require-       programs, which include         homogeneous class of pollu-
                                 ments of the 1986 Amend-        monitoring, permitting,        tion sources (e.g., wastewater
                                 ments to the Safe Drinking      enforcement, and other          treatment outflows, agricul-
                                 Water Act and the 1987          activities, cost $316 million.    tural runoff), constitute
                                 Amendments to the Clean         The remaining $113 million      the few instances where
                                 Water Act, the administra-      is spent to manage State        economic benefit-cost
                                 tive expense of their           drinking water programs.        analyses have been
                                 expanded water pollution        Ground-water resource          performed. While useful
                                 control programs will           protection programs occur       as a tool for aiding local
                                 increase greatly. A report      in both areas.                  decisionmakers on water
                                 prepared by EPA, using State      The incremental State         quality projects and demon-
                                 needs figures generated by      expenses of meeting new        strating methods of valuing
                                 the Association of State and    and expanded water program   environmental improve-
                                 Interstate Water Pollution      requirements as a result of     ments, these studies can only
                                 Control Administrators and      recent legislative amend-      serve as anecdotal evidence
                                 the Association of State        ments are projected to total    of the potential total
                                 Drinking Water Administra-    $559 million for the 3 years     economic benefits that have
                                 tors, estimated the costs       between 1988 and 1990          accrued as a result of past
                                 of operating State water        combined. The largest incre-   efforts to achieve the fish-
                                 programs in the wake of this    mental costs are projected      able and swimmable water
                                 new legislation. Table 12-3     for drinking water, ground     quality goals of national and
                                 provides an estimate of 1988    water, nonpoint sources,       State environmental legis-
                                 State water quality program    pretreatment, and control       lation.
                                 expenditures for activities     of toxic substances. In the few instances where
                                                                                                States reported on economic
                                                                 Benefits                       benefit-cost studies performed
                                                                                                to support a water quality
                                                                   Although economic costs       program, benefits were
                                                                 can be readily described,      shown to exceed the costs of
                                                                 calculating the economic       the program. Several States
                                                                 value of water quality         acknowledge that the grow-
                                                                 improvements presents a        ing sums of money spent on
                                                                 greater challenge to local,     pollution control have led to
                                                                 State, and Federal authori-    a greater demand for benefit-
                                                                 ties. Many States have          cost information. The incre-
                                                                 prepared descriptive infor-    mental costs of recent
                                                                 mation on chemical and         programs aimed at reducing
                                                                 biological improvements in      even greater amounts of
                                                                 water quality or reductions    water pollution loadings
                                                                 in physical pollutant loadings   carry a higher price tag than
                                                                 from industrial, municipal,    did efforts undertaken in the
                                                                 and nonpoint sources. Few      early 1970s. Furthermore,
                                                                 have chosen to translate       the shift in the burden from
                                                                 these changes into economic   Federal funding sources to
                                                                 values. As a result, compari-   State and local sources will
                                                                 sons of the economic costs     likely serve to promote the
C,

 180








                                                       Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control








Table 12-3. Distribution of State Water Quality Program Expenditures
            1988 and 1988-1990 Estimated Incremental Needs
            (millions 1988 dollars)
                                            States' Base          States' Incremental Needs:
Category                                   Program: 1988         Total for 1988-1990
Water Quality Management
Emergency Response                                    $ 10
Enforcement                                             43
Indians                                                  0
Monitoring/WLA                                          54
Nonpoint Sources                                         5
Permits 46
Pretreatment                                            10            NOTE: Breakdown
Program Management                                      30            into program categories
Sludge                                                   0            not available.
Stormwater                                               0
Wetlands                                                 0
Water Quality Planning                                  17
Water Quality Standard                                  10
Groundwater Strategy                                     8
ASIWPCA Additional*                                     70
Other**                                                 13
Subtotal Water Quality Management                      316                  289

Drinking Water
Public Water Systems                                    98                  158
Underground Injection                                   15                   23
Wellhead Protection                                      0                   89
Subtotal Drinking Water                                113                  270
Total Surface Water
and Drinking Water                                   $429                 $ 559
 *The Water Quality Management needs numbers are from the original EPA needs estimates. The "ASIWPCA Additional"
  number reflects ASIWPCA's estimate of the additional money States spent in the 1988 base program.
 "Other" includes various water pollution-related activities that do not fit into the above categories, such as shellfish protection,
  public participation, office automation, etc.
Source: "State Funding Study," EPA Office of Water, May 1989.









Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control









                               development and implemen-   ï¿½ In New York, several of         nonpoint control measures
                               tation of economic benefit     Lake Erie's tributaries now    individually would have had
                               valuation techniques.          have large runs of coho and    a benefit-cost ratio greater
                                 In their 1988 State Section    chinook salmon and steel-    than 1.0, but together they
                               305(b) reports, several States    head trout. Smallmouth bass   provided the necessary
                               cited water quality improve-    are now able to use these     improvements to water
                               ments that have been asso-     waters as spawning grounds.   quality conditions in St.
                               ciated with economic bene-    Improvements in these           Albans Bay.
                               fits. For example:             streams are attributed to
                                                              reductions in municipal        ï¿½ In West Virginia, the sport
                               * In Connecticut, the          sewage and food processing    fishing industry is recovering
                               Connecticut River has          wastes. Skaneateles Creek,     in the Ohio, Kanawha, and
                               enjoyed a resurgence in        once so polluted that fish     Monongahela Rivers. This
                               commercial and recreational    could not survive in its       improvement, in turn,
                               activities compared to condi-   waters, is now one of the     contributes to improvements
                               tions that persisted in the    prime trout streams in the     in other forms of water-
                               late 1960s. Hartford attracts    State. Similar success stories    based recreation such as
                               a larger number of tourists to   have helped contribute to    boating, water-skiing, and
                               its waterfront festivals since    the massive direct and      swimming. Mount Storm
                               providing municipal sewage    indirect impact of anglers      Lake's pH and its fishery
                               treatment to sources           on the economy.                have been enhanced at
                               discharging to the river,                                     minimal cost because of a
                               Excursion boats now operate   ï¿½ In Vermont, visitors to       permit variance granted to
                               on the river, and commercial    St. Albans Bay Park are now    the Virginia Electric Power
                               and sport salmon and shad      using the park for swimming    Company.
                               fisheries are returning. The   after a 10-year hiatus due to
                               quantity of shellfish harvested  poor water quality. The city's  These and other examples
                               in Long Island Sound has also   sewage treatment plant has    in the State Section 305(b)
                               increased in comparison with   been upgraded, and agri-       reports qualitatively docu-
                               1970 harvests.                cultural nonpoint source        ment water quality improve-
                                                               management practices are in   ments and enhanced uses of
                                                               use to control runoff. Result-   the Nation's waters. In time,
                                                               ant water quality improve-     States will be able to prepare
                                                               ments have increased           water quality assessments
                                                               bayfront property values,      that systematically address
                                                               enhanced recreational          the benefits and costs of
                                                               opportunities, and reduced     water quality improvements.
                                                               maintenance costs to facil-    At that time, a more useful
                                                               ities relying on water from    national assessment of the
                                                               the lake. A study by the U.S.    economic benefits of water
                                                               Department of Agriculture's    quality programs can be
                                                               Agricultural Research          conducted. Until then, we
                                                               Service found that the         must rely on case studies and
                                                               quantified benefits exceeded   qualitative discussions of
                                                               the costs by a ratio of 1.3    water quality improvement
                                                               to 1. Neither point nor        to evaluate the merits of the
                                                                                              dollars spent on water pollu-
                                                                                              tion control.







 182








                                                     Costs and Benefits of Pollution Control








Washingtons Centenna Clean






 Some States have devel-       marine waters; prevention or   sales, formation and assess-
oped innovative programs to    reduction of ground-water        ment of Local Improvement
help finance the costs of       pollution; lake protection      Districts, fines and penalties,
water pollution control activ-   and restoration activities;    or a variety of other methods.
ities. An example of such a     control of nonpoint sources     Projects are rated based on
program is the State of Wash-   of pollution; public educa-     such factors as the serious-
ington's Centennial Clea n      tion; and innovative projects.   ness of the problem they are
Water Program. In 1986, the       The Centennial Clean          to address, local support for
State legislature created the    Water Fund forges a partner-    the project, and the nature of
Centennial Clean Water          ship between State and local    the project (i.e., preventive,
Fund, a sou rce of financial    government. The State           corrective, or both).
assistance-raised through a    provides financial assistance      Washington's Centennial
tax on tobacco products-for    and experienced guidance;        Clean Water Fund provides
waterpollution control          the recipient-usually a         an innovative, effective
projects. The legislature has   county, city, conservation      approach to the financing of
authorized $45 million p er     district or other political     pollution control activities.
year through 2021 to support   subdivision-administers the    By helping local communities
projects such as the construc-  proect and provides the         meet water quality, health,
tion of sewage treatment        "local match" (cash, labor,     and safety requirements, the
facilities and the reduction    and in-kind contributions).     State has taken a crucial step
of combined sewer overflows    The local share may be           in protecting its rivers, lakes,
or storwater discharges to      financed through taxes, bond    marine waters, and ground
                                                               water for current and future
                                                               generations.
















                                                        13
















State Recommendations





        In their 1988 reports,       bilities. For example, Louis-
      26 States and Territories iana writes:
      discussed recommended "New program require-
      program actions needed to        ments for the State such as
      make additional progress         the toxics program, Clean
      toward the Clean Water Act's     Lakes, and the nonpoint
      goal of fishable and swim-       source program will require
      mable waters. These recom-       a shift of limited resources
      mendations are often             from already critically
      expressed in terms of State      short areas. While it is
      objectives or continuing         agreed that such programs
      needs and cover a range of       are beneficial and needed,
      actions at the Congressional,    the decisions of where to
      Federal, State, and local        concentrate manpower and
      levels. These recommenda-        where to set priorities are
      tions are discussed below. It    extremely difficult. There
      should be emphasized that        have been increases in
      this discussion is restricted    grant conditions from the
      to the recommendations           Federal government and
      reported by the States them-     increased expectations
      selves in 1988 and does not      from the people of the
      attempt to assess their          State in the area of water
      merits. However, many of the     quality management as
      State recommendations for        public awareness has
      action also reflect EPA          increased. However, there
      program priorities.              has been little or no
       A theme common to almost       increase in funding and
      all State recommendations is     no increase in manpower
      insufficient funding to carry    resources. Increased
      out burgeoning State water       funding and expanded
      quality protection responsi-
                                                            185









State Recommendations








                               staffing will be necessary     tion, prevention, and control   proper operation and mainte-
                               in order for the State to      of nonpoint sources (NPS) of    nance of older sewage treat-
                                meet the demands and           pollution. Most commonly,       ment facilities. Several States
                                requirements being placed      States cite the need for        also recommend the use of
                                upon it."                      additional funding for NPS      State Revolving Loan Funds
                                 In general, State recom-      programs and the need for       to finance the construction
                               mendations fall into nine       better monitoring and assess-   of facilities as Federal/State
                               major categories. Ranked by     ment methods to detect NPS,   funding ends under the
                               the frequency with which        assess their impacts, and       Construction Grants program.
                               they are reported, these        determine the effectiveness    Another recommendation
                               categories are nonpoint         of NPS controls. Several        concerns the untreated
                               source abatement, water         States also indicated that      direct discharge of household
                               quality monitoring, municipal   they are in the process of      sewage in areas that are too
                               facilities, toxics identification   developing and refining     economically depressed to
                               and control, water quality      NPS Management Plans and    shoulder the cost-share
                               criteria and standards,         recommend that additional       burdens of the Construction
                               ground-water protection,        funds be made available to      Grants program. This can be
                               lake protection, data man-      carry out the goals of those    a significant water quality/
                                agement/coordination, and       plans.                          public health concern in
                                wetlands protection. Other        Water Quality Monitoring:   certain areas. EPA is urged to
                                topics less frequently cited    Beyond expressing a general    provide assistance to help
                                by the States include pre-      need to enhance water quality  meet these sewage treatment
                                treatment, permitting and       monitoring activities and the   needs.
                                enforcement, combined           evaluation of them to be          Identification and Control
                                sewer overflows, and sludge     certain they are providing      of Tbxic Substances: The
                                management.                     needed data, a common           States strongly recommend
                                 Nonpoint Source Abate-        theme of State monitoring       expanding efforts to gather
                                ment: Recommendations           recommendations was to          data on toxic pollutants and
                                most often cited by the         increase the emphasis on        to develop or implement
                                States concern the identifica-   biological monitoring.         State toxic control programs.
                                                                Specifically, States recom-    Specific recommendations
                                                                mended developing or adopt-   include more monitoring for
                                                                ing bioscreening techniques,    toxics in fish tissue; improve-
                                                                biotic indices, biosurvey       ment of Federal data bases
                                                                methodologies, bioassay        on toxic substances; estab-
                                                                techniques, and in-stream      lishment of an EPA clearing-
                                                                macroinvertebrate biomoni-    house for literature reviews
                                                                toring. Other monitoring       such as risk assessments
                                                                recommendations include        conducted by the States; and
                                                                seeking EPA and State          greater use of toxicity testing
                                                                support to expand toxics       results in establishing
                                                                monitoring programs,           effluent limitations.
                                                                increase long-term intensive      Water Quality Criteria
                                                                survey efforts, and study      and Standards: The States'
                                                                 cause/effect relationships in    ability to assess water quality
                                                                 the environment,               conditions depends heavily
                                                                  Municipal Facilities:         on criteria (limits) for specific
                                                                Continued funding for the       pollutants, established by the
                                                                maintenance, upgrade, and       States and approved by EPA.
                                                                construction of municipal       When these criteria are
                                                                sewage treatment facilities     violated, beneficial uses may
                                                                remains a leading recommen-   not be met. Together, the
                                                                dation of the States. Several   criteria and the uses they
z                                                    -          States cite problems with        protect form the State's
 186








                                                                  State Recommendations








water quality standards. A      ground-water data. Their        handle a wide range of water
number of States recommend   recommendations include            quality and program informa-
updating their standards by     the establishment of a          tion. A common State recom-
taking such actions as          national ground-water           mendation is to integrate and
adopting numerical criteria     research program; more          enhance these various data
for toxics or developing more    Federal funding to allow       bases. States also urge more
specific use designations and    States to expand ground-       effective coordination among
appropriate criteria. Federal    water monitoring, manage-      State, local, and Federal
leadership was urged in         ment, and standards devel-      agencies to better address
continuing to refine and        opment; and action by EPA       diverse environmental prob-
develop criteria for            to incorporate ground-water    lems such as wetlands pro-
substances causing risks to     quality data into existing      tection, hazardous waste
human health. EPA was also    computerized data bases.          disposal, agricultural runoff,
encouraged to continue its       Lake Protection: The States   and fish tissue contamina-
research on better criteria     strongly recommend that         tion.
for contact recreation uses.    Congress appropriate funds        Wetlands Protection:
  Ground-Water Protection:    to support the Clean Lakes        A number of States call for
Clear priorities many States    Program. States cite the need   increased effort in protecting
and Territories have expressed  for additional data on lake     valuable wetland resources.
are to gain a better under-     water quality conditions and    Specific recommendations
standing of the quality of      trends, expanded reporting      vary from the need for addi-
their ground water, to iden-    requirements under Section      tional Federal appropriations
tify and map their ground-      314 of the Clean Water Act,     for wetland protection to
water resources, to identify    and vulnerability of lakes to    better enforcement by the
potential sources of contam-    acid deposition.                Corps of Engineers of
ination, and to determine         Data Management/Coordi-    permitted and unpermitted
the vulnerability of their      nation: EPA and the States      activities in wetland areas.
resources to pollution. The     are actively engaged in
States recommend continued   developing computerized
collection and analysis of      data management systems to


























                                                                                        187



















  In addition to the 1988 State water quality assessments, the following documents were     References and
cited in this report and are recommended for further reading.                               Further Reading

Council of State Governments, Center for the Environment and Natural Resources. 1988.
Resource Guide to State Environmental Management.

Farber, Kit, and Gary L. Rutledge. 1988. Pollution abatement and control expenditures,
1983-1986. In: Survey of Current Business. May.

North Carolina State University, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S.
Department of Agriculture. 1988. Rural Clean Water Program: 1988 Workshop
Proceedings. National Water Quality Evaluation Project. December.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ground-Water Protection Strategy, 1984. Office
of Ground-Water Protection.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1983. Results of the National Urban Runoff
Program. Office of Water. December.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1987. Permit Writers Guide to Water Quality-
Based Permitting for Toxic Pollutants. Office of Water. Publication No. EPA-440/4-87-005.
July.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1987. Surface Water Monitoring: A Framework
for Change. Office of Water and Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation. September.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1988. America s Wetlands: Our Vital Link Between
Land and Water Office of Wetland Protection. Publication No. OPA-87-016. February.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Needs Survey Report to Congress, 1988.
Office of Municipal Pollution Control. Publication No. EPA 430/09-89-001. February.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Nonpoint Source Agenda for the Future.
Office of Water. January.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Report to Congress: Activities and Programs
Implemented under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, FY 1988. Office of Water.
Publication No. EPA-506/9-89/003. August.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Report to Congress: Water Quality of the
Nation's Lakes. Office of Water. Publication No. EPA-440/5-89-003.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. State Funding Study, Office of Water. May.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. 1989. Federal Manualfor Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands.
January.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1984. Wetlands of the US: Current Status and Trends.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1987. Mid-Atlantic Wetlands: A Disappearing National
Treasure. June.

U.S. Geological Survey. 1988. 1986National Water Summary. Water Supply Paper 2325.




























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                                                                                                                       Appendix









Alabama                       and organic enrichment         tions of organics; these      Arizona
                                 leading to depleted levels    were well below recom-
To obtain a copy of the       of dissolved oxygen.           mended safe levels of        'Tob obtain a copy of the
Alabama 1988 305(b) report,   Inadequately treated           exposure.                     Arizona 1988 305(b) report,
contact:                      effluents from municipal         Presently, Alabama          contact:
                                 discharges, industrial        responds to ground-water
Alabama Department of         discharges, and nonpoint       concerns under general         Office of Emergency
  Environmental               source runoff appear to be     statutory authority provided     Response and
  Management                  leading sources of pollution    by the Alabama Water Pollu-     Environmental Analysis
Planning and Projects         in the State.                  tion Control Act. While        2005 North Central Avenue
  Branch                        A significant concern to     existing problems can be       Phoenix, AZ  85004
1751 Cong. W. L. Dickinson    the State is lack of informa-  addressed fairly effectively
  Drive                        tion on lakes, estuaries, and    in this manner, there is a
Montgomery, AL 36130          wetlands. Lack of National     need for a more coordinated    Surface Water
                                 Clean Lakes funding has       approach to specific sources    Quality
        Surface Water          hampered the State's ability    of potential ground-water
                                 to develop a reservoir moni-    contamination. Items           During water years
                         Quality                                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~During water years
Quality                       toring program; a prelim-      outlined by the State as       1986-1987, 2,279 river miles
                                 inary assessment of lake      concerns or objectives to      were assessed in Arizona,
  During the reporting         water quality was provided    be incorporated into their     34 percent of river miles with
period, Alabama assessed      in this 1988 report, and       ground-water management        water quality standards. Of
11,174 miles of streams,      Alabama has applied for        program are: (1) response to    the river miles assessed,
491,566 acres of lakes, 53    Clean Lakes funding to         instances of ground-water      69 percent fully supported
square miles of estuaries and   improve future assessments.    contamination; (2) develop-
                                                                                                    designated uses while 21
50 coastal miles. Approxi-    The State is also planning to    ment of a State ground-water   percent did not meet stand-
                                                                                                    percent did not meet stand-
mately 91 percent of river    increase its data-gathering    strategy; (3) additional       ards. The largest segment
                                                                                                    ards. The largest segment
miles assessed were found to   capabilities for estuarine and   statutory authorities, where    (297 miles) not meeting
                                                                                                    (297 miles) not meeting
be fully supporting their     wetland areas.                 needed; (4) implementation    criteria was the Little
designated uses, 82 percent                                  of a ground-water classifica-   Colorado and Purco Rivers.
of lake acres were fully      Ground-Water                   tion system; and (5) addition    These rivers are contami-
supporting their designated                                  of new, related regulations    nated with radiochemicals
uses, 94 percent of estuary   Quality                        under the Alabama Water        and heavy metals. The lower
                                                                                                    and heavy metals. The lower
square miles were fully                                      Pollution Control Act.         Salt and Gila Rivers (110
                                                                                                    Salt and Gila Rivers (110
supporting uses, and all of     Currently, Alabama does        In addition to these         miles) do not meet uses
                                                                                                    miles) do not meet uses
the ocean coastal miles were    not have a comprehensive     initiatives, vulnerability     because of pesticide conta-
                                                                                                    because of pesticide contam-
fully supporting uses.        ground-water quality moni-    assessments for major           ination in addition to metals
  Alabama also conducted an   toring network. Available      aquifers in the State have     and other inorganics.
                                                                                                    and other inorganics.
assessment of the extent to   information based on a         been completed. This             Because of Arizona
which its waters support the    limited ground-water         information will be incor-        ec e    rizns
                                                                                                    extreme atidity, its wetlands
fishable/swimmable goal of    monitoring network of 77       porated into the classifi-        re  aridy vla
                                                                                                    are particularly valuable
the Clean Water Act. Eighty-    wells indicates that the     cation effort and implemen-    aquatic resources. A substan-
                                                                                                    aquatic resources. A substan-
nine percent of assessed      overall quality of ground      tation of the overall ground-    tial proportion of the State's
                                                                                                    tial proportion of the State's
river miles, 82 percent of    water in Alabama is good.      water management plan.         wetlands were destroyed by
                                                                                                    wetlands were destroyed by
assessed lake acres, 94       The only problems indicated                                   overgrazing, wood-cutting,
                                                                                                    overgrazing, wood-cutting,
percent of estuary square     by the current monitoring                                     mining, water diversions,
                                                                                                    mining, water diversions,
miles, and all of ocean       data are localized instances                                  and construction activities.
                                                                                                    and construction activities.
coastal miles were found      of highly mineralized water                                   Arizona is beginning to
                                                                                                    Arizona is beginning to
to be meeting the fishable/ and one instance of saltwater                                   address wetlands issues
                                                                                                    address wetlands issues
swimmable goal.               intrusion. Volatile organic                                   through the Statewide
  The main causes of           sampling of 113 public                                       Comprehensive Outdoor
                                                                                                    Comprehensive Outdoor
nonsupport of designated      ground-water supplies in                                      Recreation Planning Process.
                                                                                                    Recreation Planning Process.
uses were determined to be     1985 found only six wells
excessive levels of nutrients    with detectable concentra-

