Publication Summary

This is the plan for the Dungeness Bay and Lower Dungeness River Watershed Fecal Coliform Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load Effectiveness Monitoring study.

The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is required under Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act to (1) develop and implement Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs; water cleanup plans) for impaired waters and (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the water cleanup plans in achieving the needed improvement in water quality.

Dungeness Bay, the Dungeness River, and several tributaries in the Dungeness River watershed are on the 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies due to violations of one or more Washington State water quality criteria. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires states to develop and implement TMDLs for listed parameters and to periodically monitor progress toward compliance with TMDL targets or water quality standards.

The main purpose of the study outlined in this Quality Assurance Project Plan is to evaluate the effectiveness and progress of TMDL implementation efforts. The plan describes the objectives of the study and the procedures to be followed to achieve those objectives.

The study will assess the status of fecal coliform concentrations. The current status will be compared with fecal coliform target concentrations set in Dungeness Bay and all tributaries included in the initial TMDL studies.

Another purpose of the study is to evaluate waters in the vicinity that have shown signs of impairment due to other pollutants. Ecology′s 2008 Water Quality Assessment lists three streams in the study area as impaired due to low dissolved oxygen concentration.

Link to EIM data for User Study ID CBRO0001