Washington State Department of Ecology

Publication Summary

Title

Errata: Pend Oreille River Temperature Total Maximum Daily Load: Water Quality Improvement Report

Month-Year Published

October 2011

Online Availability

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Short Description

On April 6, 2011, the Washington State Department of Ecology sent the Pend Oreille River temperature Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval. During EPA′s review and prior to its final approval, affected parties Seattle City Light (SCL) and the Pend Oreille Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD) initiated Ecology′s dispute resolution process. The dispute resolution process is a mechanism by which a local entity or citizen can request reconsideration of final TMDLs developed by Ecology, and/or bring a dispute of a procedural step in the TMDL development process. Among the outcomes of the dispute resolution process Ted Sturdevant, the Director of Ecology, decided to amend the TMDL with the following minor changes:

The TMDL needs to clarify that the compliance path for the Pend Oreille Public Utility District (PUD) is the compliance schedule outlined in the Water Quality Standards [WAC 173-201A-510(5)]. This is the same path as that used for all dams going through Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) re-licensing.

The temperature reduction target in the Boundary Dam forebay needs to reflect the temperature signal from the PUD′s Box Canyon Dam. The required temperature reduction in the Boundary forebay should be 0.76oC, not the 0.88oC listed in the TMDL. However, SCL′s allocation remains unchanged at natural conditions + 0.12oC. The distinction is that the PUD′s efforts to implement the TMDL will result in reduced temperatures flowing into Boundary Dam′s forebay. Therefore, the cumulative temperature reduction from both the PUD and SCL is a temperature reduction of 0.76oC in the Boundary Dam forebay.

Ecology intends to make these and possibly other minor changes in the online version of the TMDL (Ecology publication number 10-10-065) following review and comment by affected parties.

Publication Number

10-10-065errata1

Author(s)

Moore, David

Contact

Moore, David, (509) 329-3514

Print Availability

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Number of pages

Keywords

temperature, Total Maximum Daily Load, water quality improvement, water quality improvement report

Subject Waterbodies

WRIA 62 - Pend Oreille