Water Quality > Washington State's Water Quality Assessment and 303(d) List > 2010 Water Quality Assessment and 303(d) List

Candidate 2010 Water Quality Assessment and 303(d) List

Status

The Department of Ecology formally submitted the 2010 Water Quality Assessment list to the EPA in December 2011. As part of the submittal, Ecology is required to submit a schedule and prioritization for the establishment of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for waters listed in Category 5. Once EPA approves the 2010 assessment, it will become the current Water Quality Assessment and official 303(d) list of impaired waters for Washington State.

How is the 2010 assessment different from previous assessments?

The 2010 listing cycle focused on a new assessment of Washington State's marine waters. Category 5 represents the state’s 303(d) list of impaired waters which includes the previously assessed freshwaters as well as the revised marine water listings.

2010 Water Quality Process

The 2010 water quality assessment and 303(d) list is based on the most recent state water quality standards approved by EPA (Chapter 175-201A WAC, 2006 version and Chapter 173-204 WAC) and the state’s assessment policies:

• Program Policy 1-11, Chapter 1, Assessment of Water Quality for the Clean Water Act Sections 303(d) and 305(b) Integrated Report.
• Program Policy 1-11, Chapter 2, Ensuring Credible Data for Water Quality Management.

These guidance policies are available on Ecology’s website at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d/policy1-11Rev.html.

Call for Data (August – October 2009)

• A call for data was sent out to encourage members of the public to provide water quality data.
• Public workshops on the use of the environmental database were held in Lacey and Seattle.

Data Compilation and Assessment (March 2010–May 2011)

• Data used in the 2010 Water Quality Assessment were selected according to methods outlined in Policy 1-11.
• Assessed water bodies were placed into one of five categories.
• Most of the data used in the assessment are housed in Ecology's EIM database. We also received data from other sources.

Public Review (June – August 2011)

• A public review period was held for the draft Water Quality Assessment.
• Public workshops were held in Lacey and Seattle.
• The responsiveness summary shows each substantive comment, submitted during the public comment period, and Ecology’s response. The summary is categorized by the commenter’s name.

To ask any questions about the 2010 water quality assessment process, please contact:

Ken Koch
Water Quality Program
Washington State Department of Ecology
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
Phone: (360) 407-6782
E-mail: 303d@ecy.wa.gov

 

Alternating Assessments

We are implementing an alternating schedule of marine and fresh water quality assessments. The 2010 assessment only evaluated marine waters. Find out about the 2012 Freshwater Water Quality Assessment at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d/2012/index.html.

 

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