WERF Research Provides Guide to TMDL Process

The Water Environment Research Foundation has released three new research reports that will help guide states, municipalities, and water quality professionals through the total maximum daily load (TMDL) development process.

"These three reports will help everyone involved in the TMDL process overcome some of the most difficult hurdles to developing effective and practical TMDLs," says WERF project manager Margaret Stewart.

Developing a TMDL--a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards--is complex and can prove daunting to even the most prepared organization. The goal of WERF's research program is to address the most critical aspects of TMDL development. Our research provides practitioners with guidelines, strategies, and methods to develop practical and scientifically defensible TMDLs. The three reports are:

Navigating the TMDL Process: Evaluation and Improvements (stock no. 00WSM1) discusses and evaluates technical tools used to develop TMDLs. The report suggests a range of improvements, alternative approaches, and available resources.

Navigating the TMDL Process: Listing and Delisting (stock no. 00WSM2) identifies a minimum level of commitment and corresponding actions necessary for states to ensure credible listing and delisting processes, as well as additional actions states can take to further enhance the quality of their programs. The report also summarizes and compares different states‚ approaches toward the listing and delisting processes. Navigating the TMDL Process: Method Development for Addressing Narrative Criteria (stock no. 01WSM1) provides guiding principles to address the challenges of working through the intrinsically quantitative TMDL process using qualitative narrative water quality criteria.

Source: WEF