Milwaukee River Basin Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) Clean Rivers, Clean Lake Conference May 1, 2014 Steve Heinz, P.E.
Milwaukee River Basin
Total Maximum Daily Loads
(TMDLs)
Clean Rivers, Clean Lake
Conference
May 1, 2014
Steve Heinz, P.E.
Milwaukee River
Basin
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Pollutants
• Phosphorous (TP)
• Sediment (TSS)
• Bacteria
Fecal coliform for 3 rivers & inner harbor
E. coli for outer harbor
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The TMDL Development Team
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
• Delegated responsibility to the states
• Provided GLRI grant funding
• Providing review and comment throughout the process
• Will grant final approval
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The TMDL Development Team
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR)
• Designated as the responsible agency in Wisconsin
• Providing review and comment throughout the process
• Will grant approval prior to submittal to USEPA
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The TMDL Development Team
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC)
Providing technical assistance, review, and comment throughout the process
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The TMDL Development Team
Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust (SWWT or Sweet Water)
• Providing public outreach assistance throughout the process
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The TMDL Development Team
CDM Smith
• Leading the technical consultant team
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)
• Sponsoring the project as a third party on behalf of the WDNR
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Here’s Dan Bounds of
CDM Smith …
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TMDL Development Process
• TMDL - calculation of the amount of pollutant a water
body can receive from both point and nonpoint sources
and still meet water quality standards
TMDL Development Process
• TMDL = LA + WLA + MOS + RC
– LA = Load Allocation (Nonpoint Sources)
– WLA = Wasteload Allocation (Permitted Point Sources)
– MOS = Margin of Safety
– RC = Reserve Capacity
• Expressed in load per day
– Pounds /day
TMDL Development Process
• Determine water quality impairments and pollutant sources
• Establish baseline loading condition
• Determine water quality standards / targets
• Establish the allowable load (TMDL)
• Develop an allocation method
• Allocate the allowable load, provide reasonable assurance
• Write a report, submit it for USEPA approval
• Prepare an implementation plan
TMDL Development Process
• Allowable loads are divided proportionally according to
each source’s baseline load contribution
Ag, 35%
PS, 30%
MS4, 20%
NPU, 15%
Baseline Load
Ag, 35%
PS, 30%
MS4, 20%
NPU, 15%
Allowable Load
TMDL Development Process
• Data intensive TMDLs
• Pros
– Good understanding of the watershed, flows, sources
– Existing models, tools available for use
– Knowledgeable stakeholders
– High degree of confidence in the results
• Cons
– The data was collected, organized for another purpose
– The models, tools were not built for TMDL work
– Adjusting the data and models takes significant time
– Level of complexity and detail takes time to fully address
Progress to Date
• Established a stakeholder process, held 4 workshops
Progress to Date
• Hundreds of Water Quality Initiative model river reaches
were combined into 55 “TMDL reaches”
• Every source (discharger) in the entire watershed was
located, described
• The river models and estuary models were retooled for
TMDL use, highly detailed
• The flow condition to base the TMDLs on was decided
• Baseline loads were determined
• Preliminary, or Development Team “working” allowable
loads have been determined
Current Status
• Report submitted to WDNR on December 31, 2013
– MMSD WPDES permit requirement
– Development Team’s work in progress
– Draft TMDL report (data, sources, approach, process)
– Working TMDL allocation tables
• Refining the flow condition / approach used
– Every watershed is unique with respect to flows
– Initial approach prompted re-evaluation and a review of the
approach used in the Rock River TMDL
• Revising to be more consistent
• Called for 40 to 60% reductions from baseline conditions
Next Steps
• Spring / Summer 2014
– Stakeholder workshop to review draft TMDL allocations
and report
– Specific focus group meetings with stakeholders
– Public meeting and public hearing
– Complete TMDL report and submit to USEPA
• Summer / Fall 2014
– Implementation plan development
• Implementation measures (point and non-point)
• Factors that may affect implementation (i.e. climate change)
• Prioritization, schedule
http://www.mmsd.com/waterquality/
total-maximum-daily-loads