Surface Water
Ohio Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program
Water Quality Management Plans
Total Maximum Daily Load Program
Phosphorus Task Force
Individual Ohio NPDES Permits
Statewide Biological and Water Quality Monitoring & Assessment
Storm Water Program
Volunteer Monitoring Program
Ohio Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program
All pollution is not created equally. Traditional images of water pollution often consist of a pipe spewing industrial contaminants into a river. The Clean Water Act helped solve many of Ohio’s traditional pollution problems. Remaining problems are more challenging and may be traced to two kinds of pollutants: polluted run off and physical alterations to a stream or river channel. These are referred to as nonpoint sources of pollution since they are the result of a land use and/or man-made changes to a river rather than flowing from a single point of discharge. Ohio EPA administers a Clean Water Act program that provides grants to local organizations to implement water quality improvement projects. Examples of these Section 319 grant projects in the Maumee can be found here.
Water Quality Management Plans
Also known as a watershed action plan, these are comprehensive “living” documents that include extensive information on Ohio’s water resources for specific geographical areas and land uses. A wide variety of issues may be covered and are framed in the context of applicable laws and local value or problems with the resource. Plans may also provide information on the aquatic and human health status of streams and lakes, and usually include a plan for restoring or protecting the resource. Some plans cover Statewide issues and since 2000, watershed coordinators in northwest Ohio have been working with local partners to create watershed action plans that can be used for local decision making. A link to the ODNR watersheds website will allow you to “meet” these coordinators and look at their plans”.
Total Maximum Daily Load Program
A TMDL is a plan to restore good health to streams that are not meeting water quality goals. “TMDL” stands for Total Maximum Daily Load, which defines the maximum amount of pollution that a stream can handle and still be considered healthy. Some people think of a TMDL as a cleanup plan or a pollution budget. Ohio EPA works with universities, watershed groups, local governments and federal and state agencies to address water quality problems using TMDLs. A TMDL is a planning mechanism. It does not grant Ohio EPA or anyone else additional authority to control pollution. TMDLs are implemented using Ohio EPA’s existing permitting and grant programs, local authorities and voluntary action. More than one third of the state has a TMDL project underway. Here is a map of current TMDL projects and the reports for these northwest Ohio TMDL.
Auglaize
Toussaint
Blanchard
Powell Creek
Swan Creek
Phosphorus Task Force
The recovery of Lake Erie from its degraded conditions of the 1960s and 1970s represents a major environmental success story, demonstrating that efforts to reverse cultural eutrophication (manmade enrichment) can be successful, even in lakes the size of Lake Erie. A gradual reverse in water quality trends resulting in increased algae growth and a growing “dead zone” has concerned many people. In 2007 a task force of representatives from state and local resource managers, academia, and watershed officials has been formed to discuss extensive research of the problems and potential solutions. For more information, click here.
Individual Ohio NPDES Permits
To protect Ohio’s water resources, Ohio EPA issues National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. These permits authorize the discharge of substances at levels that meet water quality standards and establish other conditions related to issues such as combined sewer overflows, pretreatment and sludge disposal. This is an overview of the process for issuing individual NPDES permits. The series of steps for a particular permit may vary somewhat depending on the size, nature, and complexity of the discharge. Search for permitted facilities in your county:
Statewide Biological and Water Quality Monitoring & Assessment
The goal of Ohio EPA’s Division of Surface Water (DSW) is to restore and maintain Ohio’s water resources. This goal reflects the national water quality objective “fishable/swimmable water”.
Ohio EPA routinely conducts biological and water quality surveys, or biosurveys, on a systematic basis throughout the state. A biosurvey is an interdisciplinary monitoring effort coordinated on a reach specific or watershed scale. Such efforts may involve a relatively simple setting focusing on one or two small streams, one or two principal stressors, and a handful of sampling sites or a much more complex effort including entire drainage basins, multiple and overlapping stressors, and tens of sites. Each year Ohio EPA conducts biosurveys in 20 to 25 Watershed and Large River Assessment Units with an aggregate total of 400 to 450 sampling sites. Biological, chemical, and physical monitoring and assessment techniques are employed in biosurveys in order to meet four major objectives.
Storm Water Program
Most storm water discharges, including those from industrial and construction activities are considered point sources and require coverage by an NPDES discharge permit. The primary method to control storm water discharges is through the use of best management practices (BMPs). For additional background information see the fact sheet on Ohio EPA Storm water program page.
Volunteer Monitoring Program
Click on the links below for more information
