Publication Summary

This is the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the South Fork Palouse River Fecal Coliform Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load Study.

The South Fork Palouse River, Paradise Creek, and Missouri Flat Creek have been listed by Washington State under Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act for non-attainment of Washington State fecal coliform bacteria criteria. The listings are based on sampling done by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in 1987, 1991, and 1994-2001. Additional 303(d) listings exist within the South Fork Palouse River watershed for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and ammonia.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires states to set priorities for cleaning up 303(d) listed waters and to establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for each. A TMDL entails an analysis of how much of a pollutant load a waterbody can assimilate without violating water quality standards. The South Fork Palouse River TMDL Study will address the 303(d) listings within the watershed with three Quality Assurance (QA) Project Plans: one for bacteria, one for temperature, and one for dissolved oxygen, pH, and ammonia.

This QA Project Plan describes the technical study that will monitor levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the South Fork Palouse River watershed, and will form the basis for a proposal to allocate contaminant loads to sources. The study will be conducted by Ecology′s Environmental Assessment Program.

Link to EIM data for User Study ID JICA0001