                                                                                                                              A-i









Appendix









Gr                                           quality provide  due to resource timber           use, and 1 percent for thermo-
Qu ali ty m  i     n    i m i .tpre                           extraction. Silviculture is the   electric energy. Fifty-five
                               minimization, prevention,
                               mitig yation and remedies of    predominant land use in the    percent of the population
                               Ground-water quality is  past, present, and  future   Ouachita Mountains Region;    depends upon ground water
  Ground-water quality is      past, present, and future
                                                                the region is characterized by   for drinking water and
a major concern in Arizona     potential discharges to         the region is characterized by   for drinking water  and
because it is the State's      aquifers; protect surface       exceptionally high water        domestic use.
principal source of public     waters which are fed by, or     quality al       though concerns  Contaminati on of shallow
                water The four most docu-  discharge, to aquifers; and  have been voiced about the  domestic wells and springs by
water. The four most docu-     discharge, to aquifers; and
                                                                effects of harvesting prac-     human and animal wastes is
mented sources of ground-      prohibit discharge of toxic     effects of harvesting prac-     human and animal wastes is
ewater contamination ares      prollutants to aquifers.        tices. In the Arkansas River    the most prominent ground-
watleaking underground storage                                 Valley Region, zero flows       water problem in the State,
tanks, septic tanks, agricul-                                  are common during summer    as evidenced by high nitrate
tural  practices, ankd wastes                                 critical conditions. During     concentrations. Some surfi-
tufrom high technology          Arkan            s             peak runoff events, contami-   cial aquifers have been
fromhighndus technologyes       Arkansas                       nants enter the Region's        contaminated by industrial
                                                                streams from agricultural       wastes which include both
  Four Active Management    'Tob obtain a copy of the 1988    sources. The Boston Moun-        heavy metals and organic
Areas (AMAs) were defined       Arkansas 305(b) report,
Areas (AMAs) were defined       Arkansas 305(b) report,        tains Region is highly used     chemicals; some of these are
in the 1980 Ground Water        contact:                       for recreational purposes and   being monitored under the
                                                                has extremely good water        Superfund and RCRA
pass geographic areas where    Arkansas Department of          quality. Potential water        programs.
ground-water supplies are         Pollution Control and        quality degradation is of         Contamination of fresh
imperiled. These AMAs             Ecology                      concern because of conver-      ground water by saline water
comprise the populated areas   Water Division                  sion of hardwoods to pasture-   has occurred in several places
of Phoenix, Tucson, Pinal,      8001 National Drive            lands, expansion of confined    due to large-scale pumping.
and Prescott. Common            Little Rock, AR 72209          animal operations, timber       Continued large-scale
sources of contaminants
sources of contaminants                                        management practices, and       pumping has the potential to
withleaking underground storage    Surface Water               localized natural gas produc-    increase contamination. In
leaking underground storage    Surface Water                   tion. Lastly, in the Ozark      some areas, the occurrence
tanks, septic tanks, ar iul-   Quality                         Highlands Region, water         of saline water appears to be
nology indture, majorng, anuses h ig tec h is reportingperi    quality problems are directly   of natural origin and not the
                                  nology industry. Major causes  For this reporting period,  related to the high rate of  result of human activity.
of pollution contributed by     Arkansas assessed 4,107        animal management activ-        Some saltwater contamina-
these sources include           miles of streams, which        ities such as chicken, swine,    tion in south Arkansas is due
petroleum hydrocarbons,         represents 36 percent of the    and cattle operations. The     to oil and gas exploration,
nitrates, colforms, pesti-      State's total river miles.     waste from this animal          production, and disposal
cides, sulfate, metals, and     Approximately 42 percent       production is generally land-    practices.
volatile organic compounds
volatile organic compounds     of assessed river miles fully    applied and therefore has the    Ground-water levels are
  Arizona has completed a       support their designated       potential to contaminate        declining in large areas of
                                 uses.                          both surface and ground         the State where pumping
preliminary ground-water
  protection strowate  that       In its 1988 305(b) report,    waters.                         rates exceed recharge rates.
                                 the State provided regional                                     Ground-water levels in the
contains background infor-                                     Ground-Water                     Sparta Sand aquifer have
mation on the goals and         assessments of water quality.
matutory framework for          Water quality in the Delta     Quality                          declined as much as 320 feet
ground-water protection         Region is significantly                                        in the vicinity of El Dorado,
ongoing and future ground-      influenced by agricultural       Use of ground water in the    as much as 225 feet in the
gwater program activities,      runoff. The vast majority of    1980s has varied between        vicinity of Magnolia, and as
    wan  interagencyam activt,  waterways in this region        four and five billion gallons    much as 60 feet in the
tion The basis for the goals    have been channelized for      per day. About 93 percent        vicinity of Stuttgart. The
is to protect public health;    agricultural development       was for agricultural use,        greatest decline in the
                                 and therefore have impaired   2 percent for industrial use,    alluvial aquifer has been in
preserve, enhance, and
                                 uses. The Gulf Coastal Region  2 percent for municipal use,     Poinsett County, where
                                 exhibits site-specific impacts   2 percent for rural domestic  water levels at one point are

 A-2









                                                                                                                Appendix








almost 120 feet below land    Diego Region (15,300 acres);   solids, pesticides, herbicides,    not supporting designated
surface-a decline of some     Clear Lake in Lake County      other toxic organics, and      uses; however, about half of
70 feet since the early 1900s   (44,000 acres); and the      metals. Toxic substances are    the State's ground-water
when it was first used as an    Salton Sea (220,000 acres).  now recognized as a            resource is of unknown
irrigation source.              Pollution sources in         constantly expanding threat    water quality. Areas with the
  Potential ground-water      streams not fully supporting   to water quality. 'Tobxic       most numerous and wide-
problems are found state-      uses include agriculture,     substances have been, and      spread ground-water prob-
wide. Potential threats to    abandoned and active mines,   probably still are, dumped       lems are the San Francisco
ground water include a large   and other nonpoint sources    illegally into community        Bay Region, the Central
number of waste impound-       such as urban runoff, erosion,  sewer systems, municipal      Valley Region, and the three
ments. landfills, and open     individual disposal systems,    landfills, vacant lands, and  South Coastal Regions of Los
dumps, especially those        and animal grazing. The       surface waters. California is    Angeles, Santa Ana, and San
located in moderate to high    remaining stream pollution    moving aggressively to          Diego. Naturally occurring
aquifer recharge zones,        sources consist of point      address the toxic pollution    poor quality ground water is
Contamination from waste      sources and natural or         issue with new legislation,    fairly common throughout
impoundments, storage          unknown causes.               more severe penalties, and      the Lahontan Basins and in
tanks, and dumps has             Lakes are mostly affected    new programs.                  the Colorado River Region.
occurred. Hazardous            by natural causes and agri-     The State identifies the       Pollution of ground-water
substances transported by      cultural return flows,         following as statewide issues   supplies can occur from
vehicles and trains have been   Municipal and industrial      of concern: ground-water       many sources. These include
involved in accidents result-    point sources are prohibited    pollution, hazardous waste  individual disposal systems,
ing in ground-water contami-   from discharging directly      disposal sites, pollution of   solid and liquid waste
nation. The potential for      to lakes in California.        harbors and bays, agricul-     disposal sites, underground
leaks and accidents is always    Point sources and nonpoint   tural impacts on water         chemical storage tanks,
present.                       sources are about equal        quality, and mine drainage,    surface spills of toxic
                               contributors of pollution in                                 substances, applications of
                               harbors and bays. Urban                                      agricultural chemicals, urban
                               storm runoff and erosion are    Ground-Water                 runoff, deep injection well
California                     major nonpoint pollution       Quality                        disposal, and other as yet
                               sources in San Francisco, San                                unknown sources. About 12
TC obtain a copy of the 1988    Diego, Newport, and Mission     The water in California's    percent of the identified
California 305(b) report,      Bays.                          underground basins and the    ground-water pollution is
contact:
                                 Trends in water quality      storage space in these basins   from industry, including
                               reflect the above concerns    are among the State's most     military installations and
California State Water
         Reucesornitr  oater   and indicate that California    valuable resources. About 40   railroad centers. A high
  Resources Control Board
         esiour   CofWter  Qal  surface waters have          percent of California's annual   incidence of contamination
Division of Water Quality      improved or been protected    applied water needs is          from organic solvents is
901 P Street
       Sacramtrto    CA9from overall degradation due   obtained from ground-water    noted. Agriculture and other
       Sacramento, CA 95801   to point sources. There do     basins. Apart from the         nonpoint sources contribute
                               not appear to be significant    Central Valley, the greatest  pesticides, nitrogen, and
Surface Water                  changes in the overall quality  concentrations of ground-     dissolved salts. Stormwater
                               of marine and estuarine       water withdrawals are in        runoff used for ground-
Quality                        waters, although major         southern California and in     water recharge is also a toxic
                               improvements in bacterial     the Santa Clara and Salinas     pollution source.
 Over three-fourths of        quality have been noted in     Valleys. Most cities in the San
California's assessed stream    Eumboldt/Arcata Bay,        Joaquin Valley are supplied
miles and half its lake acres    portions of San Francisco    entirely by ground water, and
are classified as having water   Bay, and San Diego Bay.     ground water is a significant
quality that generally         However, a significant        part of the public supplies in
supports designated uses.      increase is noted in the       southern California and the
Some of the largest water-     detection of toxic pollution.    Santa Clara Valley.
bodies not supporting uses       Major pollutants affecting    Less than 2 percent of the
in the State include harbors,    waters of the State include  ground waters assessed have
bays, and lagoons in the San    bacteria, nutrients, dissolved   water quality classified as
                                                                                                                      A-3









Appendix








                               solids concentrations, how-    Connecticut                   The Department of Environ-
Colorado                      ever, are comparatively low.    Connecticut                   The Department of Environ-
                                 Water quality in the                .mental Protection is an
Tob obtain a copy of the        Wat er quality in the          ob obtain a copy of the      active participant in the
Colorado 1988 305(b) report,    Arkansas River basin reflects   Connecticut 1988 305(b)     Long Island Sound Water
                               early mining activity in the Long Island Sound Water
contact:                      Leadville area, burgeoning                                    Quality Study, which began
                               population in the middle                                     in 1985. The magnitude of
Colorado Department                      f                    Connecticut Department of    the Sound's problems are
                               lower basin                      Environmental Protection    being researched, pollution
Water Quality Division           Overall, the quality of      Water Compliance Unit         sources identified, and a
                                 Overall, the quality of      122
4210 East 11th St.             water in the Colorado River    122 Washington Street         management plan and
Denver, CO 80220               mainstem basin and its main    Hartford, CT 06106            mathematical model of the
                               tributaries is probably the                                  entire Sound are being
Surface Water                  best in the State. This quality   Surface Water              developed.
                               has been maintained through                                    There are 69 major
Quality                        the investment of consider-    Quality                        recreational lakes having
                               able manpower and fiscal                                     public access in the State.
  Colorado has 14,100 miles    resources into the basin since    As of 1988, 582 of Connect-   The most common water-
of streams, nearly all of      the early 1970s.              icut's 880 miles of major       quality concern in these
which are classified under      There are several stream      rivers and streams fully       lakes is growth of nuisance
State water quality stand-     segments in this basin that   support water-quality goals.    weeds and algae caused by
ards. A total of 4,600 stream    reflect Colorado's early    An additional 239 miles         nutrient enrichment.
miles have been or are being    mining history. These        partially support goals. The    Nutrient conditions in
routinely monitored, and       streams have high metal        remaining 59 miles do not      impaired lakes are attributed
5,400 have been evaluated      loads and some do not         support most water uses,        to natural sources and a
by special studies as to their    support aquatic life. The   other than perhaps limited     variety of nonpoint sources
chemical and biological        most likely parameter to      aquatic habitat use, naviga-    such as household waste-
quality. Of these assessed     exceed standards is copper    tion, and industrial activities.   water systems, surface
streams, 86 percent fully      and much of this loading is    Major sources of water-quality  runoff, land development,
support uses, 7 percent are    likely due to natural causes.    impairment are municipal     and highway runoff. The
partially impaired, and        The other metals known to      sewage treatment plants,       State's eutrophication
7 percent are not supporting    be high on various segments    toxic and conventional        abatement program has
uses.                          in the Colorado River main-    pollutants from industrial     resulted in meaningful
  There are roughly 149,000    stem basin are lead, zinc, and   discharges, combined sewer    water-quality improvements
acres of lakes in Colorado;    cadmium.                      overflows, and nonpoint         for 37 percent (by area) of
124,746 lake acres were         The San Juan basin has       sources.                       the lakes assessed. These
assessed and nearly all are    high quality water except       The most heavily impacted   efforts will soon be
reported to be fully support-    for the Animas River in its  estuaries in the State are the    supported by a new State
ing designated uses.           headwaters near Silverton.    urbanized harbors and tidal    grant program for lake
  Man's activities have        Because of previous mining    portions of major tributary     restoration established by
affected water quality in the   activities, high metals loads    rivers. Approximately 234 of   recent legislation.
South Platte River more than   in the mainstem and several    the 601 square miles assessed    Less than 1/10 of 1 percent
any other major river basin    tributaries have significantly   are suspected of having      of Connecticut's 17,500 acres
in Colorado. Exceedances of    affected their ability to      water-quality problems. The    of tidal wetlands have been
water quality standards for    support aquatic life.         sources of pollution, in        filled since implementation
dissolved oxygen, unionized     Metals impairment of         descending order of relative    of the Connecticut Tidal
ammonia, fecal coliforms,      several stream segments in    impact, are: municipal          Wetland Act in 1969. A State
and metals have been iden-     the Rio Grande basin are that  sewage treatment plants;       permit program regulates
 tified within the basin.       basin's only identified water    combined sewer overflows;    activities in tidal wetlands,
 Phosphorus, nitrates, and      quality problem. No water     toxic and conventional          with very little filling
 dissolved solids concentra-    quality problems have been    pollutants from industrial      authorized.
 tions in parts of the basin are   identified in the Republican    sources; and nonpoint
 generally among the highest    or Green River basins.        sources, such as failing septic
 in the State. Total suspended                                 systems and urban runoff.

 A-4









                                                                                                                 Appendix









                               Delaware                       the elevated nutrient levels     Delaware's ground water
Ground-Water                                   Tobanacpoftedetected are natural condi-    is a relatively unprotected
Quality                        To obtain a copy of the        tions and do not result from    resource due to generally
                               Delaware 1988 305(b) report,   anthropogenic activities.      high soil permeability and
                               contact:                                                      asalwwtrtbe
 Approximately 32 percent    contact:                          Of major concern to the      a shallow water table.
of the population dependsof                                   State are contamination of     Common causes of ground-
                               Delaware Department of                                         ae  otmnin  cld
on ground water for potable     Natural Resources and         harvestable shellfish and      water contamination include
                                 Natural Resources and
water supply. Over 90 percent    Environmental Control        steep reductions in hard clam   nitrates, iron, pH, salinity,
                                 Environmental Control
of the State's ground-water                                   landings throughout the        trihalomethanes, and volatile
                               89 Kings Highway                                              ognccros  uhipr
resources is presumed to be                                   Inland Bays/Coastal Sussex     organic carbons. Such impur-
suitable for drinking without   P.O. Box 1401                 estuarine waters. These        ities originate from many
treatment. Impacts from        Dover, DE 19903                phenomena are strong indi-    sources, including domestic
improper solvents handling                                    cations of environmental       on-site wastewater systems,
and disposal, leaking          Surface Water                  problems. The landing of       landfills containing munici-
underground petroleum                                         hard clams by commercial       pal and industrial wastes,
storage tanks, landfill        Quality                        interests has declined         chemical spills and leaks
leachate, pesticides (EDB),                                   significantly since 1958 due   from tanks or lagoons, agri-
and improper road salt           Delaware's surface waters    in part to the closure of      cultural activities, and
storage have resulted in the    are, for the most part, in    clamming areas because of      saltwater intrusion along the
contamination of 1,332         good condition. Most of the    public health concerns and     coast. The limits of natural
public and private water       State's designated uses and    decreased clam density.        treatment and standards of
supply wells as of February    the Clean Water Act fishable/   Bacterial contamination,      purity in ground water
1988.                         swimmable goals are            sedimentation, and low          are now exceeded more
  The State of Connecticut     supported. Ninety-three        dissolved oxygen are cited as   frequently and over larger
has taken numerous steps to   percent of assessed stream,     primary reasons for reduced    areas than in the past.
increase protection of its    lakes, and estuarine waters     harvests. Sources of pollution   In 1985, Delaware imple-
ground-water resources.        are of sufficient quality to   contributing to the problem    mented new regulations
Among these are the publi-     support (in whole or in part)    include treated waste dis-   governing the design,
cation of a Ground-Water       all uses designated in the     charges, nutrient enriched     installation, and operation
Management Strategy; an        State's Water Quality          ground water, surface runoff,   of septic systems. These
inventory of the State's      Standardsfor Streams.           septic system overflows, and    regulations are designed to
largest aquifers and known     Further, about 94 percent      natural conditions.            protect ground-water quality.
or suspected contamination    of the State's waters are                                      In addition, Delaware's
threats; and the formation of   determined to be fishable,                                   Ground-Water Management
an Aquifer Protection lhsk     and 96 percent are            Ground-Water                    Plan identifies a series of
Force. Ground-water moni-     swimmable.                                                     measures to protect ground
toring activities include       Excessive bacteria (fecal    Quality                         water by relying on land use
programs administered by      coliform and/or enterococcus)                                  controls in critical ground-
the Department of Health       levels continue to be one of    More than 38 billion gallons   water resource areas. A
Services, Department of       the major water-quality        of high quality ground water    ground-water monitoring
Environmental Protection,     problems in some of the        are withdrawn each year for    strategy for Delaware was
and U.S. Geological Survey.    State's surface waters. In    all uses in the State. The      formulated in FY 1986;
                               most cases, however, these    domestic water needs of         implementation began in
                               levels are not so excessive   approximately two-thirds of    FY 1987.
                               as to suggest public health   the State's population are
                               hazards and impairment of    met with ground water
                               recreational uses.            provided through municipal
                                 Excessive nutrient levels   and private wells. All of the
                               are a water-quality problem    fresh water for farm use and
                               inherent in many of Dela-     most of the water used for
                               ware's waterways. Most of     irrigation and self-supplied
                               Delaware's lakes and ponds    industrial use is also derived
                               are eutrophic. In some cases,   from ground water.
                                                                                                                        A-5









Appendix









Delaware                       98 percent of assessed          Ground-Water                   percent of its lakes and
                               estuary square miles were      Quality                         impoundments.
River  Basin                   meeting the fishable goal.                                       Most of the District's
                               Approximately 94 percent of      In December 1982, the         surface waters did not
To obtain a copy of the        the assessed river miles and   Delaware River Basin            support all of their desig-
Delaware River Basin           99 percent of the assessed     Commission completed a          nated uses. The exception
Commission's 1988 305(b)       estuary square miles were      3-year study leading to the     was the Potomac River
report, contact:               meeting the swimmable goal.   development of a ground-         estuary, where 83 percent
                                 Two issues of concern         water management plan and   of estuarine square miles
Delaware River Basin          to the DRBC are toxic           implementation program for   partially supported desig-
  Commission                   substances and increased        the Delaware River Basin.      nated uses. Most of the
P.O. Box 7360                 development along the upper   The study set forth 27 recom-  District's surface waters
West Trenton, NJ 08628        Delaware River. The Dela-       mendations for improving        designated for use as raw
                               ware River flows through the   the management of ground-    water sources for industrial
Surface Water                 world's largest freshwater      water quality and quantity.    and public water supplies
 Surface Water                 port and the second largest     Work continues on the imple-   met these particular uses.
Quality                       U.S. petrochemical center.      mentation of these recom-        In the District, causes of
                               Small, pervasive, unnoticed     mendations. One of the         nonsupport are typical for
  Delaware River and Bay      spills from this large urban,   specific recommendations        an urban area. Fecal coliform
comprise part of the bound-    industrialized area continue   dealt with the implementa-    contamination is a principal
ary of four states: Delaware,   to have an unknown impact     tion of a well registration    cause of nonsupport of desig-
New Jersey, New York, and     on the river system. The        program. This program,         nated uses. In the Anacostia
Pennsylvania. From Hancock  cleanup of this river system      currently being imple-          River, low dissolved oxygen
New York to the mouth of      since 1972 has brought on a     mented, will provide data       levels is a leading cause of
the Delaware Bay, the Dela-    dramatic increase in recrea-    essential for ground-water     nonsupport of uses. High
ware River flows 330 miles,    tion along the Delaware        management and protection.   metal concentrations are also
draining 0.4 percent of the    estuary. In the upper Dela-                                   a concern, particularly in
U.S. land area. Almost 10     ware, growth and develop-                                      many of the District's smaller
pecent of the Nation's popu-   ment threaten the water                                       streams. Other causes of
lation rely on the waters of    quality of two components of   District  of                  nonsupport include oil and
the Delaware River Basin for   the National Wild and Scenic                                  grease, high pH, and high
potable and industrial water.  Rivers System.                 Columbia                        un-ionized ammonia levels.
  In 1987, approximately 94     The protection of water                                         Urban runoff, whether
percent of the assessed river   quality from growth-related    To obtain a copy of the        from storm sewers, combined
miles in the Delaware River    impacts (both point and         District of Columbia 1988      sewer overflows (CSOs), or
Basin were found to be fully   nonpoint) will be essential     305(b) report, contact:        surface runoff, is a principal
supporting their designated    to maintain high quality                                       source of pollution to District
 uses. In the Delaware Bay     reaches of the river and the     Department of Consumer         surface waters. Presently,
 itself, approximately 99       water quality improvements        & Regulatory Affairs         combined sewers serve 35
 percent of the assessed        achieved over the last 40       Water Hygiene Branch           percent of Washington, D.C.
 square miles were fully        years. Recreational use of the   5010 Overlook Avenue, S.W.    Discharges of untreated
 supporting their designated    Delaware River is intense       Washington, D.C. 20032         sewage after a rainstorm
 uses.                          and increasing in both the      Attn: Hamid Karimi             results in high fecal coliform,
  The Delaware River Basin    nontidal river and the                                          high biological oxygen
 Commission (DRBC) also        estuary; this increased use                                     demand, and low dissolved
 conducted an assessment of   makes the maintenance of          Surface Water                  oxygen. Storm sewers/runoff
 its waters relative to their   water quality a key concern.    Quality                        add sediment, heavy metals,
 support of the fishable/       An unanswered concern is                                       road salts, oil, and other
 swimmable goal of the Clean   the impact of the recrea-         For 1988, the District        toxics to receiving waters.
 Water Act. This assessment     tional use itself on the river's   of Columbia assessed 100      Wastewater treatment
 revealed that 100 percent of   quality.                       percent of its estuarine        plant effluent discharges are
 the assessed river miles and                                  waters, 72 percent of its       a major source of nutrients to
                                                                small streams, and 36

  A-6









                                                                                                                Appendix









the Potomac estuary. Imple-    Florida                        supporting uses and 57         system of contiguous reser-
mentation of advanced waste-  ' obtain a copy of the          percent were partially         voirs with connection to
                               qb obtain a copy of the                                        ufc  aes    t  ro
water treatment processes at   Florida 1988 305(b) report,    meeting uses. (This lower      surface waters. Data from
the Blue Plains Wastewater                 cnatdegree of use support for                     over 1,500 wells are being
                               contact:
Treatment Plant has signifi-                                  lakes is attributed to the fact   stored in a data base.
cantly reduced nutrient                                       that two lakes-Lake Okee-      Preliminary analysis of the
loads to District waters. Still   Florida rment o             chobee and Lake George-        data indicates generally
                                        Envir~~~~conme  nt ale Reogulaio
of concern are nutrient         Environmental Regulation    account for almost half of       excellent ground-water
                               Standards Monitoring
inputs from fall line points,  Stio                           the assessed lake area in the    quality, particularly in the
particularly the upper          Section                       State and are partially        Floridan aquifer which
                               2600 Blair Stone Road
Potomac watershed.                                            meeting uses.)                 underlies all but the
                               Ta~llahassee, FL 32399-2400                                    etrms  n  ohr-
 Other pollution sources        llahassee, FL 32399-2400       Ninety-six percent of the    westernmost and southern-
are more site specific. These                                 State's estuarine area was     most parts of Florida.
sources include leachate       Surface Water                  reported as assessed, with 58    Major contamination
from landfills, runoff from                                   percent meeting uses. Of the    sources in the State are
industrial yards, leaks from   Quality                        State's ocean coastal area,    underground storage tanks
underground storage tanks,                                    67 percent was reported as     (primarily for gasoline) and
and breaks in sanitary sewer    Most of Florida's waters are   assessed and 91 percent of    agricultural activities. Other
lines.                        of good quality; the distribu-    ocean square miles were      pollution sources include
                               tion of problem areas closely   found to meet uses.           saltwater intrusion, septic
Ground-Water                  follows the distribution of      In previous years, most       tanks, landfills, phosphate
                               Florida's population. Water    water quality problems in the   mining, and hazardous waste
Quality                       quality problems in the State   State were caused by point     sites. All community water
                               are evident around the         sources. Recently, however,    systems are required to be
  Reliable information         densely populated, major       nonpoint sources accounted    tested periodically for 118
regarding the quality of the    urban areas including Jack-   for the majority of the State's   organic contaminants. The
ground water in the District    sonville, Orlando, 'ampa, the   water quality problems. This    contaminants include most
of Columbia is essentially    Cape Kennedy area, and the    is because point source treat-   of the priority pollutants as
nonexistent. This is because    southeastern Florida Coast.  ment processes have improved  well as certain pesticides
virtually all of the City's   The sparsely populated         and there has been an           known to be used in the
water supply needs have       northwest and west central      increase in the acreage of     State and suspected to be
been satisfied by the         sections of the State have      agricultural and urban devel-   polluting ground water.
Potomac River. To fill the    very good water quality.        oped land. Major water           Major ground-water
void in ground-water data       Florida has not historically   quality problems in Florida   protection programs in
and management activities,    been highly industrialized.     include agricultural runoff,   Florida include a ground-
the District has begun a      Thus, difficult and persistent   urban stormwater, domestic    water classification program;
program for the protection of  industrial types of pollution    wastewater, pulp and paper   a permitting program to
ground-water resources. In    are not widespread. However,  mills, and hydrologic modi-      regulate underground injec-
1987, the District submitted    Florida has undergone an     fication.                      tion of wastes; an under-
to EPA a draft ground-water    extensive population growth                                   ground storage tank program
protection strategy outlining   in the last two decades which                                to monitor for leakage and
plans for ground-water        has resulted in more pollu-                                    provide cleanup procedures;
protection. Additionally, the   tion sources associated with    Quality                      a program to track pesticide
District has funded a 3-year    development.                                                 use; a program to regulate
study of its ground-water       Florida reports that it         Because ground water         hazardous waste storage,
resources.                    assessed 90 percent of its      supplies over 90 percent of    disposal, and cleanup; and
                               stream miles, and of these,    Florida's drinking water,      septic tank and landfill
                               67 percent fully supported     ground-water programs have   regulations.
                               designated uses. All but 1    traditionally focused on the
                               percent of the State's lake    monitoring of wells for
                               acres were assessed. Thirty-    contamination. Recently,
                               three percent of assessed      a program has begun to
                               lakes were found to be fully    monitor ground water as a

