Draft 2012 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) Division of Surface Water (DSW) is providing for public review and comment the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) priority list for 2012 as required by Section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1313(d). The list indicates the waters of Ohio that are currently impaired and may require TMDL development in order to meet water quality standards. The waters are ranked according to level of impairment to help indicate which have the greatest need for TMDL development.
The list is Section L4 (PDF 1,471K) of the 2012 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report which, in accordance with federal guidance, satisfies the Clean Water Act requirements for both Section 305(b) water quality reports and Section 303(d) lists. The report describes the procedure that Ohio EPA used to develop the list and indicates which areas have been selected for TMDL development during FFY 2013 and 2014.
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There will be a public information session about the draft 2012 Integrated Report on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 3:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 50 West Town Street, Suite 700, Columbus, Ohio, 43215. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the report and its recommendations in more detail and ask questions. Visitors must present a photo I.D.
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Can I download a copy of the report?
Yes. The report is available below in Adobe Acrobat™ format. The Adobe Acrobat™ reader can be downloaded at no cost from Adobe. If you have problems downloading large PDF files click here.
Draft Report
The report is available below in Adobe Acrobat format.
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Can I get a copy of the report without downloading?
Yes. To receive a printed or CD copy, contact the Ohio EPA - DSW reception desk by telephone at (614) 644-2001 and request the report by name in the preferred format.
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How do I comment on the report?
All interested persons wishing to submit comments for Ohio EPA's consideration may do so by e-mail to:
dsw.webmail@epa.state.oh.us
or in writing to:
Ohio EPA
Division of Surface Water
P.O. Box 1049
Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049
Attn: 303(d) Comments
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What's the deadline for submitting comments?
The deadline for submitting comments is the close of business on Monday, February 6, 2012. Comments received after this date may be considered as time and circumstances permit.
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What's the best way to use the report?
Your approach would depend on your primary interest - a particular area or watershed, a statewide perspective on water quality, or perhaps an interest in TMDL activity.
For a general overview of water quality conditions and issues in Ohio, consult Section A.
Section K contains a collection of maps that provide an overview of water quality on a statewide basis.
Those with an interest in Ohio's response to the Clean Water Act requirements or the TMDL program should start with the report text in Sections B through J.
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What does the report say about water quality in general in Ohio?
A 13-page "plain English" overview is included in the 2012 Integrated Report (Section A , PDF 265K). The overview reports statewide observations for the four beneficial uses and discusses the common causes and sources of water quality problems in Ohio.
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What's new in the 2012 report?
Changes made between the 2010 Integrated Report and the 2012 Integrated Report are minor.
- Analysis and listings are based on recent data (collected over the past two years).
- Forty beaches along Lake Erie’s shoreline were added to the beach analysis in Section F.
- For the aquatic life use, the transition that began in 2010 of translating data evaluated at the 11-digit hydrologic unit (HU) size to the smaller 12-digit HU size continued. The few remaining relic categories will be dealt with as those areas are monitored again.
- Approximately two years of E. coli data from facilities are available for the recreation use evaluation (no facility data were available in 2010 because of the WQS change from fecal coliform to E. coli). More data will be available in future IR cycles.
- A new subcategory “t” was defined to indicate those areas where a TMDL has been completed and information suggests that the 4A category may not tell the whole story.
- New 2020 water quality goals are established for all four beneficial uses included in the IR.
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Are there more or fewer impaired waters?
Ohio is removing 260 assessment units and adding 244 units based on these four reasons:
- Change in methodology: continuation of the change to smaller assessment units introduced in 2010; for aquatic life use only
- Flaw in original listing: explained in detail for each change; many of these are corrections to minor issues that arose during the 2010 transition to smaller units
- New data: the assessment and interpretation of more recent data
- TMDL approved: approval by U.S. EPA of a TMDL
Most of the changes are in watersheds with recent monitoring and/or TMDL activity. See Tables J-7 through J-13 for specific removals and additions.
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What is the condition of aquatic life uses in Ohio's waters?
The upward trend in full attainment of the aquatic life use in both watersheds and larger streams continues. In general, large rivers in Ohio are meeting aquatic life use goals at a much higher percentage than smaller streams.
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| Average Percentage of Watersheds |
Attainment Percentage of Large Rivers |
Large river assessment units in Ohio reflected a slight decline in percent of monitored miles in full attainment compared to the same statistic reported in the 2010 IR. Based on monitoring through 2010, the full attainment statistic now stands at 89% (793 of 852 assessed LRAU miles). The slight decline in full attainment across LRAUs between the 2010 and 2012 IR cycles (93% to 89%) is largely because of new assessments in four large rivers, three of which flow through highly urbanized areas and receive large quantities of flow from wastewater treatment facilities. The table below shows that all four of the large rivers have improved dramatically since first sampled in the early- to mid-1980s.
| Stream |
Year Studied |
% of Stream
Monitored |
% of Aquatic Life Standard |
| Meeting |
Partially
Meeting |
Not
Meeting |
Sandusky
River |
1981/88 |
78 |
14 |
31 |
55 |
| 2009 |
100 |
69 |
1 |
31 |
Cuyahoga
River |
1984/87 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
| 2010 |
95 |
77 |
13 |
10 |
Scioto River
(middle) |
1988 |
74 |
21 |
55 |
24 |
| 2009/10 |
100 |
85 |
8 |
7 |
Great Miami
River (lower) |
1980/82 |
100 |
0 |
17 |
83 |
| 2009/10 |
100 |
80 |
20 |
0 |
The following charts show the progress in attainment status of aquatic life statistics in recent years for both large rivers (upper) and watersheds (lower).
What if I need more information before I complete my review?
To ask technical questions regarding the Integrated Report or to arrange to inspect Agency files or records pertaining to the list or report, please contact:
Beth Risley
TMDL Coordination
Ohio EPA, Division of Surface Water
beth.risley@epa.state.oh.us
(614) 728-2384
Back to the Ohio Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report page.