Total Maximum Daily Loads Program
News and Announcements
New! The Department announces the availability of the draft
dissolved oxygen TMDLs for
Minnow Creek and
Sikes Creek in the
Choctawhatchee River basin for stakeholder review and comment. The
public is invited to attend a workshop (meeting agenda) on these TMDLs at 9:00
am CDT on July 9, 2010 at Florida Department of Transportation, District
Three Design Conference Room, 1074 Highway 90 East, Chipley, FL 32438.
Written comments will be accepted through July 30, 2010, and should be
directed to:
Jan.Mandrup-Poulsen@dep.state.fl.us.
 What is a TMDL?
A scientific
determination of the maximum amount of a given pollutant that a surface
water can absorb and still meet the water quality standards that protect
human health and aquatic life. Water bodies that do not meet water
quality standards are identified as "impaired" for the particular
pollutants of concern--nutrients, bacteria, mercury, etc.--and TMDLs must be developed, adopted and
implemented for those pollutants to reduce pollutants and clean up the
water body.
The threshold limits on pollutants in surface waters--Florida's
surface water quality standards on which TMDLs are based--are set forth
primarily in rule
62-302, Florida Administrative Code, and the associated table of
water quality criteria.
What are the basic steps in the TMDL program? How
does it work?
- Assess the quality of surface
waters--are they meeting water quality standards?
- Determine which waters are
impaired--that is, which ones are not meeting water
quality standards for a particular pollutant or
pollutants.
- Establish and adopt, by rule,
a TMDL for each impaired water for the pollutants of
concern--the ones causing the water quality problems.
- Develop, with extensive local
stakeholder input, a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP)
that....
- Implement the strategies and
actions in the BMAP.
- Measure the effectiveness of
the BMAP, both continuously at the local level and
through a formal re-evaluation every five years.
- Adapt--change the plan and
change the actions if things aren't working.
- Reassess the quality of
surface waters continuously.
The Divisions are working on a
more comprehensive approach to protecting Florida water
quality involving basin-wide assessments and the
application of a full range of regulatory and
non-regulatory strategies to reduce pollution.
The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is the heart of
this comprehensive approach.
For
more information, send e-mail to
Jan
Mandrup-Poulsen (Jan.Mandrup-Poulsen@dep.state.fl.us)
Total
Maximum Daily Load Program
2600 Blair Stone Road - Mail Station 3555
Tallahassee, FL, 32399-2400
Phone: (850) 245-8449 |
2010 State of Florida