                                                                                                                       A-7









Appendix









Georgia                          Water quality in Georgia's    irrigation use, and almost      surface water and ground-
                               estuaries in 1986-1987 was     half of the industrial use of    water availability as well as
lb obtain a copy of the        also good. Of the 594 square    water in the State. For prac-    surface water and ground-
Georgia 1988 305(b) report,    miles of estuaries, 98 percent   tical purposes, outside the    water quality.
                               fully supported uses, 1 per-    larger cities of the Piedmont,
                               cent partially supported       ground water is the domi-
Water Quality Management    uses, and 1 percent did not        nant source of water.
  Program                      support designated uses.          Except where they may         Hawa li
Georgia Environmental            Municipal and industrial      become saline at lower
  Protection Division          discharges, and storm sewers/  depths, all of the aquifers can   To obtain a copy of the
270 Washington Street, S.W.    runoff are cited as the most    be considered as potential      Hawaii 1988 305(b) report,
Atlanta, GA 30334              common sources of use           sources of drinking water.      contact:
                               impairment in Georgia rivers,   For the most part, these
Surface Water                  lakes, and estuaries. Gener-    aquifers are underutilized             Department of Health
                               ally, the causes of most       and generally free of contain-    O. Box3378
Quality                        concern are dissolved oxygen,  ination. Water from most of      Honololu, HI 96801
                               nutrients, toxic substances,   the aquifers may be safely
  Water quality in Georgia's    turbidity, and fecal coliform    consumed without treat-       Surface Water
streams in 1986-1987 was       bacteria.                       ment, and, except for
good. An assessment of the       Georgia continued its         occasional curtailment of       Quality
State's 20,000 miles of        strong permitting and           lawn sprinkling, water has
streams and rivers indicates    enforcement programs in        not been rationed.                Located some 5,000 miles
that the vast majority         1986-1987. A total of 526         The most extensive            in the central and western
support designated water       NPDES permits were reissued  contamination of Georgia's         Pacific Ocean, Hawaii has a
uses. In 1986-1987, 97         and Georgia's record of no      aquifers is from naturally      coastal environment substan-
percent of stream miles        permit issuance backlog was    occurring mineral salts (i.e.,    tially different from that of
assessed supported desig-      maintained. Ninety percent    high total dissolved solids).     the U.S. continental shelf.
nated uses, 2 percent          of major municipal discharges  Another natural source of        Hawaii assessed all of its
partially supported uses, and   and 98 percent of major        contamination is from radio-   river, estuarine, and coastal
1 percent did not support      industrial discharges main-     active minerals that are        waters for this reporting
designated uses. This evalua-   tained consistent permit       common rock constituents in   period. Approximately 76
tion is based on predictive    compliance in 1986-1987.        many Georgia aquifers. While   percent of river miles fully
modeling, 20 years of trend    However, improperly treated   naturally occurring radio-        supported their designated
monitoring, intensive          discharges, spills, and ero-    activity may occur anywhere    uses, 30 percent of estuary
surveys, and special studies,    sion/sedimentation problems   in Georgia, the most signifi-    square miles fully supported
as well as the judgment of     resulted in monetary penal-    cant problems have occurred    their designated uses, and
professional staff members.    ties totaling $542,763 being    at sporadic locations in a      100 percent of ocean coastal
  Water quality in Georgia's    levied by the Georgia Envi-    southwest-northeast trend-      miles supported their
publicly owned lakes/reser-    ronmental Protection            ing zone extending from Tift    designated uses.
voirs in 1986-1987 was good.    Division.                      County to Montgomery              River and stream channel
Of the 417,730 acres of lakes                                  County. Manmade contam-         alterations are considered to
assessed, 98.7 percent fully    Ground-Water                   ination can come from a         be most damaging to aquatic
supported uses, 1.3 percent                                    number of sources, such as      freshwater ecosystems,
partially supported uses, and   Quality                        business and industry,          causing modifications to
0.01 percent did not support                                   agriculture, homes (e.g.,       natural habitats and changes
designated uses. All publicly    Ground water is extremely   septic systems), and hazard-    in water quality due to flow
owned lakes were sampled in  important to the life, health,    ous waste facilities. In 1986,    restrictions, dissolved oxygen
1980 and 1981 as part of the    and economy of Georgia. For   Georgia developed a compre-   depletion, turbidity, and
Georgia Clean Lakes Program.  example, in 1987, ground         hensive water management        temperature increases. Large
Monitoring of major lakes      water provided over 30          plan that addresses both        quantities of nonpoint source
and other selected lakes has    percent of the public water                                    pollutants have a significant
continued on approximately    supply, 93 percent of the                                        impact on stream ecosystems
an annual basis since 1982.    rural use, 65 percent of the                                    and nearshore coastal waters.

 A-8









                                                                                                                  Appendix









During heavy flooding, urban   sole source aquifer. The Pearl   Idaho                             Idaho has over 2,800
street contaminants and        Harbor ground-water basin,                                       named freshwater lakes
other debris wash into         which has been heavily used    lb obtain a copy of the Idaho    covering a total of more than
streams and drainage canal     over the past years due to      1988 305(b) report, contact:     500,000 surface acres. Lake
systems in urban areas. The    increased industrial and                                         conditions vary from pristine
silt-laden waters invariably   urban development, is           Idaho Department of              to over productive. Most of
discolor nearshore waters      included in this massive          the Environment                the reservoirs in Idaho were
and cause elevated levels of    area aquifer.                  450 W. State Street              created to provide agricul-
coliform bacteria, nutrients,    The public's awareness of    Boise, ID 83720                   ture irrigation water; many
and turbidity.                 ground-water quality issues                                      are experiencing eutrophica-
  Most estuaries in the State    has increased in recent years.                                 tion problems due to exces-
are within embayments that    Two well surveys in 1987         Surface Water                    sive nutrient and sediment
generally are not subject to    included first-time analyses                                    loading from irrigation
rapid and efficient flushing.    for some unregulated          Quality                          return flows and agricultural
Therefore, embayments and    compounds that had been                                            runoff. High alpine lakes are
nearshore waters in general    believed to be bound strongly    The major focus of this         pristine and generally not
may be significantly affected   to the soil and therefore not    report is the identification   affected by human activities.
by nonpoint source pollution.   considered potential contam-   of waters that are not meet-     Signs of deteriorating water
Major nonpoint factors          inants. The finding of com-    ing water quality standards      quality are most notable in
contributing to use impair-     pounds such as dieldrin and    or are not supporting bene-      lakes in the panhandle area.
ment in estuarine waters        lindane, albeit at extremely    ficial uses due to pollution    Although few are classified
include stormwater runoff,      low levels, has led the State    from nonpoint sources.         as eutrophic, there is a strong
construction and agricultural   to reevaluate which com-         Over 16,000 stream miles       public perception of deterior-
activities, and natural         pounds should be classified    were assessed for nonpoint       ating water quality. Sources
erosion. Domestic and indus-   as leachable.                   source pollution impacts; this   of impact are varied. Shore-
rial sources of pollution         Because of limited State     amounts to approximately         line development results in
continually threaten fish and   funding and State laboratory   50 percent of the total          impacts from construction,
wildlife sanctuaries. The       resources, the Ground Water   stream miles in the State.        urban runoff, and subsurface
State also reports that         Protection Program has         Over 12,000 miles of streams    sewage disposal. Watershed
wetlands and marshes near       contracted out analyses for    experience some type of non-   sources of impact include
residential districts are       only 29 comprehensive          point source impact; in half     mining, agriculture, and
threatened by habitat           screens in 1988. In order to   of these stream miles, at least   forest practices.
alterations due to urban        ensure that the State's        one beneficial use is not fully    A total of 727,202 lake
growth and development.         overall ground-water quality   supported.                       acres were assessed for this
                                is assessed, the wells chosen    The primary nonpoint           report. Of the total lake acres
                                will be from all the Hawaiian   source activity impacting       assessed, 220,410 were classi-
Ground-Water                    islands except Oahu, where    beneficial uses in Idaho          fled as oligotrophic, 407,829
Quality                         data are already available.    streams is agriculture. The      as mesotrophic, and 93,496
                                                                second most significant         as eutrophic.
                                                                nonpoint source impact is
  Concerns about the quan-                                     nonpoint source impact is
  ity        and quality of ground                             hydrologic or habitat modi-      Ground-Water
ity and quality of ground
water and well water systems                                   fication. Other nonpoint         Quality
                                                                source activities affecting
continue to be a major issue
in both the public and                                          Idaho waters are forest prac-     Limited monitoring data
private sectors. The 1987                                       tices, construction, and        have indicated that most
Legislative Session finalized                                   mining. The extent of impacts   ground water in Idaho is of
a State Water Code whichvaries                                                                  good quality. Where contam-
addresses the crucial issue of                                  by region. Agricultural activ-    ination has been found, it
                                                                ities affect more streams in
ground-water quantity and                                       tes affect mor e streams        ranges from localized inci-
use appropriations. Protec-                                     the central and southern        dents in a few acres to more
tion of the Southern Oahu                                       regons,                         widespread nonpoint source
Aquifer has been afforded by                                    tices are more significant in   pollution such as elevated
its designation by EPA as a                                     the northern region.            nitrate levels.
                                                                                                                          A-9









Appendix









  Idaho's principal aquifers    Illinois                     percent were partially         Ground-Water
have been evaluated for                                      supporting uses, and the       Quality
potential contamination by Tob obtain a copy of the          remaining 33 percent were
the U.S. Geological Survey    Illinois 1988 305(b) report,   not supporting uses. Addi-       Ground-water monitoring
and the Department of Water  contact:                        tionally, 91 percent and       and assessment information
Resources. Both studies                                      42 percent of these assessed    to date indicate that state-
assessed a wide variety of    Illinois Environmental         waters met the fishable and    wide ground-water quality
potential contaminant           Protection Agency            swimmable goals of the CWA,   is generally good. However,
sources, intensity of land    Division of Water Pollution    respectively,                  many activities, past and
use, and aquifer vulnerability    Control                      The primary causes of use    present, contribute to
resulting from geological and   2200 Churchill Road          impairment for lakes are       ground-water contamination
hydrologic factors.           Springfield, IL 62706          suspended solids, siltation,   in Illinois. Major sources of
  Major land use practices in                                organic enrichment/dissolved   identified contamination in
Idaho were ranked according  Surface Water                   oxygen deficiencies, and       the State include leaking
to their contamination poten- Surface Water nutrients. Nuisance aquatic    underground storage tanks,
tial. Highest priority sources   Quality                     plants and taste and odor are   abandoned hazardous waste
were petroleum handling and                                  the next most important        sites, and municipal and
storage, feedlots and dairies,  Rivers and streams in        causes affecting impaired      industrial landfills. Sub-
landfills and hazardous       Illinois total 14,960 river    lakes; toxics and other causes   stances identified as contam-
waste disposal sites, and land  miles (13,200 interior river  are of relatively minor impor-   inants include organic and
application of wastewater.    miles; 1,760 border river      tance statewide. Sources       inorganic chemicals, metals,
  Nonpoint sources of impact  miles). In this reporting      affecting the greatest         radioactive materials, pesti-
to ground water are poorly    period, 12,970 river miles     number and acreage of lakes   cides and other agricultural
understood in Idaho, princi-   were assessed for degree      are agriculture (primarily     chemicals, arsenic, brine, and
paliy because monitoring      of use support. Of these       row crops), in-place contam-    petroleum products.
data are inadequate. Limited  assessed miles, 45 percent     inants (deposited sediment       The Illinois Ground-Water
monitoring does indicate      were fully supporting their    with associated nutrients      Protection Act, signed into
nonpoint source impacts       designated uses. The major     and pollutants), and lake/     law September 24, 1987,
from septic systems and agri-  causes of use impairment      stream bank erosion.           will help direct new program
cultural activities. The rela-   include nutrients, siltation,  Lake Michigan includes a    initiatives through numerous
tive importance of nonpoint   habitat/flow alteration,       total of 63 shoreline miles,   agencies to protect the State's
source versus point source    organic enrichment/low         forming the northeastern       ground-water resources from
impacts, however, is not      dissolved oxygen, ammonia/    portion of Illinois' border.    future degradation and to
known,                        chlorine, and metals. The      All 63 shoreline miles are     avoid difficult and expensive
                              major sources of use impair-    assessed to be partially      remedial cleanup efforts.
                              ment include agriculture,      supporting designated uses
                              point sources, hydrologic/     with minor impairment. The
                              habitat modification,          causes for less than full
                              construction/urban runoff,     support include total phos-
                              and resource extraction.       phate concentrations in
                              Ninety-six percent of          water column samples and
                              assessed stream miles were     priority organics based on
                              found to be meeting the fish-   the lakewide sport fish
                              able goal of the Clean Water    advisory. Major sources
                              Act (CWA), and 24 percent      include atmospheric depo-
                              were meeting the swimmable   sition, urban runoff, and
                              goal.                          in-place contaminants. Due
                                The State assessed 382       to a sport fish health advis-
                              lakes covering 183,572 acres    ory, Illinois' portion of Lake
                              and representing 74 percent    Michigan is considered to not
                              of the acreage of inland lakes   be fully attaining the fishable
                              in Illinois. Twelve percent of    goal of the CWA. All shore-
                              assessed lake acres were       line miles meet the swim-
                              found to support uses, 55      mable goals of the Act.
A-10









                                                                                                                Appendix









Indiana                        not considered to support the  not been shown to have been    efforts within and among all
                                "fishable" goal due to the    adversely affected by man's     levels of government, and
To 'obtain a copy of the
        Indbalna 198rpyofrt    lakewide fish consumption      activities, over 200 sites of  continued public partici-
Indiana 1988 305(b) report,
        coIndianaot            advisory.                      ground-water contamination    pation.
contact:
                                 The major causes of         have been documented.
                               nonsupport of uses were       These problems affect over
* Indiana Department           fecal coliform bacteria,       900 individual wells and
  of Environmental
         of Environmental      organic enrichment and        several hundred thousand         owa
  * Management                 dissolved oxygen problems,    people.
105 South Meridian Street      pesticides, priority organic    The substances m        ost    b obtain a copy of the Iowa
                                       pestcids, rioityorgnic  The substances most
Indianapolis, IN 46225         compounds, and ammonia.        frequently detected as well    1988 305(b) report, contact:
                                       componds, nd amonia.   frequently detected as well
                               There is also an indication   water contaminants in the
        ~Surface Water         that chlorine was moderately   State are chlorinated volatile   Iowa Department of Natural
                               affecting uses. The sources   organic chemicals, petroleum      Resources
Quality                        of substances most often       products, and nitrate. Moni-   Wallace State Office Building
                               contributing to nonsupport    toring wells at waste disposal   Des Moines, IA 50319
  During the reporting         of uses were: industrial and    sites most often indicate
period, Indiana assessed       municipal/semi-public point    ground-water pollution from      urface Water
5,181 miles of streams,        sources, combined sewer        inorganic chemicals. About
104,540 acres of lakes, and    overflows, and agricultural    10 percent of the private      Quality
43 Great Lake shoreline        nonpoint sources. Nonpoint    wells and 2 percent of the
miles. Of the waters assessed,   sources were most often      noncommunity wells tested        Of the 8,235 miles of
68 percent of the river and    considered to have only        contain excessive nitrate      streams assessed during 1986
stream miles and over 99       minor to moderate impacts.    levels. These are thought to    and 1987, about 20 percent
percent of the total inland      One area of special concern   be primarily of nonpoint      were described as not
lake and reservoir acreage     for Indiana is toxics control  source origin. The sources of    supporting the uses for
fully supported their          and monitoring. Increased      ground-water contamination    which they were designated
designated uses. All of        monitoring of fish tissue and    most commonly reported in    in the State's water quality
Indiana's portion of Lake      sediments for toxic and        the State are hazardous        standards. About 79 percent
Michigan was considered as    bioconcentrating materials      material spills, leaking       were partially supporting
partially supporting desig-    has occurred in Indiana over   underground storage tanks,     those uses. For lakes, 55
nated uses due to the lake-    the last two years, and a      and waste disposal activities.   percent of the 48,549
wide fish consumption          considerable amount of data      The Indiana Inter-Agency     assessed acres were found
advisory for certain species.    has been collected. However,   Ground Water Task Force      to be supporting designated
  Of the stream miles          little guidance is currently   adopted a final version of the   uses, about 42 percent were
assessed, it was estimated     available to aid the State in  State Ground Water Protec-    partially supporting, and
that the swimmable goal        interpreting this fish tissue  tion Strategy and Draft        the remaining were not
was supported in 82 percent    and sediment data as to        Implementation Plan in         supporting uses. Thirty-two
and the fishable goal was      health effects and potential    early 1987. This document     percent of 26,192 assessed
supported in 79 percent.       environmental impacts.         addresses 43 separate issues    wetland acres were found to
Although both the fishable                                    involving wells, ground water   be fully supporting desig-
and swimmable goals were                                      quality, and water quantity,   nated uses, about 54 percent
                               Ground-Water
supported in over 99 percent                                  and makes 160 recommenda-   were partially supporting,
of the total lake and reser-   Quality                        tions for improved safe-       and about 14 percent were
voir acreas assessed, many                                    guards and management          not supporting.
are considered threatened        Indiana's plentiful ground    of the resource. The plan       Iowa also assessed attain-
by point and/or nonpoint       water resource serves 60       calls for new and revised      ment of the Clean Water Act
sources of pollution. All of   percent of its population for    laws and rules, new as well as   goals for streams, lakes, and
Lake Michigan governed by      drinking water and fills many   modified agency programs,     wetlands. Eighty-two
Indiana supported the          of the water needs of busi-    research and information       percent of assessed stream
"swimmable" goal but was       nesses, industry, and agri-    management, coordination       miles, 99 percent of assessed
                               culture. Although most of                                     lakes acres, and 86 percent of
                               Indiana's ground water has                                    wetland acres were found to

                                                                                                                     A-11









Appendix








be meeting the fishable goal.    Major ground-water              Along with pesticides,        supported designated uses,
Due to naturally occurring     concerns in Iowa center         synthetic organic compounds   and 31 percent did not
physical limitations-primar-   around human activities and    have also been detected in       support designated uses.
ily size and depth of water-    resultant ground-water con-    Iowa ground water. In several   Of the lake acres assessed,
the swimmable goal was not    tamination. Agricultural         instances, concentrations       67 percent fully supported
attainable in 73 percent of    chemicals, landfills, under-    have been detected that are    designated uses, 28 percent
the stream miles and 76 per-   ground storage tanks, agri-     high enough to be considered   partially supported desig-
cent of the wetland acres      cultural drainage wells,        a health concern for long-      nated uses, and 5 percent did
assessed. Of the waters in     livestock wastes, and           term exposure.                  not support designated uses.
which the swimmable goal is   improper management of             In 1987, Iowa initiated         Assessment of Kansas
attainable, 74 percent of the   hazardous substances all       ground-water protection         waters relative to their
stream miles, 99 percent of    contribute to some degree to    legislation under the Ground-   support of fishable/swim-
the lake acres, and 73         ground-water degradation.       Water Protection Act. This      mable goal of the Clean
percent of the wetland acres   Several studies in north-       Act combines regulatory and    Water Act revealed that 100
were found to meet the goal.   eastern Iowa have focused       nonregulatory approaches to   percent of assessed lake
The stream miles not meet-     primarily on contamination      protect Iowa's ground-water    acres met both the fishable
ing the swimmable goal were   involving nitrates, pesticides,   sources. This law includes     and swimmable goal. Ninety-
impaired by fecal coliform     and other manmade organic    provisions relating to pesti-      five percent of the river
bacteria. The wetland acres    chemicals. High levels of       cide and fertilizer sales and   miles assessed met the
not meeting the swimmable    nitrates have been detected       use, as well as improved        fishable goal and 79 percent
goal were impaired by sedi-    in ground-water drinking        management practices relat-    met the swimmable goal.
ment and nutrients.            water supplies throughout       ing to specific environmental     The main causes of use
  Nonpoint sources             the State. Nitrogen fertilizer    concerns: solid waste         impairment in rivers were
contributing mainly sedi-      usage, animal wastes, and       disposal, underground storage  determined to be pathogens
ment, nutrients, and pesti-    wastewater treatment all        tanks, agricultural drainage    and salinity. The leading
cides were the primary         contribute to elevated nitrate   wells, and sinkholes.          sources are agriculture and
reason for use impairment in   levels in ground water.                                         municipal dischargers. For
Iowa's streams. Other major    Studies in northeast Iowa's                                     lakes, the main causes of use
causes of pollution cited by    karst areas and statewide                                      impairment appear to be
the State include metals and   sampling during 1985, 1986,    Kansas                           siltation, salinity, and metals.
pathogens. There are no        and 1987 have detected low      'lb obtan a copy of the         Agriculture and hydrological/
direct discharges of waste-    levels of various pesticides in   Kansas 1988 305(b) report,    habitat modifications were
water to lakes in Iowa, so all   Iowa ground water. Runoff                                     the leading sources of use
lake pollution problems were   into agricultural drainage                                      impairment in the lakes.
 attributed to nonpoint         wells and sinkholes, as well
sources. The leading causes    as infiltration through soils,    Health and Environment        Ground-Water
 of nonsupport in lakes were    are believed to be the sources   Water Quality Assessment
 nutrients, siltation, and to a    of pesticide contamination.    Sectionty
 lesser degree oil and grease.    Except for instances where    Bureau of Water Protection
                                contamination has been          Forbes Field                      Kansans rely on ground-
 G rou nd-Water                 found in the vicinity of ag-            KS 66620                water resources for public,
                                chemical dealerships, the                                       rural, industrial, and irriga-
 Quality                        concentrations of pesticides                                    tion water supplies. Approx-
                                found are thought to pose no                                    i Wmately 85 percent of all
   Ground-water withdrawals   immediate threat to public          urfce    ater                 water used in Kansas is
 account for nearly 85 percent  health. However, little is      Quality                         supplied from ground water.
 of the total water uses in     known about the effects of                                      Irrigation continues to be the
 Iowa, with approximately 80   long-term exposure to low          During Water Years 1986-      largest user of ground water.
 percent of all Iowa's drinking   concentrations of many of     1987, Kansas assessed 6,888     In rural areas, ground water
 water coming from ground-    these chemicals or their          miles of streams and 173,911    supplies 85 percent of the
 water aquifers. The quality    breakdown products.             acres of lakes. Of the river    drinking water.
 and quantity of Iowa aquifers                                  miles assessed, 58 percent        Ground-water quality
 vary throughout the State.                                     fully supported designated      problems in Kansas are
                                                                uses, 11 percent partially      generally localized. About
 A-12









