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The Solution

Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) also known as Water Quality Improvement Projects, are required by the Clean Water Act (CWA) to return water bodies on the 303(d) list to a healthy condition.  TMDLs established today can also help manage water quality on a watershed scale to prevent the loss of beneficial uses in the future.

A TMDL includes:

• an assessment of the water quality problems
• a technical analysis to determine how much pollution must be reduced from all sources to meet water quality standards
• the selection and implementation of appropriate control measures
• follow-up monitoring to determine the success of the effort.

TMDLs are established for each water quality problem to protect all designated “beneficial uses” of the river which include swimming, boating, fishing, providing aquatic habitat, providing aesthetic value and supplying drinking, irrigation, and industrial water.

TMDLs have previously been established in the Spokane River for metals (lead, cadmium, and zinc) and for phosphorus (a nutrient that feeds plants) to control excessive algae blooms in Lake Spokane.  The development of a TMDL for PCBs began in 2003.

See Overview of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process for more information.