FY2010 Assessment of Improving and Recovered Waters
with Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water, Washington DC
Document No. EPA841-R-11-003, March 2011
Overview: Under the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA), pollutant-impaired waters reported to
the EPA by states, territiories and tribes are subjected to TMDL development and
implementation in an effort to re-attain Water Quality Standards. The EPA maintains national
data systems (see http://epa.gov/waters/ir/) and EPA issues a Strategic Plan with reporting
measures that track progress in restoring impaired waters (see
http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/goals objectives/waterplan/index.cfm). Two of those
measures are SP-10 and SP-11, which appear below.
Measures such as SP-10 and SP-11 provide useful national-scale summary information on
progress toward restoring our nation's impaired waters. These measures, however, are used to
report on progress of the entire surface water protection program rather than any of its
component parts. It is also possible to aggregate information more specific to parts of the
surface water program, such as the waters that specifically have TMDLs and have undergone
improvement or full restoration. Below are several summary statistics about recovered and
improving waters, with a focus on the waters that have approved or established TMDLs. To
obtain these program-specific numbers, data from SP-10 and SP-11 reporting were combined,
reaggregated and further analyzed in September 2010. Raw and reaggregated data are
included in the accompanying spreadsheet.
It is important to note that the source of these numbers is the ATTAINS data system, not the
Strategic Plan reporting system. Whereas EPA has developed queries to enable these metrics
to be checked in ATTAINS, Strategic Plan reporting is still manually compiled at the EPA
Regional level based on state information provided. The Strategic Plan should be considered
the authoritative source for all national performance tracking metrics and figures. However,
the ATTAINS analysis is necessary to obtain data in the more specific format relating
improvement and recovery to associated TMDLs.
RECOVERING WATERS NOW SHOWING IMPROVEMENTS
A September 2010 data pull showed that, in reference to the 2002 impaired waters national
baseline, 3,832 waterbody/impairment cause combinations have been thus far improved to the
point that one or more of the original causes of impairment had been removed. Because some
waters experienced remediation of more than one cause, this national statistic affects the
somewhat smaller number of 2,625 actual waterbodies. A number of different factors may
underly cause removal. In the case of TMDLs, a total of 216 of these water bodies with
removed causes are associated with approved or established TMDLs (208) or approved TMDL
alternatives (8).
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FY2010 Assessment of Improving and Recovered Waters with TMDLs - Doc. No. EPA841-R-11-003, March 2011
RESTORED WATERS NOW MEETING ALL WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
A September 2010 data pull showed that, in reference to the 2002 impaired waters national
baseline, 1,125 unique waterbodies formerly listed as impaired now fully attain water quality
standards. In the case of TMDLs, a total of 70 of these improving waterbodies are associated
with approved or established TMDLs (70) or approved TMDL alternatives (0).
INTEGRATED DATA ON TMDL EFFECTS
SP10: Number of waterbodies identified in 2002 as not attaining water quality standards
where standards are now fully attained, (cumulative)
SP-10 DATA NOTES
1125 records (unique List IDs alone)
- Unique List IDs: 1125
- Restored: 1125
- Match 2004: 713
- Match 2006: 509
- Match 2008: 165
- TMDL: 70
- 4B: 0
- Other: 0
SP 11: Remove the specific causes of waterbody impairment identified by states in 2002.
(cumulative)
SP-11 DATA NOTES
3832 records (unique List ID/detailed cause combinations)
Cause/water combinations restored: 3832
- Unique List IDs: 2625
- Match 2004: 1543
- Match 2006: 961
- Match 2008: 74
- TMDL: 208
- 4B: 4
- Other: 4
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FY2010 Assessment of Improving and Recovered Waters with TMDLs - Doc. No. EPA841-R-11-003, March 2011
INTEGRATED ANALYSIS SUMMARY
Demonstrate the results of implemented TMDLs by annually reporting on the progress of
water quality improvements resulting from TMDLs nationwide:
• Number of unique waterbody segment/pollutant combinations (i.e., TMDL-equivalent units
for counting) that are now fully meeting water quality standards or are improving due to
one or more impairment causes being removed: 3832
• Number of waterbody segments (unique List IDs) from the 2002 baseline that are now fully
meeting water quality standards or are improving due to one or more impairment causes
being removed: 2625
• Number of waterbody segments (unique List IDs) from the 2002 baseline that are now fully
meeting water quality standards due to a TMDL or TMDL alternative: 70
• Number of unique waterbody segment/pollutant combinations (i.e., TMDL-equivalent units
for counting) from the 2002 baseline that are improving due to one or more impairment
causes being removed due to a TMDL or TMDL alternative: 216
• Number of waterbody segments (unique List IDs) from the 2002 baseline that are fully
restored or improving from one or more impairment causes being removed due to a TMDL
or TMDL alternative: 195
Notice
This study was performed by the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water in
Washington, DC. The document has not undergone program review. Online publication does not signify
that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the USEPA. Mention of commercial or
trade names does not constitute endorsement for use.
This document should be cited as:
EPA. 2011. Document #EPA841-R-11-003. FY2010 Assessment of Improving and Recovered Waters with
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). Office of Water, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington
DC. Available online at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/tmdl/results index.cfm 4pp.
Attachment: Assessment process diagram for annual national reporting
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FY2010 Assessment of Improving and Recovered Waters with TMDLs - Doc. No. EPA841-R-11-003, March 2011
Attachment 1: Assessment process diagram for annual national reporting of TMDL-
related water quality improvements and recoveries
(Perform annual assessment at end ofFY)
UNIVERSE A: WATERS ATTAINING WQS (SP-10)
Which ones are TMDL-related?
SUBSET A1: UNIQUE TMDL-RELATED SP-10
WATERBODY SEGMENT LIST IDs
UNIVERSE B: WATERS IMPROVING DUE TO A
CAUSE OF IMPAIRMENT REMOVED (SP-11)
Which ones are TMDL-related?
SUBSET B1: TMDL-RELATED REMOVED
WATERBODY/CAUSE COMBINATIONS (SP-11)
UNIVERSE C: TMDL-RELATED WATERS
ATTAINING WQS OR IMPROVING DUE TO A
CAUSE OF IMPAIRMENT REMOVED (SP-10 OR 11)
SUBSET C1: TMDL-RELATED WQS-
ATTAINING OR IMPROVING WATERS (UNIQUE
WATERBODY SEGMENTS SP 10 AND SP-11)
(reporting)
t
(report this UNIVERSE A count
annually and nationally)
(report this SUBSET A1 count
annually and nationally)
(report this UNIVERSE B count
annually and nationally)
(report this SUBSET B1 count
annually and nationally)
(report this SUBSET C1 count
annually and nationally)
T
Annual characterization of
TVWDL-influenced waterbody
improvements and full WQS
attainments (ail above items)
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