                                                                                                                 Appendix








300 isolated ground-water      KeVtn        ck                 Natural sources, surface         found and attributed to
pollution problems are               ntuclq                    mining, and unspecified          faulty well construction. No
known and are generally the    To obtain a copy of the          nonpoint sources accounted    significant cases of organic
result of human activities.    Kentucky 1988 305(b) report,   for the greatest impacts to       contamination were found.
Pesticide contamination of     contact:                         lakes.                          While these studies point out
ground water is a site-specific                                  The discharge of brines to     the good quality of the
problem; more analysis is       Kentucky Division of Water     Kentucky waters remains a        ground water in these areas,
needed to determine the        Water Quality Branch            serious problem, particularly    other statewide problems
extent of contamination. The   18 Reilly Road                  in portions of the Licking and   remain to be solved. Impacts
Kansas Department of Health   Frankfort Office Park            Kentucky River drainages.        from sanitary landfills and
and Environment (KDHE)         Frankfort, KY 40601             Significant improvements in    domestic on-site sewage
                               Frankfort, KY 40601
has established a Bureau of                                    water quality in parts of        treatment, inconsistencies
Environmental Remediation                                      the Blaine Creek drainage        in Federal and State laws
to respond to State contam-    Su                              resulted from the application    regarding ground water, and
ination cleanup needs.          Surface Water                  of newly promulgated Federal   improperly abandoned wells
  Some Kansas ground water   Quality                           chloride criteria to oil and     are of concern.
is not desirable for drinking                                  gas permitting actions.
because of inorganic chem-       During the reporting          Continuation of the permit-
icals and mineralization.      period, Kentucky assessed       ting activities should signif-   Louisiana
Screening of Public Water      8,653 miles of streams and      icantly improve water quality   LUUISlana
Supply wells for volatile      214,483 acres of lakes.         in the other areas affected
                                                                                               To obtain a copy of the
organic chemicals resulted in   Approximately 71 percent       by brine pollution.
the removal of over 30 wells    of assessed river miles fully    The loss of wetland            Louisiana 1988 305(b) report,
from service. Nitrate was      supported their designated      resources and adverse
found to exceed public         uses, as did 84 percent of      impacts to remaining wet-
Drinking Water Standards in    assessed lake acres.            land areas are of concern to     Department of
several studies, including the   The major causes of use       the State. It is estimated that    Environmental Quality
Farmstead Well Contamina-      nonsupport in rivers were       half of Kentucky's original      Standards Development
tion Study. The KDHE and       fecal coliform contamina-       wetland& Implementation Section
the U.S. Geologic Survey       tion, affecting primary         Nearly all of the remaining      Water Pollution
                                                                                                 Division
maintain a ground-water        contact recreation use, and     areas have been degraded by    P.O. Box 44091
monitoring network and         siltation, impairing warm-      pesticides, acid mine drain-     Baton Rouge, LA 708044091
conduct special investiga-     water aquatic habitat use.      age, siltation, oil brine,
tions as warranted.            The major sources of the        or domestic and industrial
                               fecal coliform contamination    waste. A major threat to        Surface Water
                               were municipal wastewater       Kentucky wetlands is
                               treatment plant discharges.     destruction by competing        Quality
                               Nonpoint sources, primarily    land use activities and poor
                               surface mining and unspeci-    land management practices.         Louisiana contains a
                               fled other sources such as                                      plentiful supply of water
                               agriculture, were the major     Ground-Water                    resources comprising an
                               sources of siltation.                                           estimated 290,000 river and
                                 Iron and manganese were       Quality                         stream miles, 715,812
                               the greatest cause of use                                       lake/reservoir acres, and
                               nonsupport in lakes. This was     With some exceptions, the     7,656 square miles of
                               largely due to impacts on       quality of Kentucky's ground    estuaries. Of the 8,483 total
                               domestic water supplies from   water is good. Special studies   river miles assessed, 68
                               hypolimnetic water released    were conducted in 1987 on        percent are fully supporting
                               from large reservoirs.          199 wells in the Gateway        designated uses, 25 percent
                               Nutrients were the second       Area Development District       are partially supporting
                               greatest cause of use non-      and the Calvert City area.      designated uses, and 7
                               support and affected the        Isolated occurrences of fecal    percent are not supporting
                               largest number of lakes.        coliform contamination were    designated uses. Seventy-

                                                                                                                      A-13









Appendix








three percent of the State's    and other oxygen demanding   potential sources of drinking   remaining untreated point
715,812 assessed lake acres    substances. The DO levels in    water will be a key goal.       sources, and the emergence
are fully supporting their     many of Louisiana's water-                                      of ground-water quality and
designated uses, and 27        bodies reflect the impact of                                    hydropower as major
percent are partially          wetland drainage.                                               concerns, it is doubtful that
supporting their designated                                    Mai     ne                      future water quality improve-
uses. Of the 7,656 square      Ground-Water                'me nts will continue at the
miles of estuaries which         rot                             ota      c      t             same rate as in the past.
were assessed, 55 percent      Quality                         1988 305(b) report, contact:
are fully supporting their
designated uses, 42 percent      The quality of water in the   Maine Department of             Ground-Water
are partially supporting       State's major aquifer systems     Environmental Protection      Quality
designated uses, and 2         remains excellent. The          State House Station No. 17
percent are not supporting     deeper aquifers remain free    Augusta, ME 04333                  During the past 10 years,
designated uses,               from contamination. Of                                          many wells in Maine have
  The most frequently cited    specific concern in Louis-      Surfacbeen abandoned due to
pollutants identified as       iana, however, are the urface Water contamination from
causes of use are fecal        shallow aquifers and the        Quality                         nonpoint source pollution.
coliform bacteria, oxygen-     water bearing zones which                                       Based on present knowledge
demanding substances,          are not used as major sources     During Water Years 1986-      of pollution sources affecting
nutrients, oil, and inorganic    of water. These strata, which   1987, 31,672 river miles,     ground water, it is safe to
impairment (specifically,      have been shown to contrib-    994,560 lake acres, and 1,633   assume that there are thou-
chlorides and brine). The      ute significantly to the water   square miles of estuary were    sands of sites in Maine with
most commonly cited sources   balance of the deeper aqui-    assessed. This represents 100   unpotable ground water. The
of pollutants are runoff from   fers, are becoming increas-    percent of the total size of    State is currently formu-
unsewered communities,         ingly threatened. This threat   waterbodies in the State. Of    lating a Ground Water
inadequately treated sewage   is two-fold. Site-specific       the assessed waters, 99         Strategy to deal with the
discharges from municipal-     contamination of these          percent of river miles, 96      alarming degradation of this
ities, discharges and spills   shallow strata presents a       percent of lake acres, and 98    critical resource. Preventive
from petroleum activities,     direct threat to the major      percent of estuary square       rather than reactive measures
agricultural runoff, and       aquifers by means of leakage   miles fully supported their      will form the basis of this
urban runoff. At this time,    through well bores, strati-     designated uses.                strategy.
nonpoint sources appear to     graphic interconnections,         In the more populated           Major sources of ground-
be the predominant sources    and fractures. In addition,      areas of Maine, water quality   water contamination in the
contributing to water quality   individual wells are located    is affected by a combination    State include septic systems,
problems in the State.         in these shallow strata and     of point sources such as        agricultural activities,
  Waterbodies that             may become directly contam-  industrial and municipal           improper storage, and
experience frequent or         inated.                         effluents, and nonpoint         disposal of hazardous sub-
chronic depressed levels of      To address this growing       sources such as urban and       stances, landfill leachate,
dissolved oxygen (DO) are of    problem, the Department of   suburban stormwater runoff,   leaking underground storage
special concern to the State.    Environmental Quality now    combined sewer overflows,        tanks, and salt storage/road
Low DO levels can result       has a Ground Water Protec-    agriculture, construction-        deicing. Present trends
from a combination of          tion Division within the        related runoff, and waste       indicate that more of Maine's
natural and man-induced        Office of Water Resources. In   disposal practices. Most of     ground water is becoming
sources which are frequently   addition to enforcing State     the larger municipal and        contaminated each year, and
difficult to separate. Low DO    and Federal ground-water      industrial effluents now        almost none is being restored
levels can be attributed to    protection programs, the new   receive the equivalent of        to acceptable levels of qual-
partially or inadequately       Division is working on the     best practicable treatment.     ity. Migration and expansion
treated sewage and to           development of a State         This has led to improved        of existing contamination
natural conditions, especially   ground-water protection       water quality in the State's    plumes would be a contin-
in waterbodies surrounded      strategy. Although this         major rivers in the last 20     uing concern even if current
by wetlands which contribute  strategy is still under devel-    years. Given the difficulties    pollution sources could be
nutrients, organic matter,      opment, the protection of all  of controlling nonpoint         addressed.
                                                               sources, the low number of
 A-14








                                                                                                                   Appendix








Maryland                        about 2 percent did not         the total water used in the    Massachusetts
                                 support their designated       State, ground water is of
To obtain a copy of the         uses. Of the 17,448 acres of    substantial cultural and        To obtain a copy of the
Maryland 1988 305(b) report,    large public lakes assessed in   economic importance. For       Massachusetts 1988 305(b)
contact:                        the State, 85 percent fully     example, ground water           report, contact:
                                supported their intended        constitutes up to 97 percent
                                uses, 15 percent partially     of the total water used in      Massachusetts Division of
  the Environment               supported uses, and less than   some Eastern Shore counties.      Water Pollution Control
Chesapeake Bay & Special        1 percent did not support       Approximately 15 percent of   Westview Building
  Projects Program              their intended uses. None of    the State's population use      Lyman School Grounds
2500 Broening Highway           the 1,981 square miles of the   ground water as a drinking      Westborough, MA 01581
Baltimore, MD  21224            mainstem Chesapeake Bay         water supply; other major
                                estuary fully supported        uses of ground water include
Surface Water                   designated uses. No water       livestock water supply, irri-   Surface Water
                                quality impacts were noted     gation, and industrial uses.    Quality
Quality                         along 32 miles of the open        On the whole, the State's
                                ocean coast.                   ground waters are of accept-      Water quality in Massa-
  The State's surface waters      Nutrients, sediments, and     able quality. However, a        chusetts has not changed
are of good quality and         bacteria are the three major    number of localized instances  significantly since 1986.
exhibit stable trends even      causes of use impairment in    of ground-water contamina-    The State reports that water
though many problems still      the State. These problems       tion exist. Locally serious     quality impacts from point
exist and new ones have         occur statewide and in most    impacts occur as a result of     sources appear to be declin-
been identified. The most       waterbody types. Regional       excess nitrates, bacteria, salt,   ing as a result of the construc-
serious of these problems is    causes of severe water          toxic compounds, and petro-    tion and upgrading of waste-
the continuing accumulation    quality impacts include          leum products. In some cases,   water treatment plants.
of nutrients in estuaries and    organic enrichment in the      water supply wells have been   Nonpoint sources, however,
impoundments. Suspended         Chesapeake Bay estuary and    closed.                           continue to degrade water
sediments continue to be a      in the lower tidal rivers, and    Existing or potential         quality and are more appar-
problem in both free-flowing    acidity in the State's western   sources of ground-water        ent now that control of point
and tidal waters. Locally       rivers and streams near         contamination in the State      sources has improved.
elevated bacterial levels are   abandoned coal mines. Other   include septic systems, land-       Data for this reporting
found throughout the State,    causes of severe water          fills and dumps, underground   period indicate that 43
and have resulted in some       quality impacts include pesti-  storage tanks, saltwater        percent of the 1,646 river
areas being closed to recrea-    cide contamination (chlor-     intrusion, agricultural activ-    miles assessed fully support
tional bathing or shellfish     dane) and flow alteration.      ities, surface impoundments    their designated uses, 36
harvesting. Acid mine drain-    Leading sources of impair-      and injection wells, spills and   percent partially support
age from many abandoned         ment include agricultural       improper storage, and land      uses, and 20 percent do not
coal mines in Western Mary-    and urban runoff, mining,        application of sewage sludge    support their uses. Of 171
land remains a long standing,   rural conditions, municipal     and wastewater.                 estuarine square miles
difficult problem to solve.     discharge, land disposal                                        assessed, 32 percent support
The presence of the toxic       (failing septic systems and                                     uses, 65 percent partially
pesticide chlordane in some     raw sewage input), bottom                                       support uses, and 4 percent
sediments and fish tissues in    sediment releases, and                                         do not support uses.
Baltimore Harbor, Back          upstream sources.                                                In Massachusetts' rivers
River, and Lake Roland indi-                                                                    and estuaries, coliform
cates a long-term pollution     Ground-Water                                                    bacteria are the leading
problem.                                                                                        cause of the impairment of
  Of the 9,300 miles of rivers    Quality                                                       designated uses. Combined
and streams assessed in                                                                         sewer overflows and munic-
Maryland, nearly 93 percent       Ground-water resources in                                     ipal sewage treatment plants
fully supported their desig-    Maryland are an abundant                                        are the major point source of
nated uses, 5 percent par-      natural resource. Although it                                   fecal coliform bacteria, while
tially supported uses, and      comprises only 13 percent of                                    urban runoff and failing

                                                                                                                       A-15









Appendix








septic systems are its leading   pesticide EDB. Other
nonpoint source contrib-       contaminants cited include    Mi     ch   gan                     Four of the five Great
utors. Nutrients, dissolved    nitrates, MBAs, phenols,                                        Lakes border Michigan.
oxygen, and biochemical        trihalomethanes, and          bTo obtain a copy of the          Three of these lakes-
oxygen demanding substances calcium carbonate.                 Michigan 1988 305(b) report,    Superior, Michigan, and
are also significant causes of  Contamination was traced                                       Huron-are considered to be
use impairment.                to industrial sources, includ-                                  oligotrophic and of excellent
  Monitoring data indicate    ing leaking sewer lines and     Michigan Department of           quality. Water quality in
 that 91 percent of the State's  storage areas, discharges, and  Natural Resources              Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron
 river miles are fishable and 9  illegal dumping; leaking      Surface Water Quality            has improved considerably in
 percent are posted with a     underground tanks; landfills;     Division                       recent years and has contrib-
 fish consumption advisory.    overdevelopment; septic         P.O. Box 30028                   uted to improved water qual-
 Of the State's estuarine      systems; road salts; a sewage    Lansing, MI 48909               ity conditions in Lake Huron.
 waters, 68 percent are fish-    treatment plant; and natural                                   Conditions in Lake Erie have
 able, 31 percent have fish    conditions or unknown                                            also improved. Lake Erie is
 consumption advisories, and   sources. Private water sup-                                      still considered to be eutro-
 1 percent are under fishing    plies are also threatened by   Quality                          phic, but biological communi-
 bans. PCB and heavy metal    pesticides from agricultural                                      ties are becoming more
 contamination are the cause   activities.                       Water quality in Michigan's    balanced and there are fewer
 of fish consumption advis-      Much has been accom-          lakes and streams is gener-      problems with low dissolved
 ories and bans in the State.    plished in the past 5 years   ally quite good. The inland      oxygen levels. Michigan is
                                to further ground-water        waters of the upper penin-       currently preparing or
      Ground-Water             protection and cleanup in       sula and the northern half       implementing Remedial
   Ground-Water                Massachusetts. A 1983           of the lower peninsula are      Action Plans for several
 Quality                        Ground Water Protection         of excellent quality and        Great Lakes nearshore Areas
                                Strategy set the organiza-     generally contain diverse        of Concern to improve water
   Ground-water supplies        tional framework necessary    aquatic communities. In the       quality conditions in these
 serve approximately 33         to identify and effectively     southern part of the State,     historically degraded areas.
 percent of the population in   and efficiently address         lakes and streams have been       Over the past 20 years,
 Massachusetts, with around    matters affecting ground-        affected by surface water       pollution abatement efforts
 400,000 individuals relying    water quality and public        runoff from agricultural land    have reduced water quality
 on private on-site wells.      health. Within the context of   and urban centers, and by       problems in many Michigan
 Since 1960, 41 municipalities   this strategy, new regulatory    municipal and industrial      waters. Eutrophication prob-
 have been affected by chem-   programs and financial           discharges.                     lems in particular have been
 ical or bacterial contamina-    and technical assistance         During the reporting          substantially reduced due to
 tion of municipal water        programs have been devel-       period, Michigan assessed       major point source reduc-
 supplies. This has resulted in   oped and implemented.         36,350 miles of streams,        tions in phosphorus and
 temporary or permanent         Closed and contaminated         424,021 acres of lakes, and     organic material loads. The
 closures of 108 public wells,    water supplies have been      3,288 Great Lake shoreline      State is now increasing its
 well fields, or reservoirs     treated, local land use         miles. Designated uses were     efforts at determining the
 across the State. There are    controls have been strength-    supported in 98 percent of      magnitude of nonpoint
 few statistics on private well   ened, and grants for the      the assessed river miles and    source nutrient loads and
 closures.                      purchase of land to protect     72 percent of assessed lake     formulating nonpoint source
   Ground-water monitoring    wells have been distributed.    acres. Since all Michigan         control programs.
 is conducted through routine   Because of these programs       waters of the Great Lakes         Toxic contaminants
 testing, the State Purgeable    and grants, 26 percent of the   have public health fish        continue to have a major
 Organic Testing (SPOT) Pro-    closed municipal supplies       consumption advisories in       impact on water resources in
 gram, citizen requests, and    have been brought back on       place for at least one species    several areas of the State.
 special studies. This moni-    line and an additional 17.6     due to elevated levels of toxic   Michigan has recently imple-
 toring has resulted in well    percent are slated for          materials in their tissue, the  mented an industrial pre-
 closures due to elevated       reactivation.                   State's Great Lakes waters      treatment program, promul-
 levels of organics, iron and                                   are considered to be not fully   gated new rules on the
 manganese, salt, petroleum                                     supporting their designated     discharge of toxic materials,
 products, coliform, and the                                    uses.                           and regulated hazardous

  A-16








                                                                                                                Appendix








waste disposal facilities to   also on the Federal Super-      ination presents an increas-    public water supply; rural
control the discharge of       fund list.                      ing challenge to the State's   domestic and livestock water
these substances. However,       As of January 1988, 35        efforts to protect water       supply; irrigation; thermo-
many problems are due to       Michigan municipal well         quality.                       electric power generation;
in-place pollutants that have    systems were known to have      During the reporting         and self-supplied industrial
accumulated in bottom sedi-    been affected by toxic          period, Minnesota assessed     use. Public and domestic
ments from historical dis-     contaminants and over 950       4,443 miles of streams,        water supply account for
charges. At present, little is  private residential wells were   1,435,554 acres of lakes, and   55.7 percent of the ground
known about the interaction    known to be contaminated.       272 Great Lake shoreline       water withdrawn, which was
of these materials with the    Even greater numbers of         miles. Of the assessed waters,   more than 140 billion gallons
aquatic environment, the       public and private wells are    35 percent of river miles,     in 1985.
extent of contamination in     potentially affected by         84 percent of lake acres, and   The Minnesota Pollution
problem areas, the specific    known contamination sites.      100 percent of Great Lake      Control Agency (MPCA) has
chemical compounds               Various steps are being       shoreline miles were fully     conducted a Ground Water
involved, or toxic material    taken to protect the State's    supporting their designated    Quality Monitoring Program
resuspension and transport     ground water including the      uses.                          since 1978. The monitoring
rates.                         cleanup of hazardous waste        The major causes of use      network consists of approx-
                               sites and contaminated         impairment in rivers were      imately 400 wells and springs
Ground-Water                   aquifers, the regulation of    siltation, nutrients, patho-   statewide, which are sampled
                               activities that could poten-   gens, and organic enrich-      in a 4-year rotation and
Quality                        tially impact ground-water     ment. Seventy-three percent   analyzed for basic constit-
                               supplies, and monitoring       of impaired river miles were    uents and volatile organic
  Ground water is readily      ground-water quality. An       affected by nonpoint sources   compounds. Pesticides are
available at most locations in   interagency ground-water     of pollution. The only cause    also analyzed for a very
Michigan, although there are   management and protection    of use impairment cited for      limited basis.
some places in the western     program is being imple-        lakes was nutrients, primarily    The natural quality of
upper peninsula and southern  mented.                         from nonpoint sources.         Minnesota's ground water is
Michigan where yields are                                       Fish tissue analyses were    generally quite good, with
low. Most of the State's                                      used to identify waters con-    concentrations usually
ground water is of excep-                                     taminated with bioaccumu-      falling far below the primary
tional quality and is used for  M innesota                    lative toxics and to monitor   drinking water standards.
a variety of purposes includ-                                 heavily used water for         However, there is growing
ing domestic consumption,      To obtain a copy of the        potential problems. Mercury    concern over increased
crop irrigation, food process-    Minnesota 1988 305(b)       and PCBs were determined       nitrate and pesticide contam-
ing, and industrial processes.    report, contact:            to be the leading causes of    ination. The influence of
Approximately half of Michi-                                  nonsupport of fish consump-    land use activities on ground-
gan's residents, or about 4.6  Minnesota Pollution Control    tion uses in lakes; in rivers,  water quality can be seen in
million people, depend on        Agency                       PCBs were the leading cause,   the chronic exceedances of
ground water as their sole     Water Monitoring and Data      although mercury was also      the nitrate standard in the
source of drinking water. The    Management Unit              a factor. In rivers, toxic     southwestern counties,
withdrawal of ground water     520 Lafayette Road             contamination of fish tissue   where animal feedlots are
for public consumption is the   St. Paul, MN 55155            generally occurred below       concentrated. Nitrates are
largest use of this resource                                  major municipalities.          also frequently elevated in
in Michigan.                                                                                 the karst areas of south-
  Certain aquifers have        Surface Water                                                  eastern Minnesota, as well
become contaminated by         Quality                        Ground-Water                   as in the shallow surficial
toxic materials leaking from                                  Quality                        unconsolidated sandplain
waste disposal sites, busi-      Control of point source                                     aquifers which supply water
nesses, or government facil-    discharges has been vastly      At least 75 percent of all   in the central areas along the
ities. Actual or potential     improved in Minnesota. How-   Minnesotans rely on ground      Mississippi River Basin.
ground-water contamination    ever, as land use increases     water for their drinking         Other recent ground-water
has been identified at 1,778   and intensifies, the adverse   water supply. Water use        monitoring programs of
sites in Michigan. At this     impact of nonpoint source      within the State was divided   interest are the cooperative
time, 69 of these sites are    pollution and toxic contain-    into five major categories:   pesticide surveys conducted
                                                                                                                     A-17









