Publication Summary

This is the study design for the Palouse River Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load Water Quality Study.

The Palouse River, Rebel Flat Creek, and Cow Creek have been listed by Washington State under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act for non-attainment of Washington State fecal coliform bacteria criteria. The listings on the Palouse River and Rebel Flat Creek are based on sampling done by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in 1988 and 1993-2001. The listing on Cow Creek is based on sampling done by Adams County Conservation District in 2003. Additional 303(d) listings exist within the Palouse River watershed for temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH that are being addressed by other related studies.

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 Palouse River TMDL study will address the 303(d) listings within the watershed with three separate Quality Assurance (QA) Project Plans: one for bacteria, one for temperature, and one for dissolved oxygen and pH.

This QA Project Plan describes the technical study that will monitor levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the Palouse River watershed and will form the basis for a bacteria TMDL. The study will be conducted by Ecology′s Environmental Assessment Program.

Link to EIM data for User Study ID JICA0001