Appendix









by the Minnesota Depart-       siltation, and to a lesser        High fecal coliform levels     excessive color are noted.
ments of Agriculture and       extent pesticides, priority     along the Mississippi Gulf         Localized ground-water
Health. The wells tested in    organics, metals, chlorine,     Coast are a serious concern      contamination problems
the surveys were generally     organic enrichment/dissolved   in the State. This problem        have been found near a
located in places where local   oxygen, and salinity. The      has been caused by rapid         number of RCRA-regulated
hydrogeology indicates         major source of these pollut-    development on the Gulf         surface impoundments.
susceptibility to pesticide    ants is agricultural runoff.    Coast and the inability of       Ground-water contamination
contamination. Approx-         With implementation of Best   existing sewage collection         has also been found near
imately 500 samples were       Management Practices, all       and treatment systems to         several wood preserving
collected; about 38 percent    streams classified for Fish     keep up with population          facilities and chemical
of all samples had detectable   and Wildlife or higher uses    growth. Significant improve-     companies. All of these
levels of one or more          could potentially attain        ment is anticipated with the     contamination incidences
pesticides.                    support of the fishable/        implementation of regional       involve shallow aquifers. The
  The State is working to      swimmable goal.                 sewage treatment plants for      U.S. Geological Survey, in
control and abate ground-        Over 96 percent of the        the three-county area.           cooperation with the Missis-
water pollution through its    State's 500,000 acres of lakes    Another area of concern        sippi Department of Natural
ground-water protection        fully support designated        is the Mississippi Delta. This   Resources, has completed a
strategy and development       uses, with the remainder        fertile farmland has been        study of ground-water and
of municipal ground-water      partially supporting uses. All   subjected to intense tillage    surface-water contamination
standards.                     lakes were determined to be    and use of agricultural           in five areas of southern
                                supporting the fishable/       chemicals over many years;       Mississippi. The study
                                swimmable goal of the Clean   lakes and streams in the area    indicated that brine contam-
                                Water Act. Lakes rated as      have been affected. Although   ination in shallow aquifers
Mississippi                    partially supporting their use   serious problems with DDT,     has occurred in parts of the
                                classification are affected by   its derivatives, and toxa-     Pickens, Tinsley, Brook-
To obtain a copy of the        nonpoint sources, primarily    phene have declined signif-       haven, Little Creek, and
Mississippi 1988 305(b)        agricultural runoff.            icantly since 1976, use of      Ryan oil fields. A number of
report, contact:                 As in rivers and lakes,       toxaphene as a herbicide is      areas in southwestern Missis-
                                nonpoint sources are the       increasing. Improvements in    sippi were also found to be
Mississippi Department of      primary reason for use          the Delta should be gradually    contaminated by brine. The
  Natural Resources            impairment in Mississippi's     noted as less persistent        study also indicates that
Bureau of Pollution Control    estuaries and coastal waters.   chemicals are used at           parts of deeper aquifers may
Water Quality Management         Approximately 133 square    optimum spraying times. In        be contaminated in Tinsley
  Section                      miles of estuaries were         addition, educational efforts    and Brookhaven oil fields.
P.O. Box 10385                 assessed for this report. Of    through the 208 Program and       The Mississippi State
Jackson, MS 39209              these, 126 square miles fully   other agricultural programs     Department of Health is
                                support designated uses,       are resulting in use of Best     responsible for administering
Surface Water                  6 square miles partially sup-    Management Practices such      the Federal Safe Drinking
                                port uses, and only 1 square    as minimum tillage, filter      Water Act for the State.
Quality                        mile does not support desig-    strips, crop residue use, and   Approximately 96 wells
                                nated uses. Of 81 coastal      safe pesticide container         serving 32 water supplies
  Of Mississippi's 15,600      miles, 40 miles fully support    disposal.                      have been sampled for
miles of rivers, about 89      designated uses but are                                         volatile organic chemicals
percent fully support          threatened. Another 30 miles                                    (VOCs) in addition to primary
designated uses. Over 97       are partially supporting and                                    drinking water parameters.
percent of these miles were    11 miles are nonsupporting.    Quality                          Four of these public water
rated as meeting the fishable   Except for periodic excur-                                     supplies sampled contained
goal of the Clean Water Act    sions of the bacteria standard    Ground water in Missis-       VOCs. Two of these contam-
 and 95 percent were rated as   for recreation, all of these   sippi is of good quality;        ination instances were
 meeting the swimmable goal.  coastal waters were found to   however, in some areas             directly related to leaking
 The most significant impacts   support the fishable/swim-     natural problems such as low    underground storge tanks
 on impaired streams arose      mable goal of the Clean        pH, excessive iron, excessive    and the other two are
 primarily from nutrients,      Water Act.                     dissolved solids, and            unresolved. When contam-

A-18









                                                                                                                 Appendix








ination of an underground     efforts, however, have lagged   taminants are a problem      seriously threatened by
source of drinking water      behind. A State-funded        statewide.                     surface impoundments used
occurs, the Department of     program to address soil         Missouri discusses its       to store liquid waste, these
Natural Resources works       erosion is under way on a     ground-water contamination    have probably been the
with the Department of        watershed basis, and some     sources as follows:            largest source of hazardous
Health to define a potential    improvements are expected                                  waste in ground waters by
contaminant source,           from the reclamation of       ï¿½ Public supplies at Repub-    volume.
                                abandoned coal mines.        lic and Liberty, Missouri,
                                Impacts from abandoned        have been contaminated and
        ~~Missouri    ~       lead-zinc mining areas are    long-term water use may be a
        M issou  ri not being addressed, and                health risk from abandoned    Montana
                                programs to abate agricul-    hazardous waste sites.
'Lb obtain a copy of the      tural erosion are of small    Although unconfirmed, this    Th obtain a copy of the
Missouri 1988 305(b) report,    so      are  o     s         oure is                      Montana 1988 305(b) report,
                               scope compared to the size    source is probably also
contact:                                                                                  cnat
                                of the problem.              responsible for contamina-
                                 Another leading concern    tion and potential health risk
Missouri Department of                                                                      otn   ae  uly
         Mouri Resurtcen      in the State is the continuing   with long-term water use for         a
  Natural Resources                                                                         Bra
         DiRsinofvrncent      channelization (e.g., realign-   public supplies at Kirkwood  Bureau
Division of Environmental                                                                 Dprmn  fHat  n
         Qun Ei mal ity~ ~ment, straightening) of           and Valley Park, Missouri.     Erment         al   n
  Quality                     streams, which reduces the                                    EvrnetlSine
                         Quality                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Environmental Sciences
P.O. Box 176                  streams, which reduces thelding
                               quantity and quality of       ï¿½ Present documentation            el M592
Jefferson, MO 65102                                                                       HlnM    92
                                aquatic habitat, increases    of Federal and State incident
                                water temperature, and        files established under-
        ~~Surface Waterincreases erosion and sedi-           ground storage tanks as the    Surface Waer
                               mentation. Also of concern is   most common sources of
Quality                       the presence of chlordane in    contamination requiring     Quality
                               fish tissue, which has resulted  remediation. Industry aware-
  During 1986-1987, Missouri   in fish consumption adviso-   ness and new regulations       Natural waters in Montana
assessed 19,630 miles of      ries in 683 stream miles and   should have a very strong    range in quality from the
rivers and 288,012 acres of   700 lake acres. Chlordane      input within 5 years.        almost distilled waters of
lakes. Of the State's rivers  was used in termite control                                 some headwater lakes and
and streams, 52 percent were   and is believed to enter      ï¿½ Septic tanks are respon-    streams in the west, to
fully supporting uses and all    waterways as a result of    sible for bacterial, viral, and   waters exceeding the salinity
but 0.2 percent of the        storm sewers/runoff.           nitrate contamination of     of seawater in parts of
remainder were partially                                     many improperly cased or     eastern Montana.
supporting their uses. Most                                  uncased private wells          About 80 percent of
impaired waters are affected                                 through the State.           Montana's stream miles have
by extensive land uses, espe- Ground-Water been evaluated for water
cially row crop agriculture.  Quality                        ï¿½ Fertilizer and pesticides    quality conditions and about
Of the State's lakes and                                     are causing localized ground-   15 percent are monitored on
reservoirs, 99 percent were     The State has identified 17    water contamination in     a regular basis. Of the stream
fully supporting their desig-    areas of known ground-water   agricultural areas. The extent  miles that have been eval-
nated uses.                   contamination. These areas     and degree of the problem    uated and monitored, 63
 The number of stream        have been contaminated by a   are still being assessed. Of   percent fully support desig-
miles affected by point       variety of compounds such      greatest concern are areas   nated uses, 34 percent par-
sources in Missouri has been    as organic chemicals, pesti-  where bulk quantities of    tially support designated
dropping since 1982 as the    cides, heavy metals, and       these chemicals are routinely  uses, and 3 percent do not
result of sewage treatment    nitrates. Public and private   stored or mixed and areas    support designated uses.
plant construction and a      wells are at risk or have been   where spills have occurred.  The major causes of use
statewide assessment          affected at a number of these                               impairment in Montana's
program that has targeted     sites. In addition, nitrates   ï¿½ Although no public water   streams are siltation,
projects of greatest need.    and bacteria from septic      supplies have been contam-    nutrients, salinity, flow
Nonpoint source control       tanks and local surface con-    inated or are believed to be    alteration, thermal modifica-

                                                                                                                      A-19









Appendix








tion, habitat alteration, and    Sciences. Potential sources   sources, industrial discharges,   Ground-Water
metals. Major sources include   of ground-water pollution,      habitat modification and
agriculture, resource extrac-    including those regulated by    hydrologic modifications, and   Quality
tion, hydromodification,       industry-specific programs,     natural conditions. All of
natural and unknown            must satisfy the MGWPCS         these sources have impacts        It is estimated that about
sources, forest practices,     nondegradation policy and        on the biotic integrity of      1,875,000,000 acre-feet of
and construction.               meet ground-water quality       affected streams.               ground water lie in storage
  About 70 percent of           standards. The Department         About 59 percent of all       under Nebraska's surface.
Montana's lake acres have       has agreements with several    publicly owned lake surface      Ground water is an extremely
been evaluated for water        State agencies to assist in the   acres in Nebraska were        important resource to
quality conditions and about    review of permit applications   assessed for support of         Nebraska, supplying about
17 percent are monitored on    and to ensure that water        designated uses. Of those        67 percent of the water used
a regular basis. Of the lake    quality concerns are thor-     lake acres assessed, 96          for irrigation and about 77
acres that have been eval-      oughly addressed. Pollution    percent fully supported all      percent of the public water
uated and monitored, 52         sources that are not per-       assigned uses. Aquatic life     supplies.
percent fully support desig-    mitted by other federally      uses were impaired in those        Although Nebraska's
nated uses, 46 percent          mandated or State permit-      lakes not fully supporting       natural ground-water quality
partially support designated    ting systems are required to    their uses. Agricultural        is good, many areas have
uses, and 2 percent do not      obtain a MGWPCS permit.        runoff and the inherent          experienced degradation
support designated uses.                                       characteristics of the lakes     from human activities.
   The major causes of use                                      appear to be responsible for     Hundreds of cases of ground-
 impairment in Montana lakes                                    the high producitivty and       water contamination have
 are habitat alteration, salin-    Nebraska                     low dissolved oxygen levels     been documented, with
 ity, siltation, and nutrients.    obtain a copy of th          in these lakes.                 numbers increasing each
 Major sources in lakes         Nebraska 1988 305(b) report,      Data from 1978 through        year. Major sources include
 include hydromodification,    1987 were available to                                           agricultural activities;
 and agriculture.                        determine water quality                                industrial facilities; leaking
                                                                trends for 15 lakes repre-      underground storage tanks;
                                GrouNebraska Denvronmenta l Crol  senting 69,884 surface acres.    oil or hazardous substance
                                Ground-water  Environmental Control  Water quality showed no    spills; solid waste landfills;
  Quality                       Box 94877                        significaint changes in seven    wastewater lagoons; brine
                                NState House Sta6on             lakes covering 66,839 acres.    disposal pits; septic systems;
   The principal sources of     Lincoln, NE 68509               These trends indicate that      and other sources. Most
 ground-water contamination                                     less than 1 percent improved,   commonly detected contam-
 in Montana are underground   Surface Water                     almost 96 percent main-         inants in Nebraska's ground
 storage tanks, spills, mineral                                 tained their water quality,     water include nitrates;
  processing, abandoned haz-    Quality                          and 4 percent showed            pesticides such as atrazine,
  ardous waste sites, septic                                     degrading trends.               alachlor, and dieldrin; and
  tanks, and agricultural activ-    Very few significant water     Nebraska notes a number       chlorides.
  ities. Principal substances    quality trends have been        of water quality related          The Nebraska Ground-
  contaminating ground water   detected in Nebraska's            issues that are of concern.     Water Quality Protection
  are petroleum products,        streams over the past 10        These include recreational      Strategy was recently
  metals, cyanide, organic       years. Of Nebraska's 5,690      use support, nonpoint source   updated. It puts forward
  chemicals, nitrates, and       assessed stream miles, 57       pollution, the lack of infor-   a plan for ground-water
  pesticides.                    percent fully supported         mation regarding toxic pol-     quality protection that
    Montana has a number of    designated uses, 21 percent       lutants, the need to fund and   emhasizes the prevention of
  industry-specific ground-      partially supported uses, and    implement pollution control    contamination. Many of the
  water pollution control        22 percent did not support      programs, the impact of         elements of this plan have
  programs as well as the        designated uses.                agricultural chemicals on       been implemented.
  umbrella Montana Ground-         Agricultural runoff is        ground water, unlicensed
  Water Pollution Control        the principal source of use     landfills, and hazardous
  System (MGWPCS) adminis-    impairment in Nebraska.            waste sites.
  tered by the Department of    Other sources of use impair-
  Health and Environmental       ment include domestic point
 A-20








                                                                                                                Appendix








                               maximum tolerable tempera-   ing records show significant    protection effort by complet-
 Nevada                        ture of cold water fishery.    reduction in both total         ing the "Ground Water
                               Previous problems with        phosphorus and total nitro-     Protection Strategy for
  To~ obtain a copy of the
         Nevda98 oi repyofrt   turbidity and siltation appear  gen. Lower stream flows in    Nevada" in August of 1987.
Nevada 1988 305(b) report,
        c0            onrtact,:~   ~to have been resolved. These   1986 and 1987 have led to a  The Strategy delineated
contact:
                               problems, along with the      trend of increasing salinity.   Nevada's short- and long-
        Nevada Division of     temperature problem, are         The Humboldt River           term goals, recognizing both
Nevada Division of
                               traceable to gravel opera-    continues to have problems      the priorities and limited
  Environmental Protection
         Environmental Protection    tions, channelization, urban    with violations of phos-  resources available.
Capitol Complex, Room 221
                               projects within the river,    phorus, nitrate, turbidity,       Major sources of ground-
Carson City, NV 89710
        Carson City, NV 89710  watershed erosion, low flows   and total dissolved solids     water contamination in the
                               and streambank vegetation    standards.                       State include mining, under-
Surface Water                  removal.                        Lake 'Ihoe's pristine water   ground storage tanks, injec-
        QSurfaeliatey           Historically, the Carson     quality continues to degrade.    tion wells, septic tanks, and
Quality                       River water quality stand-     Primary productivity at the     landfills. Substances contam-
                               ards for nutrients were       Tahoe Index Station has         inating ground water include
  For its 1988 Section 305(b)    frequently exceeded for most   increased more than 140      volatile organic chemicals,
report, Nevada assessed the    reaches. The greatest viola-    percent since 1968. Annual    nitrates, petroleum products,
quality of the Colorado,      tions of standards occurred     algal productivity in 1986     radioactive material, fluo-
Truckee, Carson, Walker, and   during the summer months       was the highest on record.     rides, arsenic, and brine/
Humboldt River Systems, as    at low flow in the lower        Recent data indicate a         salinity.
well as Lake Tahoe. Agricul-    reaches of the river Carson  continuation of this increas-
tural and rangeland runoff     City Sewage Treatment Plant   ing trend. Clarity also
were found to contribute       ceased discharging to the      continues to degrade, with
large sediment and nutrient    Carson River in September      annual mean Secchi depths     New  Hampshire
loads to waters of the State.    1987. Although it is too soon    decreasing at a rate of 0.40
Urban drainage systems         to observe the effects of      meter per year since 1967.        btain a copy of the New
contribute nutrients, heavy    removing this significant      While these parameters        Hampshire 1988 305(b)
metals, and organic loads.    point source from the river,    indicate decreasing water     report, contact:
  Las Vegas Bay/Lake Mead      it is anticipated to aid in    quality, they have not
continues to experience       reversing the trend of dete-    interfered with the lake's     Water Supply and Pollution
water quality problems. Both   rioration which has been       ability to support fish and        trlDivision/DES
the City of Las Vegas Waste-    occurring over the past 17    wildlife and recreational      Wter Quality Section
water Treatment Plant and     years. However, as point        uses.6 Hazen Drive
Clark County Sanitation       sources have been removed,                                     P.O. Box 95
District discharge into       nonpoint sources in Carson                                    Concord, NH 03301
effluent dominated Las        Valley have now become a       Ground-Water
Vegas Wash about 11 miles     significant nutrient source.
                                                                      G~~~~Srface=Water
upstream from Las Vegas       As a result of a special        Quality                         ual
Bay. A large blue-green alga    mercury study completed by                                   Quality
bloom occurred in Las Vegas    Division of Environmental       Approximately 50 percent
Bay in the summer of 1986.    Protection staff in 1985, a     of Nevada's total population     The water quality of New
Ammonia now enters Las        fish consumption health         relies on ground water Since   Hampshire's rivers and
Vegas Bay untreated and       advisory was issued. Selen-     surface waters are either      streams remains excellent
threatens this important fish   ium pollution has recently    fully allocated or over-allo-  overall. During 1986 and
nursery area.                 been shown to be a potential    cated, Nevada's future         1987, designated uses were
 The Truckee River cont-     problem in the Stillwater       growth must rely heavily on    fully supported in 71 percent
inues to show improvement    Marsh area.                      untapped ground-water          of the 1,330 assessed miles.
in aquatic life below Reno/     Elevated phosphates and       aquifers. Thus, protecting     Sixteen percent partially
Sparks Wastewater Treat-      nitrates have been consistent    present and potential (i.e.,  supported designated uses
ment Plant. However,          problems in the lower reaches   presently untapped) ground-    and 13 percent did not
temperature values at         of the East Fork and main-      water aquifers is a high       support uses.
control points downstream     stem of the Walker River.       priority of the State.           Point sources remain the
of Wadsworth approach the    However, 1986/1987 monitor-        Nevada initiated this        major factor affecting uses in
                                                                                                                     A-21









Appendix








New Hampshire's mainstem    these concerns, a special         tanks, and municipal land-      nutrients, reduced dissolved
waterbodies. Predominant      Shellfish Committee was         fills. Areas of significant     oxygen levels, siltation, road
problems include inade-       formed in March of 1988.        contamination from these        salts, and oil and grease.
quately treated municipal                                     sources exist throughout the    Point sources affect every
wastes from primary waste-                                    State.                          major waterway in the State.
water treatment facilities    Ground-Water                      In the long term, the key to   Nonpoint sources are also a
 and existing untreated                                        protecting the State's ground-   major contributor to water-
 sources. However, nonpoint    Quality                         water resources is to prevent   quality degradation, but very
 sources including bacterial                                   contamination by focusing       little monitoring data exist
 contamination from indi-        Approximately 60 percent    limited State and local           to quantify their extent.
 vidual septic system failures   of New Hampshire's popula-    resources on the most sensi-    Impacts are suspected from
 in rural areas are becoming    tion depends in whole or in    tive or valuable geographic     stormwater outfalls, con-
 more evident: as wastewater  part on ground water for          areas. This focus is difficult    struction, urban and agricul-
 treatment facility upgrading   water supply. The growing       because of a lack of funding    tural runoff, land disposal
 and construction in the last 2  number of incidents of         for the Wellhead Protection    practices, and hydrologic/
 years have removed organic   ground-water contamination,   Program.                           habitat modification.
 loadings to receiving waters,   as well as competing demands
 previously masked nonpoint   for this renewable but finite
 source impacts have been      resource, have made ground-
 found.                        water protection a priority     New   Jersey                    Quality
   Of the nearly 150,000 acres  issue in the 1980s and into
 of lakes assessed, approxi-   the 1990s.                      To obtain a copy of the New       Currently, about half of the
 mately 87 percent fully         In general, the quality of    Jersey 1988 305(b) report,      State's population relies on
 support their designated      New Hampshire's ground          contact:                        ground water for drinking
 uses. However, due to non-     water is excellent. Because it                                 water. Of the 622 community
 point pollution, about 13      is such a valuable resource,   New Jersey Department of        public water systems in the
 percent of these waters only   the State has designated all     Environmental Protection    State, 558 obtain all or part
 partially support designated   ground water as potentially    Bureau of Water Resources       of their supplies from ground-
 uses and 0.5 percent do not    drinkable. A comprehensive       Management Planning           water sources. There are also
 support uses. Acidification    permit process was devel-      P.O. Box CN-029                 approximately 16,000 non-
 and nutrient impacts are       oped for any proposed            Trenton, NJ 08625             community wells and
 cited as the primary causes    discharge to ground water.                                     400,000 private potable wells
 of nonattainment.              An extensive inventory of                                      in the State.
   With only 18 miles of        potential point and nonpoint   Surface Water                     Ambient ground-water
 coastline, New Hampshire      source pollution sources has    Quality                         quality is considered
 places high recreation value   been completed. Local com-                                     naturally good in the State
 on every frontage foot. Only   munities are being encour-       Approximately 31 percent    although in many areas, iron
 a small portion of the coast-   aged to further protect       of New Jersey's monitored       removal is necessary for
 line does not fully support   fragile ground-water supplies  river and stream miles meet    potability. There are ground-
 designated uses.              through zoning, land use        both the fishable and swim-     water problems, however:
   The protection of New        control and other aquifer      mable goals of the Clean        during the past 3 years,
 Hampshire's valuable shell-    protection strategies. The     Water Act.                      218 wells were sealed due to
 fish populations (clams,      development of a statewide        In New Jersey's estuaries,    ground-water pollution prob-
 oysters, and mussels) in Great  ground-water protection       77 percent were fully sup-      lems and the New Jersey
 Bay/Little Bay, Hampton        strategy will be completed     porting uses, 20 percent were   Department of Environ-
 Harbor, and Rye Harbor         during FY 1989.                partially supporting uses, and   mental Protection (NJDEP)
 remains a priority. Given the    The main issue that has      3 percent were not support-    responded to 960 ground-
 tremendous investment in      concerned State and local       ing uses. The State identifies    water pollution cases.
 wastewater treatment facil-   officials is ground-water       ocean water quality and           From May 24, 1985 to
  ities in the seacoast region,    contamination from hazard-    ocean litter as a special      December 1, 1987, well
 the lack of a significant     ous waste sites, leaking        concern.                        samples throughout the State
  reduction in coliform bacte-   underground storage tanks,       Pollutants commonly           were analyzed for volatile
  ria levels in certain areas is of  unregulated releases of    found in State waters include   organic chemicals. The
  major concern. As a result of  hazardous wastes to septic     fecal coliform bacteria,        sampling results indicated
 A-22








                                                                                                                  Appendix








that 76 public wells and 139    nonpoint sources.               both regulatory and             solvents, and pesticides.
private wells had unaccept-       Available data indicate that   nonregulatory approaches       Similarly, nitrate contain-
able levels of volatile organic    New Mexico has been largely   are being considered.          ination, anoxic conditions
chemicals. It should be noted   successful in reducing point                                    and cases of contamination
that the sampling did not       source impacts on the State's                                   from leaking underground
focus on private wells, and     rivers. Nonpoint sources now   Ground-Water                     storage tanks have occurred
the number of contaminated    predominate. Habitat altera-                                      in the rapidly developing
private wells only represent    tion, siltation, toxic metals,  Quality                         Espanola area.
those that were brought to      and flow alteration are the                                      The Ogallala Formation, in
the NJDEP's attention.          predominant causes of use        Ground-water contamina-        Lea County, is the principal
  Common sources of             impairment in New Mexico's    tion most frequently occurs       freshwater aquifer in the
ground-water pollution in       rivers and streams.            in vulnerable aquifer areas      region. Numerous instances
New Jersey include land          In the State's lakes, dis-    where the water table is         of contamination by oil-field
disposal sites, accidental     solved oxygen deficiencies,     shallow. Since the mid-1970s    activities have been identi-
spills and leaks, underground   plant nutrients, siltation and    the State has been inventory-   fled since the early 1950s.
storage tanks, and unknown    habitat alterations are major    ing incidents, causes, and       Nitrate contamination from
sources. To protect regional   causes of use impairment.       sources of ground-water         septic tanks has also
ground-water supplies, the     Agriculture and recreation      contamination around the         occurred in several areas
NJDEP has established two      are the major sources of        State. At least 883 incidents    of the county.
water supply critical areas.   these impacts, silviculture,    of ground-water contamina-        The Grants Mineral Belt in
                                construction activities and    tion have been documented.    Cibola and McKinley Coun-
                                miscellaneous activities have   Slightly more than half of all   ties has been a major
                                lesser impacts.                cases have been caused by        uranium-producing region of
New   M exico                    New Mexico notes three        nonpoint source pollution,      the United States. Seepage
                                issues of special concern:     principally household septic    from active and inactive mill
x obtain a copy of the New rnonpoint source pollution,          tanks and cesspools.            tailings ponds, plus the long-
Mexico 1988 305(b) report,      toxic substances, and            Other sources of contam-       term impacts of previously
        ~~contact:  ~protection of mountain                    ination include oil field        unregulated discharges and
                                streams. As mentioned          sources such as pipelines,       potential contamination
New Mexico Environmental        above, nonpoint sources of      leaking well-casings and        from abandoned spoils piles,
  Information                   pollution are quantitatively    waste disposal pits, leaking    constitute a continuing
Division Water Quality         the largest known cause of      underground storage tanks,      ground-water quality
  Planning Section              surface water quality impair-   ore-refining mills and mill     problem.
P.O. Box 968                    ment in New Mexico. In addi-   tailings disposal sites, sewage    The San Juan Basin is
Santa Fe, NM 87504-0968         tion a need exists for further    treatment plants, dairies,    second only to southeastern
                                investigation of surface       slaughterhouses, industrial      New Mexico as a petroleum
        ~Surface Water          water quality impacts of        facilities, and public landfills.   producing region and
        Surface Water           toxic substances.                 Many population centers       produces most of the State's
Quality                           In mountain streams, home    and mineral resource devel-    natural gas. Ground-water
                                and recreational develop-       opment areas have been          quality in the Basin has been
  During the reporting          ment, mining and milling,       established in vulnerable       impacted by oil and gas
period, New Mexico assessed    overgrazing, and community    aquifer areas, with resultant    production activities and by
1,151 miles of rivers. Forty-   wastewater discharges have      ground-water quality prob-      landfills.
eight percent of assessed       resulted in standards viola-    lems. For example, two            In Dona Ana County, two
rivers were determined to be    tions and in fishery and        common types of ground-         sources-ponds used for the
partially supporting their      habitat degradation. Known      water contamination in the      disposal of dairy wastes
uses, and 2 percent were not    and potential water quality     Albuquerque metropolitan        and septage disposal-are of
supporting uses.                impairment has been docu-       area are (1) anoxic conditions   concern. The septage
  A total of 119,666 acres      mented on 37 mountain           or elevated salinity and        disposal problem has become
of lakes were assessed. Of      stream reaches. The Environ-   hardness and (2) localized       especially complex due to
these, 40 percent are not       mental Improvement Divi-        contamination cases involv-    the closing of landfills to
fully supporting fishery uses.   sion is exploring manage-      ing constituents of health      septage dumping. At present,
Water quality impairment of    ment approaches to better        concern such as nitrate,        there are no acceptable
this acreage is the result of   protect mountain streams;       gasoline, chlorinated           permanent septage disposal
                                                                                                                         A-23









Appendix








 sites in Dona Ana County.     impairment; together with      trichloroethane, trichloro-rth  Carolina
 Federal, State, and local     nonpoint sources, they         ethylene, and tetrachloro-     North  Carolina
 officials are working to find   constitute the major sources    ethylene;lb obtain a copy of the No rth
 a solution.                   of water use impairment in                                     o obtain a copy of the North
 a solution,                   of water use impairment in
                               the State. Industrial and      ï¿½ gasoline and other           Carolina 1988 305(b) report,
                               municipal point sources are    petroleum products that
                               relatively minor contributors   contain the compounds ben-
 New  York                     to use impairment.             zene, toluene, and xylene;     North Carolina Department
                                                                                               of Natural Resources
                                 New York lists eight special   and                            & C     omm unity Development
To obtain a copy of the New    concerns: hazardous sub-                                        & Community Development
York 1988 305(b) report,      stance control; toxic sedi-    * agricultural pesticides and   Special Projects Group
 contact:                      ments; PCB cleanup of the      herbicides, primarily aldicarb   Division of Environment al
                               Hudson River; ground-water   and carbofuran.                    Management
 New York State Department    management; emergence of                                        P.O. Box 27687
   of Environmental            nonpoint source problems;        The primary sources of        Raleigh, NC 27611-7687
   Conservation                effects of acid rain; Great    ground-water contamination
 Bureau of Monitoring          Lakes water purity; and       by organic chemicals are
   & Assessment                marine water purity, partic-   spills, leaks and improper
 Division of Water             ularly in the Long Island     handling at industrial and       Quality
 50 Wolf Road                  Sound.                         commercial facilities.
 Albany, NY 12233-3503                                         Pesticide contamination,         Of North Carolina's 33,275
                                                              primarily by aldicarb, is a     assessed miles of freshwater
 Surface Water                 Ground-Water                  particular problem on Long       streams and rivers, 67 per-
 Surface Water Ground-Water                                  Island, where it is used on      cent support their uses, 28
 Quality                       Quality                        potato fields. It has also been    percent partially support
                                                              detected in ground water in     uses, and 5 percent do not
   During Water Years 1986-      Approximately six million   upstate New York. A sam-         support designated uses.
 1987, New York assessed       people in New York State use  pling survey of 330 wells in    River basins located in the
 70,000 miles of streams,      ground water as a source of    eastern Long Island detected    mountains tend to have the
 750,000 acres of lakes, 1,564   water. Half of these people  aldicarb in concentrations      highest percentage of high
 square miles of estuaries, 577   are on Long Island and the  exceeding the Department        quality streams, while more
 Great Lake shore and 130      remainder are in upstate       of Health's recommended         heavily developed Piedmont
 ocean coastal miles. Approx-   New York. The Department    guideline in 23 percent of        or Coastal Plain basins have
 imately 76 percent of its     of Health has reported 130     the wells.                      more stream mileage with
 rivers and streams were       public water supplies           Nitrate contamination has      use impairment.
 found to fully support their    affected by toxic organic    been noted in two upstate        Nonpoint sources account
 designated use, along with 61  contamination of ground       public water supply wells. It    for use impairment in 92
 percent of lake, pond, and    water. Of these, 33 water      is a more serious problem on    percent of degraded streams.
 reservoir acres, 74 percent of   supplies on Long Island and    Long Island, where nitrate   Major sources include agri-
 estuary square miles, 17      20 in upstate New York         concentrations are increasing   culture, unknown nonpoint
 percent of Great Lake shore-   remain closed or abandoned.   in the major public water       sources, municipal waste-
 line miles, and 46 percent of   Contamination by syn-        supply aquifers for most of     water treatment plants
 ocean coastal miles.          thetic organic chemicals       the developed and agricul-      (WWTPs), and urban runoff.
   Approximately 345 river     is the most significant threat   tural areas. Primary sources  Sediments are the leading
  miles, 131,000 lake acres, and   to ground-water quality     of nitrate are agricultural     causes of stream impact.
  154 square miles of estuary   statewide. The three major    and domestic use of fertilizer,   In the past the State has
  are affected by toxic pollut-    categories of organic contam-  subsurface disposal of sew-  emphasized control of point
  ants. An estimated 70 miles    inants that are detected most  age, and leaking sewer lines.  sources; while this emphasis
  of ocean coastline and 492    frequently in ground water                                     has had great positive bene-
  miles of Great Lakes shore-   are:                                                           fit, effective nonpoint source
  line are affected by toxics                                                                  control is more difficult
  as well. Contaminated sedi-    ï¿½ industrial/commercial                                       to implement and continued
  ments are responsible for     synthetic organic solvents                                     progress in pollution control
  virtually all of this use     and degreasers, primarily                                      will probably be slower.
 A-24









                                                                                                              Appendix








 Overall, 96 percent of the   control of stormwater runoff   pollution response proce-      fully supporting their desig-
surface area of lakes and      to shellfish areas, nutrient   dures and a consolidated       nated uses, and 31 percent
reservoirs in North Carolina    control measures in several   inventory of contaminated      were partially supporting
support their designated       coastal watersheds, and        sites.                         uses. The major source of use
uses, 3 percent partially      protection of primary            As a part of its ground-     impairment is nutrient and
support uses, and 1 percent    nursery areas.                 water planning effort, the     sediment transport from dry
do not support their uses.                                    Ground-Water Section is        crop farmland. Runoff from
The largest cause of use       Ground-Water                   preparing an updated draft     range/pasture land and
nonsupport has been coal-                                     of its State Ground-Water      feedlots are moderate to
fired power plant discharges    Quality                       Protection Strategy. Within    minor sources of nonpoint
to two lakes (Hyco and                                        the continuing ground-water    pollution. These sources
Belews), which have resulted     About half of the people in   management effort, the        cause high nutrient, fecal
in excessive selenium levels    North Carolina use ground     resource is monitored, trends   coliform, and suspended
in these lakes. Belews Lake    water as their primary water   documented, resource pro-      solid concentrations and
no longer receives coal ash    supply. Ground-water quality   tection plans developed, and,   increase siltation. Discharges
basin effluent, and Hyco       is generally good statewide.   where necessary, regulations   from municipal waste treat-
Lake will no longer be receiv-   The major source of ground-    imposed upon ground-water    ment facilities are considered
ing effluent in the near       water contamination is leak-   use. Ground-water data man-   a moderate to minor source
future. These actions should    ing underground storage       agement is also an important    of use impairment and
restore biota in both lakes. In   tanks; spills, lagoons, and  element in the State's overall   periodically cause increased
addition, extensive efforts    septic tanks are also impor-   resource management            ammonia and fecal coliform
are underway to control        tant sources. Comprehensive   program.                        concentrations.
eutrophication in two rela-    programs are underway to                                        Of the 619,333 lake acres
tively new lakes, Falls and    (1) assess potential contam-                                  assessed, 571,208 acres were
Jordan. The major source of    ination sites and (2) develop a                               fully supporting uses, and
use impairment in lakes is     comprehensive ground-water   North  Dakota                    48,125 acres were partially
in-place contaminants, indus-   protection strategy for the                                  supporting designated uses.
trial WWTP, and agriculture.    State.                         o obtain a copy of the North   Partial support was largely
               Major causes of lake prob-   ~ ~Dakota 1988 305(b) report,                    mnfse  sfs  il  n
Major causes of lake prob-       To prevent ground-water         otat                        manifested as fish kills and
lems are metals (primarily     pollution, the State has       contact:                       nuisance occurrences of
selenium) and aquatic macro-   classified ground waters,      North Dakota Department of   blue-green algae impairing
               phytes. ~~~~~~~~~~~North Dakota Department of
phytes.                        established ground-water         Health and Consolidated      recreational activities such
                                                               Health and Consolidated
 Of the State's acreage of    quality standards, and imple-                                 as swimming. Nutrients,
estuaries and sounds, 93       mented a permit system. All      Laboratores                  siltation, and organic enrich-
percent fully support their    relevant State environmental   Division of Water Supply       ment-mainly due to erosion
                                       relev~~~~~~ant Staltenironmna ment--anydet rosin
designated use while 7         permit applications are          and Pollution Control        and runoff from dry crop
percent partially support      reviewed by the lead State     1200 Missouri Avenue           farmland-are the primary
                                                              P.O. Box 5520
uses (because of closed        ground-water agency to assure                                 causes of lake use
shellfish areas or areas of    compliance with ground-        Bismarck, ND 58502-5520        impairment.
excessive algae growth) and    water standards. Work was                                       The most critical water
0.1 percent do not support     begun during 1987 to review    Surface Watequality issue in North Dakota
their designated uses. Major    ground-water standards to                                    is nonpoint source pollution
sources of impairment in       incorporate State ground-      Quality                        and, in particular, agricultural
estuarine waters are agri-     water quality permitting                                      runoff. Wetland protection is
culture, municipal WWTPs,      experience gained from the       Of the 9,850 miles of        another issue of growing
septic tanks, and urban        past several years.            assessed rivers and streams    concern to the State.
runoff. Major causes of          The State responds to        in North Dakota, 1,350 miles
impacts in estuaries are       ground-water pollution         were moderately to slightly
chlorophyll a and nutrients,    incidents via an inter-       impaired by point source       Ground-         ate
multiple causes, and bac-      agency emergency response    pollution and all assessed       Ground-Water
teria. Several new or          program. This ground-water    miles were impacted to some    Quality
expanded efforts are under-    incident management            degree by nonpoint source
way to protect estuarine       program provides the mech-    pollution. Of the assessed        Ground water is one of
waters including expanded      anism for standardized         river miles, 69 percent were   North Dakota's most precious
                                                                                                                    A-25









Appendix








resources. Nearly the entire                                   the use of reference sites to   uses. The remaining 28 per-
rural population and most      Ohio                            set biocriteria have resulted   cent was considered to be
municipalities obtain their                                    in more sensitive aquatic life    attaining, but threatened.
water from ground-water        To obtain a copy of the Ohio    criteria for Ohio's waters.     Nonpoint sources, point
supplies. Sixty percent of the   1988 305(b) report, contact:    Municipal (including          sources, and habitat modi-
State's population relies on                                   combined sewers) and indus-    fication were major sources
ground water for its drinking   Ohio Environmental             trial point source discharges   of use impairment in lakes.
water source.  is primarily      Protection Agency             accounted for impacts in 56     Leading causes were iden-
  North Dakota is primarily    Division of Water Quality       percent of stream miles.        tified as algal/nutrients,
an agricultural State with       Monitoring and Assessment  Nonpoint sources were con-         organic enrichment/low
limited industrial develop-    P.O. Box 1049                   tributors in 20 percent,        dissolved oxygen, metals/
ment. As a result, it has      Columbus, OH 43266-1049         habitat/flow modification in    inorganics, and pathogens.
experienced relatively minor                                   17 percent, natural condi-        All 23 of Ohio's Lake Erie
ground-water contamination                                     tions in 2 percent, in-place    shoreline miles were eval-
problems in comparison to      Surface Water                   pollutants in 2 percent, and     uated for aquatic life support
heavily industrialized States.   Quality                       other or unknown in the          and were considered partially
Leading sources of ground-                                     remainder. Most waterbody       supporting due to a lakewide
water contamination include      Of the total 7,045 assessed    segments were affected by       fishing advisory for carp and
agricultural chemicals (e.g.,    stream miles in Ohio, 32      multiple sources. Leading        channel catfish, and to cri-
pesticides and fertilizers),   percent are attaining their     causes of nonattainment         teria exceedances for copper
storage tanks and pipelines,    aquatic life use designations,   include low dissolved         and cadmium.
wastewater impoundments,    21 percent are partially           oxygen/organic enrichment,
solid waste disposal sites, oil   attaining those uses, and    toxics, and habitat modifica-
and gas exploration activity,    47 percent are not attaining    tion/flow alteration.
and septic systems.            aquatic like uses. Since the      Trend analyses of data        Ground-Water
  North Dakota's ground-       State's sampling program is     from 11 Ohio rivers indicate    Quality
water protection stragety is    necessarily biased toward      a sharp improvement where
the core of its ground-water    stream segments in problem    the biota had been affected        Protecting ground water is
program. The strategy          areas, the actual percentage    by municipal discharges and    essential in safeguarding the
reviews current State and      of total stream miles attain-    less improvement where         health of Ohioans. More than
Federal ground-water protec-  ing their aquatic life uses      toxic discharges or urban       four million people depend
tion programs and addresses   in Ohio is probably higher.      runoff have been affecting      on ground water as their
issues such as standards,      Because of extensive cover-     the biological community.       primary source of drinking
ground-water classification,    age of larger streams and      Overall, Ohio has made          water in the State. Ground
monitoring, and data           rivers, however, this assess-   dramatic improvements in        water supplies some 1,200
management.                    ment is probably a fair reflec-   rivers that were grossly      of Ohio's 1,600 community
  Other programs that          tion of conditions in these     polluted by municipal sewage   water systems, including
provide ground-water protec-  waterbodies.                     plants 20 to 30 years ago.      systems serving three of its
tion include the point and       The proportion of stream      Many miles are still not fully    ten largest cities.
nonpoint source pollution      and river miles not fully       attaining aquatic life uses,      Ohio's large population and
control programs, the public   supporting aquatic life uses    but it is estimated that their    diverse economy generate a
water supply program, the      is less than reported in        impairment is not nearly as     wide range of potential
underground injection          1986, but not because of        severe as in the past. This     ground-water contaminants,
control program, the con-      reductions in water quality.    progress should not be over-    ranging from bacteria to
struction grants program,      In fact, continued reductions   rated in light of the high      toxic chemicals. The most
the solid waste management   are evident in point source       percentage of monitored         serious sources or potential
program, and the hazardous   loadings. Changes in use          miles with impaired aquatic     sources of contamination
waste management program.  support are largely the result   life uses.                         include hazardous waste
                               of the adoption of ecoregional    In Ohio's inland lakes and    generation, solid waste land-
                               biological criteria in Ohio,    reservoirs, 6 percent of        fills, leaks and spills, agri-
                               and a reassessment of all       assessed acres fully sup-       culture, septic tanks, mineral
                               stream segments for which       ported uses, 56 percent         extraction, and improperly
                               biological data were avail-     partially supported uses, and    constructed or maintained
                               able. Two new indices and       10 percent did not support      wells.
A-26









                                                                                                                Appendix








  To manage its ground                                         pollution control efforts of  is vulnerable to contamina-
water properly, Ohio           Ohio  River                    the Commission and its         tion due to extensive indus-
developed a Ground-Water                                      member States on the Ohio      trial development along the
Protection and Management    To obtai  r    pot River in the              coming years.      Ohio River. This issue will be
                                       ~~~~~~~~River 1988h 305(b)    report,
Strategy in 1986. An impor-    River 1988 305(b) report,      In addition, the following     addressed as part of the
tant initiative of this strategy   contact:                   special concerns must be       Commission's Toxic Substance
was the creation of an Inter-                                 addressed:                     Control Program.
Agency Ground-Water Advi-    Ohio River Valley Water
sory Council to monitor State    Sanitation Commission        U In establishing permit
ground-water related           49 East Fourth Street          levels for dischargers, the
                               Suite 815
programs and to comment in   Suite 815                        limits that must be met by
all rulemaking processes.      Cincinnati, OH 45202           downstream water supply        Oklahoma
This group was established                                    utilities must be considered.
during 1987 and will be                                                                      'lbTo obtain a copy of the
                               Surface Water                                                 Oklahoma 1988 305(b)
important in assisting the     Surface Water                      Spills and accidental      Oklahoma 1988 305(b)
State with the implementa-     Quality                        discharges will continue to    report, contact:
tion of its Ground-Water                                      be a potential problem given
Strategy.                        The Ohio River Valley        the number of facilities treat-   Oklahoma Department of
 The State's ground-water     Water Sanitation Commission                        ing, storing, and handling  Pollution Control
strategy implementation        (ORSANCO) coordinates          various chemicals along the    P.O. Box 53504
plan addresses priorities for    water pollution control      Ohio River.                    Oklahoma City, OK 73152
identifying and remediating    efforts for the 981 river miles
sources of ground-water        of the Ohio River. All river   U Wastewater treatment         Surface Water
contamination. Sources of      miles were assessed, and all    facility operation must con-
contamination from hazard-    were partially supporting       tinue to receive attention to    Quality
ous waste and material,        their designated uses.         assure that facilities achieve
treatment, storage and           The fishable goal of the     the degree of water quality      The overall quality of Okla-
disposal activities pose the   Federal Clean Water Act was    improvement for which they   homa's waters remains good;
greatest potential threat to   met in 941 miles and not met    were designed.                designated uses and the
human health, although         in 40; the swimmable goal                                     Clean Water Act are being
other sources may be more      was met in 819 miles and not    U Hydroelectric power         met in a majority of waters.
numerous. The strategy is      met in 162. Compared to the    development at Ohio River      Oklahoma assessed 9,248
directed at controlling all    previous reporting period,     navigation dams could reduce  miles of streams. Of these, 36
sources of ground-water        exceedances of stream cri-     the degree of aeration at the    percent fully supported their
contamination using a          teria increased for heavy      dams, thereby lowering dis-    designated uses, 38 percent
variety of Federal, State,     metals, especially lead and    solved oxygen levels.          partially supported uses, and
and local authorities.         mercury. This is primarily                                    26 percent did not support
                                due to the adoption of more                                   their designated uses. Major
                               stringent water quality        Ground-Water                   causes contributing to non-
                               criteria in 1982.                                             support include; siltation,
                                 Major causes of designated    Quality                       nutrients, pesticides, sus-
                               use impairment include                                        pended solids, pathogens,
                               major municipal discharges,      The Commission's major       and salinity. Major sources of
                                industrial discharges, non-    concern is protecting and      nonsupport include agricul-
                                point sources, and tributary    improving surface waters in    ture, resource extraction,
                                contributions. Municipal       the Ohio River Basin. As part   and hydrological/habitat
                                discharges, privately owned    of this effort, the Commis-    modifications.
                                sewage treatment facilities,    sion will be assessing the     Currently, Oklahoma is
                                and combined sewers con-       impact of ground-water        concerned about the extent
                               tributed impairment of         contamination as a nonpoint   of animal waste contribu-
                                recreational uses.             source of pollution to the    tions to streams in northeast
                                 The water quality prob-      Ohio River The alluvial        Oklahoma. In combination
                                lems cited above will provide   aquifer associated with the  with inadequately treated
                                the major emphasis for water   main stem of the Ohio River    municipal wastewater,
                                                                                                                      A-27









Appendix








animal wastes have caused    are monitored for 22 param-    enrichment (low oxygen).         Oregon during 1980. Of this
serious degradation of the    eters. The results of the      Major sources of impairment    amount, 75 percent was for
Illinois River Basin in       initial monitoring are being   for lakes include agriculture,    irrigation use, 12 percent for
Oklahoma and Arkansas.        evaluated and summarized       land disposal, and storm        rural domestic and livestock
This problem does not         into an assessment report.     sewers/runoff.                  use, 7 percent for industrial
appear to be correctable                                       The State is in the process   use, and 6 percent for public
without improved coordina-                                   of establishing To'btal Maxi-   water use. Ground-water use
tion of point and nonpoint                                   mum Daily Loads (TMDLs)         is expected to increase in the
source management actions.   Oregon                          for eleven "water quality       future because the State's
Further, this management                                     limited" stream segments        population is growing and
must be interstate in nature   lb obtain a copy of the       where water quality stand-     because summertime flow in
to ensure that effective      Oregon 1988 305(b) report,     ards are not being met. This    many streams is inadequate
 controls will result. In other   contact:                    process reflects a major       to meet present and future
 words, an integrated manage-                                 program change from tech-      demand.
 ment approach involving       Oregon Department of           nology-based to water qual-      The number of known
both States appears to be the    Environmental Quality       ity-based permitting with a    ground-water contamination
 only course of action that is   Water Quality Division       greater emphasis on the        sites in the State has increased
 likely to succeed. This       811 Southwest Sixth Avenue    receiving waterbody.            to over 200, and is rising
 problem and water quality    Portland, OR 97204               The cultivation of nursery    steadily, in part due to
 issues raised by a proposed                                  stock in containers is a grow-    increased assessment activ-
 reservoir on Lee Creek, high-                                ing industry in Oregon.        ities. To date, ground-water
 light inconsistencies on the    Surface Water                Certain container industry     contamination resulting from
 part of EPA in the arbitration  Quality                      practices can create water     industrial activities has been
 of quality standards issues                                  quality problems. These        discovered at approximately
 between States.                 During the reporting         include application of         75 sites in Oregon. The types
                               period, Oregon assessed        fertilizers and pesticides;    of industries that have been
                               27,738 miles of streams, and    construction of dams to       found to be causing ground-
        ~Ground-Water         504,928 acres of lakes. Of the   capture and reuse irrigation  water pollution include
                               assessed river miles, 45 per-    return water; poor construc-    chemical manufacturing,
 Quality                       cent fully supported desig-    tion of irrigation ponds; and  metals plating, wood treat-
                               nated beneficial uses, 31     the setting of containers on    ment, oil/gas storage and
   In December of 1983, the    percent partially supported    gravel over packed earth or     refueling areas, electronics,
 Oklahoma agencies with        uses, and 24 percent did not    plastic with drainage to      food processing, aluminum
 ground-water responsibilities  support their designated      surface waters. The State is   plants, and pulp and paper
 joined in a cooperative effort  uses. Of the assessed lake   currently reviewing these       mills. Among the contami-
 to establish a program devel-  acres, 74 percent fully       practices to develop best      nants from these industries
 opment strategy for ground-   supported uses, 12 percent     management practices and to   are organic chemicals,
 water protection. From this   partially supported uses, and   determine if permits should   dissolved metals, nitrates,
 effort a framework agree-     14 percent did not support     be used to regulate runoff.    cyanide, and total dissolved
 ment was developed. Under   their designated uses.                                          solids. Other sources of
 the provisions of this agree-   Major causes of nonsupport                                  ground-water contamination
 ment, the Corporation Com-   in rivers include habitat                                      in Oregon include landfills,
 mission, the Department of    modifications, flow altera-    Ground-Water                   on-site sewage disposal,
 Agriculture, the Department   tions, thermal modifications,   Quality                       municipal sewage treatment
 of Health, and the Water      and siltation. Major sources                                  facilities, and agricultural
 Resources Board adopted       of impairment in rivers          In Oregon an estimated       activities.
 goals and principles for      include agriculture, silvicul-    1.6 million persons (about    The Oregon Environmental
 program development.          ture, resource extraction,     60 percent of Oregon's         Quality Commission adopted
   Oklahoma has also adopted  combined sewers, construc-    population) depend on             a statewide Ground-Water
 statewide ground-water        tion, municipal discharges,    ground water for all or part   Quality Protection Policy in
 standards that identify       bacteria and excessive         of their daily water needs.    August 1981. Since that time,
 beneficial uses for 21 aqui-    nutrients. In lakes, major   An average of 1.1 billion      the State has worked with a
 fers. Under its ground-water    causes of nonsupport include   gallons per day of ground     citizen's advisory committee
 sampling program, 506 wells   nutrients, pH, and organic     water were withdrawn in        to assist in the development
A-28








                                                                                                                 Appendix








of proposed amendments to    imately 73 percent of the        considered to have impaired    industrial landfills, septic
the policy including point     miles assessed fully sup-      uses, and 11 were classified   tanks, and abandoned haz-
source control rules, non-     ported designated stream       as threatened.                 ardous waste sites. The major
point source control proce-    uses, 13 percent were partially                               pollutant cause statewide is
dures, a classification system,   supporting, and 14 percent                                 petroleum and/or its by-
and ground-water quality       were not supporting uses.      Ground-Water                   products. Other causes
standards. Three new             The most extensive causes                                   include organic and inor-
programs were approved by      of water quality degradation    Quality                       ganic chemicals, metals, and
the Oregon Legislature in      in Pennsylvania streams are                                   pesticides.
1987 to clean up hazardous     acidity and metals from         On a statewide basis,           Since 1963, Pennsylvania's
waste sites; establish permit-   abandoned coal mine drain-    ground water contributes      Ground-Water Quality Man-
ting, monitoring, and cleanup   age. While some funding is    approximately 70 percent       agement Program has
requirements for under-        available for abatement of     of all stream flow under       included review of permit
ground storage tanks; and      abandoned mine drainage,       average conditions and up      applications, pollution inves-
prepare interagency manage-   the immensity of the prob-      to 100 percent during low      tigations, enforcement
ment plans for the Ontario     lem and difficulties asso-     flow periods. More than two-   actions, and advisory activ-
and Boring aquifers. The       ciated with control have       thirds of public water         ities which affect ground-
Department of Environ-         severely hampered abate-       supplies and almost all        water quality. New initiatives
mental Quality is working      ment and treatment projects.   private supplies in the State    being implemented include a
with other State agencies to    These difficulties are        come from ground water.        ground-water quality protec-
develop a comprehensive        expected to continue. Other    Shallow ground-water condi-   tion strategy, a ground-water
statewide plan for ground-     major causes of use impair-    tions normally prevail         quality monitoring strategy,
water management.              ment are siltation, nutrients,   throughout Pennsylvania;     an underground storage
                                organic enrichment, path-     consequently, the entire        tanks program, and imple-
                                ogens, and pesticides. These    State is vulnerable to man's  mentation of soil-dependent
                                pollutants are primarily the    activities,                   treatment systems for on-lot
Pennsyl         vanlia         result of agricultural runoff,  Ground-water quality is       disposal of sewage.
                                municipal and industrial      believed to be generally
rib obtain a copy of the
        Pennsylania 1988 oftdischarges, individual septic    acceptable for drinking with
Pennsylvania 1988 305(b)
        reportycontac   1discharges, and oil and gas         only minor treatment. How-
        report, contact:       extraction activities. Oil and    ever, in portions of western  Puerto  Rico
        Pennsylvania Department of    gas production is takes place   Pennsylvania, excessively    obtain a copy of the
Pennsylvania Department of   in over 30 counties in      T     ihion slae   rds,              o btain a copy of the
  Environmentalin o               ve r 30 counties in         high iron, sulfate, hardness,   Puerto Rico 1988 305(b)
         Evroenal Waesr      QualPennsylvania.                total dissolved solids, and
Bureau of Water Quality                                                                      rprcnat
          BueanWageer it         The environmental impacts  manganese concentrations
  Management
         P.O. B                 ox 2063of this industry have been  limit ground-water use in
P.O. Box 2063                                                                                Puerto Rico Environmental
                                significant, particularly in   varying degrees. Extensive
Harrisburg, PA 17120                                                                            ult  or
                                western Pennsylvania: about   mining and oil and gas            Quality  a
                                2,000 unpermitted discharges  production activities are       Water Quality Area
Surface Water                  of brine and produced fluids   contributing to major1488
                                have been inventoried by      ground-water quality prob-       aturce, PR 00910-1488
Quality                        EPA in the State's western     lems in western counties,
                                counties. These discharges    and nitrate-nitrogen prob-
         A total of about 13,242  are to be permitted or      lems are present in south-       urface Water
miles out of approximately     eliminated as required by      central and southeastern       Quality
50,000 total miles of rivers   Federal law.                   counties. Leaking under-
and streams were assessed        Pennsylvania assessed        ground storage tanks and less    Puerto Rico has approx-
for this report, based on      trophic status in 37 signif-   extensive mining have          imately 5,373 stream miles.
monitoring or evaluations      icant publicly owned lakes.    contributed to local ground-   Of these, 46 percent were
conducted between July         Of these, 29 were classified   water problems statewide.      fully supporting designated
1970 and December 1987.        as mesotrophic, 7 as eutro-      Major sources of ground-     uses during the reporting
This represents an increase    phic, and 1 as oligotrophic.   water contamination include    period. Pathogens, nutrients,
of about 7,016 miles assessed    Out of the State's total 340  underground storage tanks,    and suspended solids were
over the 1986 report. Approx-   significant lakes, 28 were    surface impoundments,          the leading causes of use
                                                                                                                       A-29








Appendix









        impairment in streams; lead-   Ground-Water            Rhode   Island                   surcessuch asurbanrunoff,
        impairment in streams; lead-                                                           failed septic systems, while
 ing sources included agricul-   Quality                        To obtain a copy of the Rhode    lakes/ponds are affected by
 tural activities (feedlots and                                 Island 1988 305(b) report,      nonpoint sources, primarily
 crops), land disposal (land-     The principal uses of         contact:                        septic systems.
 fills and wastewaters from     ground water in Puerto Rico                                       Ground water is clearly an
 communities), and urban        include potable water supply,                                   important source of drinking
                                                                Rhode Island Department
 runoff.                        industrial processing, and      Rhode                           water in Rhode Island.
                                                                  of Environmental
   Thirty-four percent of       agricultural activities.          of Environmental              Twenty-four percent of the
                                                                  Management
 Puerto Rico's 11,146 acres of   Ground water is extensively    Division of Water Resources     State's population is depend-
 lakes and lagoons were found  used and provides about 24       291 Promenade Street            ent on ground water for its
                                                                291 Promenade Street
 to support designated uses.    percent of the total water                                      water supply. This includes
                                                                Providence, RI 02908-5767
 Principal causes of nonsup-    used islandwide. However         ,                              151,620 people served by
 port in lakes included organic  dependence on ground water                                     public water systems. In
 enrichment/reduced dis-        varies throughout the island;    Surface Water                  addition, private wells
 solved oxygen levels, sus-     a number of municipalities                                      provide water for another
 pended solids, and patho-      draw 50 percent or more of      Quality                         84,000 people, or 8.7 percent
 gens, primarily from           their public water supply                                       of the total population.
 nonpoint sources.              from ground-water sources.        During the reporting            Rhode Island's principal
   Of 434 coastal shoreline       During 1986-1987, ground-    period, Rhode Island assessed   aquifers are extremely vul-
 miles, 58 percent fully        water quality was assessed at   581 river miles, 16,089 lake    nerable to contamination
 supported designated uses.    75 wells in the northeastern    acres, and 192 estuary square   from a wide variety of pollu-
 Major causes of impairment    region of Puerto Rico. Vola-     miles. An assessment of         tion sources. Over 75 con-
 included nutrients, sus-      tile organic compounds such    overall surface water quality    taminants have been detected
 pended solids, and unknown   as methylene chloride and         in Rhode Island indicates       in Rhode Island's ground
 toxicity. Sources of impair-   chloroform have been identi-   that 84 percent of the State's    water, the most common
 ment in coastal waters         fled in at least five wells,    rivers and streams, 91 per-     being organic solvents, the
 included land disposal and     based upon preliminary          cent of lakes, and 80 percent    pesticide aldicarb (Temik),
 municipal and industrial       evaluations. This study is      of estuaries/oceans support     and petroleum products.
 dischargers.                   as yet incomplete. Major        designated uses.                Most ground-water
   Only 17 percent of 173       sources of ground-water           Of those waters assessed      contamination problems
 estuarine miles were           contamination included          for support of Clean Water      occur on a localized basis.
 reported to be fully support-   injection wells, abandoned     Act goals, 80 percent of river    Significant pollution sources
 ing designated uses. Habitat    hazardous waste sites, and     and stream miles are fishable/   include landfills, hazardous
 alterations from natural       underground storage tanks.      swimmable, as are 90 percent   and industrial waste disposal
 sources, such as mangrove                                      of lakes and 93 percent of      sites, leaking underground
 areas, were cited as the                                       estuaries/oceans.               fuel storage tanks, chemical
 principal cause of use                                           The most significant causes   and oil spills, septic systems,
 impairment. Urban runoff                                       of nonsupport in rivers and     road salt storage and applica-
 and municipal point source                                     streams are heavy metals,       tion practices, fertilizer and
 dischargers were also cited.                                   coliforms, low dissolved        pesticide applications, and
   Lakes, lagoons, estuaries,                                   oxygen, and nutrients. In       surface impoundments.
 and wetlands were identified                                   lakes and ponds, the major      Resulting ground-water
 as special concerns because                                    causes of nonsupport are        pollution has caused closure
 of their value as critical                                     coliforms, nutrients, and       of at least 15 public wells and
 habitats. In order to more                                     siltation. In estuaries and     an estimated 300 private
 accurately assess their                                        coastal waters, the major       wells.
 problems and water quality                                     causes of nonsupport are          In 1985, the Rhode Island
 status, a need for better                                      coliforms, heavy metals,        General Assembly passed the
 monitoring strategies for                                      nutrients, and low dissolved    Ground-Water Protection Act
 these waters was noted.                                        oxygen. In rivers and estu-     of 1985, which established
                                                                aries, major sources include    broad protection policies for
                                                                industrial and municipal        the ground waters of the
                                                                point sources and nonpoint      State. In turn, the Depart-

  A-30








                                                                                                               Appendix








ment of Environmental Man-   and 663 square miles of tidal   ground-water quality have       South  Dakota
agement created a Ground-      saltwaters. Of the assessed    been recently established.
Water Section in FY 1985 to    river miles, 75 percent fully    Other available data sources    To obtain a copy of the South
coordinate departmental        supported their designated     are being used such as         Dakota 1988 305(b) report,
activities related to ground-  uses, 10 percent partially     testing at public water        contact:
water protection and to        supported uses, and 15         supply systems, monitoring
develop and implement a        percent did not support their   wells at sites where ground-    South Dakota Department
comprehensive program to       designated uses. Of the        water contamination has          of Water and Natural
protect the ground-water       assessed lake acres, almost all  been confirmed or is sus-      Resources
resources of the State. The    fully supported their desig-    pected, and private wells.    Joe Foss Building
Ground Water Section's         nated uses. Of the assessed    Data reported from these       523 East Capitol
responsibilities include Oil   estuary square miles, 89 per-   sources confirm the general   Pierre, SD 57501
Spill Emergency Response       cent fully supported uses,     high quality of ground water
activities, the Underground    2 percent partially supported   throughout the State.
Storage ï¿½hnk (UST) and         uses, and 9 percent did not      Nevertheless, the State      Surface Water
Leaking UST programs, and      support their designated       cites approximately 390
the Underground Injection      uses.                          instances of localized         Quality
Control (UIC) program, as        Nonpoint sources were the   ground-water contamination.
well as the development of a    leading contributors to use   Sources of contamination are     South Dakota has a total of
ground-water classification    impairment in South Caro-      diverse and include leaking    9,937 miles of rivers and
system and ground-water        lina's rivers and tidal salt-  underground petroleum stor-   streams. Of these, 3,750 miles
standards in accordance with   waters. In lakes, sources      age tanks, industrial waste-   have been assessed for water
the Ground-Water Protection   of pollution were largely       water disposal, municipal      quality. Currently, 37 percent
Act.                           unknown. Fecal coliform        and industrial landfills, and  of these assessed waters are
                               contamination was the most    accidental spills and leaks.    fully supporting their assigned
                               frequent cause of use impair-    These lagoons (including     beneficial uses, 34 percent
             ~t~ Carolina     ment. Of the State's coastal    industrial pits and ponds),    are partially supporting their
South Carolina waters classified for shellfish   landfills (industrial and                   uses, and 29 percent are not
                               growing, about 86 percent      municipal), and underground   supporting their uses. Non-
Carobtina 1988 of(b report,   are unconditionally approved   storage tanks that are limited   support of designated uses is
Carolina 1988 305(b) report,
       caolntac1ot:,   for harvesting.                       to ground-water contamina-    primarily caused by agricul-
contact:
                                 The State notes that indus-   tion are not restricted to any    tural nonpoint sources intro-
                               trial waste pretreatment       particular areas of the State,    ducing suspended solids and
South Carolina Department      programs have improved         but are more concentrated in   pathogens (fecal coliforms).
 of Health and Environ-
         of Health and Environ-  water quality by reducing    the three major urban/indus-    Other pollutant sources
 mental Control
         mental Control        toxic discharges. Most point    trial centers: Greenville/    include inadequate munici-
Bureau of Water Pollution
       Bureau of Water Polution  source agricultural waste   Spartanburg, Columbia, and    pal wastewater treatment,
 Control
         ~Control   ~discharges have been elim-               Charleston. An additional      industrial discharges, and
Division of Water Quality      inated through the issuance    concentration of ground-       natural causes. Water quality
2600 Bull Street
       2600 Bull Street       of State construction permits   water contamination prob-     trends in rivers were gener-
Columbia, SC 29201             that require alternate non-    lems has been associated       ally maintained.
                               discharging treatment          with high water-table            South Dakota has 799 lakes
Surface Water                  systems.                       recharge areas in Beaufort     and reservoirs (including
                                                              County.                        Missouri River mainstem
Quality                                                                                      reservoirs) totalling
                               Ground-W\ater                                                 1,598,285 acres. Approx-
  South Carolina has approx-                                                                 imately 98 percent of use
imately 9,900 miles of rivers,    Quality                                                    nonsupport for lakes can
525,000 acres of lakes, and                                                                  be attributed to nonpoint
2,155 square miles of tidal      The overall quality of                                      sources. Roughly 86 percent
saltwaters. Physical, chem-    ground water in South Caro-                                   of the total lake acres
ical, and biological data were    lina is excellent. Portions of                             assessed are considered to
available for 3,825 miles of   a statewide network of mon-                                   support their designated
rivers, 397,231 acres of lakes,   itoring wells for ambient                                  uses; almost all of these acres
                                                                                                                     A-31









Appendix








are threatened. Only 3 per-     Generally, over the past       Of the 538,657 publicly      drinking water supplies.
cent of total lakes partially  ten years there has been an   owned lake acres in the        Ground-water comprises 21
support uses, and 12 percent   increase in reported inci-    State, 84 percent are fully    percent of the water with-
do not support uses.          dents of potential ground-     supporting designated uses,    drawn in the State (exclusive
  Most lakes in the State are   water contamination. This is   7 percent are not supporting    of water withdrawn for
characterized as eutrophic to  primarily the result of       designated uses, and 9 per-    thermoelectric use). In West
hypereutrophic. Runoff carry-  increased public awareness    cent are partially supporting    Tennessee, nearly all public
ing sediments and nutrients    and new reporting require-    designated uses.               supplies, industries, and rural
from agricultural land is the    ments under the under-        During the reporting         residents use ground water;
major nonpoint pollution      ground storage tank (UST)      period, Tennessee assessed     Memphis, the largest city in
source. Smaller lakes are     regulation.                    11,081 river miles, and        Tennessee, is completely
more severely affected by       South Dakota is aggres-      538,657 lake acres for the     supplied by ground water.
nonpoint sources than are     sively addressing ground-      fishable/swimmable goal of       Many pollutants are known
larger lakes.                 water pollution. Ongoing       the Clean Water Act. Of the    or thought to be contam-
                               State ground-water projects    assessed river miles, 98       inating ground water. These
Ground-Water                  include the Oakwood/Poin-      percent met the fishable goal   pollutants include metals,
                               sett Rural Clean Water        and 94 percent met the swim-   petroleum products, pesti-
Quality                       Project; assumption of the     mable goal. Of the assessed     cides and other agricultural
                               Underground Injection         lake acres, 92 percent met      chemicals, and radioactive
  Approximately 453 million   Control, RCRA, and UST         the fishable goal and 97 per-    materials. In addition, vola-
gallons of water are used     programs; and cleanup activ-   cent met the swimmable          tile or synthetic organic
daily by South Dakotans; of    ities from hazardous mate-    goal.                          materials, plus inorganic
this, nearly 50 percent is    rials spills.                    The largest causes of         chemicals such as nitrates,
from ground-water sources.                                   nonsupport in streams are      have been detected in some
  Ground-water quality is                                    siltation and suspended         samples.
highly variable in South       _                             solids, fecal coliforms, low     Leading sources of ground-
Dakota but is generally         *ennessee                    dissolved oxygen, nutrients,    water contamination include
suitable for domestic, indus-    T obtain a copy of the      and flow alteration. Major      septic/sewage and water
trial, and agricultural uses.                                sources of these causes are     treatment plant sludge,
However, numerous localized        e                         agriculture, upstream           illegal dumps, septic tanks,
incidents of ground-water                                    impoundment, hydrologic         wastewater pits, ponds and
degradation have occurred.                                   modification (channeliza-       lagoons, sanitary landfills,
Documented or suspected        Tennessee Department of       tion), municipal discharges,   underground storage tanks
sources of ground-water                            ment      mining activities, urban        and pipelines, and aban-
contamination include leak-    TfER      aterldanagement   runoff, industrial discharges,    doned hazardous waste sites.
                               T.E.R.R.A. Building
ing artesian wells; fertilizers                              and construction activities.     Ground-water protection in
and pesticides; wastewater    Nashville T N  37219-5404        In lakes, the largest causes    Tennessee has become a
treatment lagoons; landfills;                                of nonsupport are nutrients,    major concern. In an effort
septic systems; inadequate                                   low dissolved oxygen, silta-    to define and protect this
well design, construction,    Surface Water                  tion and priority organics.    finite resource, the Tennes-
and placement; feedlots; and                                 Major sources of these causes   see Department of Health
petroleum and other chem-     Quality                        of use impairment are agri-     and Environment has devel-
ical spills or leaks. These                                  cultural activities, upstream   oped a Ground-Water Man-
pollution problems have         Of the 11,081 stream miles   impoundments, municipal         agement Strategy that would
remained consistent through   in Tennessee, 9,408 were       discharges, hydromodifica-      assemble the many pieces of
the years, although reported   assessed for this report.     tion, and mining activity.      relevant information into a
spills or leaks of petroleum  Sixty-three percent of the                                     comprehensive whole. Some
and other chemicals have      assessed miles were fully                                     of the recommendations
increased. Many of these      supporting designated uses,    Ground-Water                    contained in this Strategy
 contamination problems        10 percent were not support-   Quality                         will require legislative action
 result from improperly locat-  ing designated uses, and 26                                  by the General Assembly,
 ing or constructing wells,    percent were partially sup-      More than one-half of the     while others can be accom-
 septic systems, treatment     porting designated uses.       population of Tennessee         plished by coordination of
 lagoons, and other sources.                                  relies on ground water for      existing programs through
 A-32









                                                                                                                  Appendix








the establishment of the       coliform counts; the sources    contamination in some areas.
Ground Water Management        of this pollution include trib-   Improvements in brine dis-     Utah
Council.                       utaries transporting treated    posal, well-plugging, and       'l obtain a copy of the Utah
                                domestic wastewater and         underground injection           1988 305(b) report, contact:
                                urban runoff. All lake acres    procedures have reduced
                                support their designated        these problems in recent        Bureau of Water Pollution
Texas                          aquatic life habitat use.       petroleum operations.             Control Division of
Tb obtain a copy of the Texs     Of Texas' 1,990 square          Nevertheless, expanded          Environmental Health
        1988 305(b) report, contact:    miles of bays and estuaries,  development of the State's  P.O. Box 16700
                                458 are closed to shellfish    water resources and pres-        Salt Lake City, UT 84145
                                harvesting due to fecal coli-    sures to meet supply needs
Texas Water Commission          form bacteria contamination.   have created local, regional,
  Water Quality Standards       Contact recreation and         and statewide problems of
  and Evaluation Section                                       varying intensity. While
  andEvaiP.O. B ox 13087        aquatic habitat uses are met    varying intensity. While
                                throughout the State's estua-   surface water quality          Quality
Capitol StationX 787113087      rine area.                     continues to be a major
Austin, TX 78711-3087            Eutrophication in reser-      concern, ground-water over-       Data analyzed from October
                                voirs and estuaries may        draft and quality degradation   1985 through September
Surface-Water                  cause problems not specif-      are particularly troublesome    1987 generally indicate that
            Surface-Water      ically addressed by the desig-   because of expanding           total phosphate levels are
Quality                        nated uses and numerical        economic activities that are    moderately exceeding the
                                criteria of the State's surface   ground-water dependent.       criteria for assigned bene-
  Of the State's 13,998         water quality standards.         Several State agencies are    ficial uses statewide. Total
assessed stream miles, 155      Estuaries exhibiting the       involved in the protection of    phosphates come from
are not currently meeting       highest degree of eutrophica-   ground-water resources. An      natural, agricultural, con-
fishable uses and 1,382 miles   tion are Clear Creek Tidal,    interagency committee,           struction, recreation, mining,
are presently not swimmable.   Armand Bayou Tidal, and the   funded by the EPA Ground-          and municipal sources.
Approximately 1,829 stream    Arroyo Colorado Tidal. The        Water Grant, was established      Point sources of pollution
miles are currently not         majority of bay segments        in 1985 to improve coordina-    can present water quality
achieving individual desig-     experiencing eutrophication    tion of ground-water protec-    problems anywhere they are
nated water uses. The major-    are located in the Galveston    tion activities and develop a    located, but are usually more
ity of impaired stream miles    Bay system.                     comprehensive ground-water   significant in highly popu-
are affected by dissolved                                       protection strategy. A ground-  lated areas. Wastewater
oxygen depletion and ele-                                       water protection strategy       treatment facilities are often
vated fecal coliform levels      round-Water                    was developed in 1987 and       concentrated in certain
caused by discharges of                                         implementation began in         drainages to meet the needs
treated domestic wastewater.    Quality                         1988. The strategy addresses    of increasing populations,
Approximately 65 percent of                                     interagency coordination,       and can seriously affect
the 1,537 stream miles not        Approximately 61 percent    improvement of existing           receiving streams. An exam-
suitable for fishing and        of the total water used by      programs, development of        ple in Utah is the Jordan
swimming are affected by        Texans for domestic, munic-     new program areas, and          River in Salt Lake Valley.
major metropolitan areas:       ipal, industrial, and agricul-  needs for funding and new       Regionalization of waste-
Fort Worth-Dallas, San          tural purposes is supplied by    legislation.                   water treatment facilities
Antonio, Houston, and citi s    ground-water sources. A                                         will provide high levels of
in the Lower Rio Grande         major form of ground-water                                      treatment to maintain and
Valley.                         contamination is saltwater                                      improve downstream water
 All of the State's 1,410,240    intrusion from natural                                        quality in the Jordan River.
acres of reservoirs currently   sources. Saline conditions are                                    Many of the remaining
meet the fishable goal. In less   sometimes aggravated by                                       water quality problems in
than i percent of lake          ground-water withdrawals.                                       Utah result from nonpoint
acres, the swimmable goal is    In the past, oil and natural                                    sources rather than point
not supported. The cause of     gas extraction activities were                                  source discharges. Nonpoint
nonsupport is elevated fecal    suspected of causing saline                                     sources of pollutants include

                                                                                                                       A-33








Appendix








 natural geologic formations,    thermal stratifications and    The public's comments will      utors to use impairment. The
 failing individual wastewater   subsequent dissolved oxygen   be used in the development       four most common water
 disposal systems, urban        (DO) depletion in the hypo-     of this ground-water            quality impairments due to
 sources, hydrologic modifica-   limnion. Several lakes         protection effort.              nonpoint sources in rivers
 tions, agriculture, mining,    experience partial or com-                                      are siltation/turbidity,
 recreation, construction, and   plete fish kills each year due                                 habitat alterations, nutrient
 silviculture.                  to DO depletion as a result of                                  enrichment, and flow altera-
   Most of the water allocated  excessive algal production.     Vermont                         tions. Other common prob-
 in Utah is for agricultural    Many lakes/reservoirs also                                      lems include thermal
 use. Diversion of waters for    have aesthetics and recrea-  Ve obtain a copy of the           modifications and pathogens.
 irrigation tends to concen-    tional use impairment           Vermont 1988 305(b) report,     The highest ranked sources
 trate salts and solids in      because of severe annual        contact:                        of these impairments are
 original stream channels.      drawdown which leaves                                           agricultural runoff, hydro-
 Return flow discharges add     expanses of exposed mud         Vermont Department              modifications below hydro-
 salts, nutrients, and sedi-    flats and insufficient waters     of Environmental              power dams, and erosion
 ments from croplands into      to overwinter fish                Conservation                  from construction sites.
 stream channels. Overland      populations.                    Water Resources Planning          Point source discharges
 runoff contributes salts,                                      103 S. Main Street              were responsible for
 sediments, and nutrients                                       Waterbu     VT 0567             repeated beach closures on
 from nonirrigated croplands                                                                    Lake Champlain. Public
 and coliform bacteria from     Ground-Water                                                    beaches in the Burlington
 pasture land. Minimum-till     Quality                                                         area were closed frequently
 and no-till conservation                                       Surface Water                   during the summer of 1987,
 measures, implemented and        Ground water is one of the    Quality                         primarily as the result of
 supported by Utah agricul-    State's most valuable and                                        combined sewer overflows
 tural agencies, reduce runoff   necessary resources. It fur-     The water quality of Ver-     which are now being
 and runoff-associated chem-   nishes drinking water for        mont's rivers and lakes is       corrected.
 icals. Major nonpoint source    two-thirds of the State's      generally excellent. Con-         On other lakes, most of the
 control efforts are currently   residents and comprises        tinued progress is noted in      water quality impairments
 under way as Utah develops    about 20 percent of the total    the cleanup or elimination      are caused by nonpoint
 its nonpoint source assess-    water used in Utah. In rural    of point source discharges,     sources and excessive plant
 ment and management plan.   areas of the State, it is com-     particularly from wastewater   growth. Very few lakes
   General ambient water        monly the only source of        treatment plants. Of the         receive point source dis-
 quality conditions on Utah's    water for man and livestock.    5,162 miles of rivers and       charges. The major impair-
 lakes and reservoirs vary        Because of this depend-       streams in Vermont 88 per-       ments are nuisance aquatic
 greatly. Nutrient concentra-    ence, a more diligent effort   cent fully supported the uses    plants such as Eurasion
 tions and trophic states range  is required to protect Utah's  for which they are desig-        milfoil and algae; nutrient
 from the oligotrophic condi-    ground-water resources.        nated; uses are threatened in   enrichment from nonpoint
 tions of many high mountain      The Ground-Water Quality    20 percent of these river          sources; pathogens; and
 lakes to highly eutrophic      Protection Strategy for the     miles. Of the 229,146 acres of   siltation/turbidity. Threats to
 downstream lakes and           State of Utah reviews facts     lakes and ponds in Vermont,      lake water quality include
 impoundments such as Utah    about ground water, des-          78 percent fully supported       erosion from development,
  Lake, Cutler Reservoir,        cribes government programs    designated uses; 86 percent        acid precipitation, and, in
 Gunnison Bend Reservoir,       that affect ground water, and   of these lake acres are          the case of Lake Champlain,
  and Minersville Reservoir.     discusses potential sources of   threatened. The largest         a preliminary indication of
 Other water chemistry char-    ground-water pollution. The    portion of this threat to lake    the contamination of fish
  acteristics vary from          strategy also provides          use is associated with Lake      tissue by toxic substances.
  extremely soft water condi-    management proposals for        Champlain, where toxic
  tions of the high Uinta lakes    public consideration and      substances have been found
  to high total dissolved solids    comment. The purpose of      in the tissue of a species of
  levels in reservoirs on the    these proposals is to generate   fish.
  lower Sevier drainage,         discussion and provide a          Vermont reports that
    Many lakes/reservoirs        framework for a carefully       nonpoint sources are the
  experience problems with       derived protection program.    most widespread contrib-
  A-34









                                                                                                                  Appendix








Ground-Water                    Virginia                       domestic sewage is located       the major sources of ground-
                                                                in southwestern Virginia,       water contamination. Vola-
Quality                         To obtain a copy of the        where it is suspected that       tile and synthetic organic
                                Virginia 1988 305(b) report,   many individual homes            chemicals, pesticides,
  Ground-water                  contact:                       discharge directly to streams.    nitrates, fluorides, brine/
contamination in Vermont is                                      In lakes, the major causes     salinity, and metals are the
a comparatively minor           Virginia State Water Control    of nonsupport were nutrients,   contaminants of concern.
problem. However, from time      Board Office of Water         organic enrichment, pH,            Specific ground-water
to time, well interference       Resources Management          siltation, and metals. Major     program activities in Virginia
problems do occur in more      2111 North Hamilton Street      sources of use impairment in    include formation of an
developed areas, although       Richmond, VA 23230              lakes include agriculture and    interagency Ground-Water
there is no evidence that                                      storm sewers/runoff.             Protection Steering Commit-
ground-water withdrawals                                         In estuaries, pathogens,       tee, a Data Management Task
are exceeding recharge. The    Surface Water                   organic enrichment, and pH       Force, and an Antidegrada-
State relies on ground water                                   are leading causes of use        tion Advisory Group; imple-
to supply more than half of    Quality                          impairment; sources include    mentation of an under-
its drinking water needs; this                                  municipal discharges, agri-     ground storage tank program;
is expected to continue, as      Water in Virginia is           culture, and storm              ground-water monitoring;
there is no evidence of        generally of good quality        sewers/runoff.                  and investigations of
widespread water degrada-      except in relatively few                                         pollution complaints and
tion or depletion.             areas. During the reporting                                      proposed landfill sites.
  The major sources of          period, Virginia assessed       Ground-Water
ground-water contamination    3,532 miles of streams,
in Vermont include petroleum   161,089 lake acres, 1,800        Quality
pollution from leaking under-   estuary square miles, and 112                                   Virgi           n Islands
ground storage tanks and        ocean coastal miles. Of the       Ground water accounts for
                                                                                                To obtain a copy of the Virgin
accidental spills; leachate     assessed river miles, 34        approximately 22 percent of  la oti  rpot
                                                                                                Islands 1988 305(b) report,
from landfills; leachate from    percent fully supported uses,    the water used in Virginia for c  nt
on-site sewage systems; road    40 percent partially sup-       purposes other than hydro-ct:
application and storage of     ported uses, and 26 percent      electric and thermoelectric     Virgin Islands Department of
salt and salted sand; and       did not support their desig-    uses. Eighty percent of Vir-      Conservation and Cultural
                                                                                                  Conservation and Cultural
agricultural practices.         nated uses. Of the State's      ginians used ground water
                                                                                                  Affairs
  The ground-water protec-      assessed lake acres, 91 per-    either as their only water         far
tion program has made many    cent fully supported desig-       supply or as part of their        Management
                                                                                                  Management
significant accomplishments    nated uses, and 9 percent        supply.
                                                                                                P.O. Box 4340
over the past 2 years.         partially supported uses. Of       Contamination of major          o. om
                                                                                                Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Current efforts to manage      the assessed estuary square      aquifers in Virginia is not     V       irgin Islands 00801
                                                                                                Virgin Islands 00801
ground-water quality include   miles, 89 percent fully          a serious problem. Most
coordinating various State      supported designated uses,      ground-water pollution
agencies that participate in    6 percent partially supported    incidents contaminate finite    Surface Water
ground-water management         uses, and 5 percent did not     areas near the spill or acci-
programs, and completing        support their designated        dent. More than 800 cases of    Quality
the State's Ground-Water        uses. Lastly, all of the State's  contamination have been
Protection Rule and Strategy.   assessed ocean coastal miles    documented; approximately         Water quality in the Virgin
Other activities include a      fully supported their desig-    12 new cases are added per      Islands is generally good but
study of nitrate contamina-     nated uses.                     month. Most of these are due   is worsening due to an
tion, well driller licensing,     The major causes of           to leaking underground          increase in nonpoint source
and reviews, under the          nonsupport in Virginia's        tanks and associated piping.    runoff such as vessel washes
State's Act 250, of the         rivers include fecal coliform   The State lists underground     and uncontrolled runoff.
impacts of proposed develop-   bacteria; major sources of       storage tanks, landfills          During the reporting
ment on ground-water            these pollutants include        (municipal, on-site indus-      period, the Virgin Islands
resources.                      agriculture and municipal       trial, and others), surface     assessed 29 square miles of
                                point source discharges. Most    impoundments, septic tanks,    estuary and 7 ocean coastal
                                of the mileage affected by      and agricultural activities as    miles. Of the assessed
                                                                                                                        A-35









Appendix








 estuary square miles, 86      brought about stress to the    water supply and quality as    supported their designated
 percent fully supported       Territory's natural resources.   part of the implementation   uses.
designated uses, 3 percent    Without the concomitant        of the 1983 ground-water         The primary causes of
partially supported uses, and   increase in environmental    management plan. These         impaired surface waters in
20 percent did not support    programs and planning, some   actions are geared toward       the State are fecal coliform
their designated uses. Of the   of the Virgin Island's most  short- and long-term           bacteria, temperature prob-
assessed ocean coastal miles,   valuable resources will be   management for more            lems, suspended solids,
 71 percent fully supported    irreversibly damaged.          efficient use and protection   organic enrichment and dis-
designated uses, 14 percent                                  of this precious resource.     solved oxygen problems,
 partially supported uses, and                                                               nutrients, and habitat/flow
 14 percent did not support    Ground-Water                                                  alterations. Contamination
 uses. Major sources of use    Ground-Water                                                  by metals, priority organics,
 impairment include munic-    Quality                         Washington                     and pesticides are serious
ipal/domestic discharges,                                        obtain a co  of the        problems in certain water-
                                                              To obtain a copy of the
construction, and boating       Some ground-water                                           bodies. The primary sources
                                                              Washington 1988 305(t))
activities.                   contamination occurs in the                   rpton           of water quality impairment
                                                              report, contact:
  Lack of enforcement         Virgin Islands, primarily in                                  in Washington are runoff
of permitting laws and        the form of elevated chloride                                 from pasture land and irri-
                                                              Washington Department
unplanned development and   concentrations caused by                  o   Ec                gated agricultural lands,
                                                                of Ecology
growth are special State      saltwater intrusion. Nitrate     o     lo                     municipal and industrial
                                                              Water Quality Program
concerns. Without an effec-    contaminants are also present  PV11                                     point sources , storm sewers,
tive management program,      in some areas as a result of   Olympia, WA 98504                   on-site wastewater disposal,
                                                              Olympia, WA 98504
water pollution problems are   sewage treatment plant                                       urban runoff, and natural
sure to become worse.         malfunctions.                                                 causes. Natural causes
   There are little data avail-  Other areas have been        Surface Water                  include such things as glacial
 able on toxic pollutants in  identified as being impacted                                   runoff, poor circulation in
 the Virgin Islands marine     by sewage pollution. There is   Quality                       estuaries, and low stream-
 environment. A survey com-   also evidence of a new kind                                    flow during summer months.
 pleted in1986 examined        of contamination which           During the reporting
 water, sediments, and biota    previously was unknown in     period, Washington assessed
 and concluded that there      the Territory-organic pollu-    4,621 river miles, 156,518    Ground-Water
 were few or no toxic organics  tion. Chlorinated solvents    lake acres, 2,114 estuary
 in water or sediments in the   and petroleum products        square miles, and 163 ocean    Quality
 Territory, although some      appear to be the main          coastal miles. Of the assessed
 trace metals were found at    elements of this new contain-   river miles, 50 percent fully   Washington lacks a con-
 elevated levels.              ination. At present, the       supported designated uses,     prehensive ground-water
   Violations of water quality  extent and severity of the    35 percent partially sup-      monitoring program, so it is
 standards for fecal coliform    problem is not known, but    ported uses, and 15 percent    difficult to assess the extent
 bacteria have occurred in     efforts are being made to      did not support their desig-   of existing contamination.
 harbor areas where there are  investigate the areas which    nated uses. Of the assessed    Available data, however,
 large numbers of boats and    have been identified.          lake acres, 78 percent fully   suggest that contamination
 low natural flushing rates.    The Government of the         supported designated uses,     may be more widespread
 Several Federal and Terri-    U.S. Virgin Islands has        21 percent partially sup-      than previously believed.
 torial laws prohibit sewage    requested technical and legal   ported uses, and less than   This is of concern because
 and waste discharge from      assistance from the U.S.       1 percent did not support      more than half of the State's
 vessels, but enforcement is    Environmental Protection      their designated uses. Of the    population relies on ground
 limited. Land-based storm     Agency to investigate the      State's assessed estuary       water for drinking water;
 runoff and sewage leakage/    matter, including a survey of   square miles, 92 percent fully   among rural residents, that
 infiltration have also been   water quality in island wells.   supported designated uses,   figure is over 90 percent. In
 identified as sources of      The government is also         4 percent partially supported   some counties, virtually all
 bacterial contamination.      exploring the possibility of   uses, and 4 percent did not    of the population relies on
   The Virgin Islands is       the U.S. Geological Survey     support their designated       ground water for domestic
 currently experiencing a      participation in a joint       uses. All of the ocean         use.
 building boom. This has       investigation of ground-       assessed coastal miles fully
 A-36








                                                                                                                  Appendix








  While exist ing data are     West  Virginia                    Concern over industrial        oxygen problems (mainly
limited, they do indicate the                                  discharges is confined, for      from sewage) were noted in
kinds of contamination prob-   To obtain a copy of the West    the most part, to parts of the    3,575 stream miles. Siltation
lems the State faces. Con-      Virginia 1988 305(b) report,   Ohio, Kanawha, and Monon-        and mine drainage (metals
cerns based on available data   contact:                       gahela watersheds where          and pH) were the major
include: an increasing                                         industry has tended to           causes of impact on lakes.
incidence of nitrates in       West Virginia Department        concentrate.
ground water, especially in      of Natural Resources            West Virginia reports that    Ground-Water
the irrigated regions of the    Water Resources Division       only 9 percent of its 14,301
Columbia Basin and in areas    694 Winfield Road               assessed stream miles did not   Quality
with high densities of resi-   St. Albans, WV  25177           support their designated uses
dential on-site sewage                                         during the reporting period.      Although ground water in
systems; a potential for the                                   Seventy-one percent partially  West Virginia is generally of
presence of leachable pesti-    Surface-Water                  supported their uses and 20     good quality, in most parts of
cides in ground water, partic-   Srface-Water                  percent fully supported their   the State it was found to be
ularly in areas with irrigated   Quality                       uses. About 14,060 stream       naturally hard and to contain
agriculture; the possibility                                   miles were not assessed.        elevated levels of iron and
of transport of radioactivity    Well over half of West Vir-    Of the 19,171 lake acres       manganese. Major contanm-
from materials stored at       ginia's population is rural.    assessed, only 9 percent did    ination problems in the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation   Because of the State's steeply   not support designated uses.    central and western parts of
into ground water within and   dissected topography, a large   The remaining 91 percent of    the State include acid mine
outside the reservation;       portion of this rural popula-    assessed lakes were partially    drainage and saltwater intru-
leachate from landfills and    tion resides in small localized   supporting beneficial uses.   sion caused by oil and gas
other sites containing munic-   concentrations in narrow       Comparison of current data      well drilling operations. In
ipal and hazardous waste;      valleys. Along with localized    with that in earlier reports   the karst areas of the east,
leaks from underground stor-   unfavorable economic condi-   showed very little overall        contamination from petro-
age tanks, both industrial     tions and a limited amount of   change in water quality         leum products and nonpoint
and domestic; contamination   land available for residential    during the reporting period.    sources such as animal
from chemical spills; contam-   development, this too often      Elevated levels of toxics     feedlots, domestic septic
ination by industrial waste    results in direct discharge of    were noted in 3,710 miles of    tanks, pesticides, etc., are
through land disposal or       sewage and/or improperly        total assessed streams. Mine     the principal concerns.
discharge to ground water;     installed and maintained on-   drainage contributed to the        A ground-water protection
saltwater intrusion in some    lot sewage disposal systems.    problem in 2,427 of these        strategy has recently been
coastal areas; arsenic           Mining, oil and gas explora-   stream miles. Elevated levels    initiated and is currently in
contamination from appar-      tion, and timbering opera-      of toxics were also noted in     the development stage. The
ently natural sources along    tions are also of major         4,655 lake acres. Many of       top priorities of this strategy
the western foothills of the   concern in the State due to     these reported elevated toxic   are to establish legislation
Cascade Mountains; and         nonpoint contributions to       levels are due to exceedances   and regulation needed to
transport of pollutants by     many streams. These prob-       of the State water quality       protect and improve the
stormwater discharges to       lems are particularly acute     standard for iron.               State's ground water.
ground water via dry wells     in the Big Sandy/Tug Fork,        Acid mine drainage from
and other recharge devices.    Guyandotte, Coal, Kanawha,    abandoned sources continues
                               Elk, Pocatalico, and Little    to present a major problem in
                               Kanawha watersheds.            the State's waters. Metals
                                 Agriculture waste handling   from mining activities were
                               and runoff are of concern      found to affect 2,852 of the
                               mainly in the Potomac water-   assessed stream miles, while
                               shed (in particular, the        1,897 miles were affected by
                               extreme eastern portion) due   a pH (acid) problem. Siltation
                               primarily to the area's large  from various nonpoint
                               amount of agricultural opera-   sources impaired 5,251 miles
                               tions and its limestone        of stream, while organic
                               geology.                       enrichment and dissolved

                                                                                                                       A-37









Appendix








Wisconsin                        Many surface water quality   quality enforcement              93 percent fully supported
                                problems are localized, so     standards.                       designated uses and 7
To obtain a copy of the        nonsupport of designated          In addition to VOCs,          percent partially supported
Wisconsin 1988 305(b)          uses may vary from region to   improper handling and            uses.
report, contact:               region. The southwest corner   storage of pesticides are          The major causes of use
                                of the State appears to have    sources of ground-water         impairment in Wyoming's
Wisconsin Department           problems due to nonpoint        contamination. To date, 22      rivers include suspended
  of Natural Resources         source impacts, while the Fox   sites have been identified in    sediments, salinity, and
 Water Quality Evaluation       Valley has both point and       the State where the improper   habitat modifications. Major
  Section                      nonpoint source problems.       storage or handling of pesti-   sources of these pollutants
 P.O. Box 7921                  Milwaukee and other Great       cides has caused ground-        include agriculture (range-
 Madison, WI 53707              Lakes harbor areas have         water contamination.            land, riparian grazing, and
                                large areas of contaminated                                     irrigated agriculture),
                                sediments.                                                      construction, hydrological/
                                                                                                 habitat modifications, and
 Surface Water                                                 Wyoming                          resource extraction.
         ~Quality               Ground-Water                                                      The major causes of use
                                Quality                         To obtain a copy of the         impairment in lakes include
                  While sig~ic~ty  Qualinty          ~Wyoming 1988 305(b) report,    nutrients, suspended sedi-
   While siginificant point
 source impacts to Wisconsin's    Sixty-seven percent of        contact:                        ments, and flow alterations.
 surface waters have been      Wisconsin's residents use                                        Sources of these pollutants
 minimized, other water        ground water for drinking        Department of Environ-          include agriculture, hydro-
                                                                  mental Quality                logical/habitat modifications,
 pollution problems remain.    water supplies. Many of the        mental Quality                logical/habitat modifications,
                 Toxic contamination of ~~Water Quality Division                                cntutorsuc
 'lbxic contamination of        State's industrial and agricul-    Water Quality Division       construction, resource
                 sediments and fish, ground-    tural activities also depend  erschler Building, 4th Floor    extraction, phosphate soils,
                                                                 122 West 25th                   and municipal discharges.
 nonpoint source runoff into     The five leading sources of        yenne, WY 82002
 surface waters are contin-     ground-water contamination
 uing water pollution          in Wisconsin are agricultural                                    Ground-Water
 concerns.                     activities, solid waste land-    Surface Water G oda
   Nonpoint sources are the    fills, abandoned waste sites, Quality
 predominant cause of water   underground storage tanks,        Quality
 quality degradation in lakes    and spills. The application,                                     Ground water has been,
 and streams in Wisconsin.      storage, and handling of          Generally, Wyoming's          and will continue to be, very
 Of point source impacts in     nitrogen-based chemical         water is of good to excellent    important in Wyoming.
 streams, less than half are    fertilizers and animal wastes    quality. Significant improve-    Ground-water use in the
 due to industrial discharges,    has resulted in extensive     ments have been made in         State is estimated to be
 and slightly over half are due   nitrate contamination.        reducing impacts from           around 500,000 acre-feet per
 to municipal discharges.       Nitrate is the contaminant      municipal sources and most      year. Domestic uses account
 Approximately 9 percent of    most often found to exceed       industries. Nonpoint sources,   for about 15 percent of the
 water quality degradation in   ground-water quality            however, continue to have       water withdrawn; agricul-
 lakes is due to natural causes.  standards.                    major impacts on water          tural uses account for about
 About 1 percent of the use       Volatile organic compounds   quality in the State. During     51 percent; and the petro-
 impairment in lakes is due to   (VOCs) are the most signif-    the reporting period,           leum industry accounts for
 point sources, primarily       icant contaminating sub-        Wyoming assessed all river      most of the remaining
 municipal wastewater treat-   stances associated with          miles and lake acres with the    ground-water use.
 ment facility discharges.      municipal landfills, under-     exception of those on the         Extensive ground-water
 Nutrients, biochemical         ground storage tanks, aban-     Wind River Indian Reserva-      contamination has been
 oxygen demand, and sedi-       doned hazardous waste           tion. A total of 83 percent of    identified at refinery sites,
 ments primarily from non-      disposal sites, and spills.     river miles fully supported     mines, and leaking under-
 point sources continue to      Trichloroethylene is the VOC    designated uses, and 17         ground storage tanks. Many
 adversely affect the State's   most often detected at levels    percent partially supported    cleanup and restoration
 surface waters.                exceeding ground-water          uses. Of the State's lake acres,   activities are currently

 A-38









                                                                                                               Appendix









under way. The regulation of
underground injection, the
underground storage tanks
program, and State permit-
ting of facilities that have the
potential to impact ground
waters are under way to
protect existing and potential
uses of ground water. Despite
these efforts, new problems
continue to appear. At
present, there are over 500
sites in Wyoming where
ground-water monitoring,
investigation, or remediation
efforts are under way. The
most common contaminants
in ground water are petro-
leum products.

                                                         U.S.GOVERNMENT  PRINTING OFFICE    1990 - 270-871




































                                                                                                                     A-39