TMDL Implementation and Tracking

The development of large numbers of TMDLs is relatively recent -- most TMDLs are just a few years old. Although large numbers of TMDLs exist, there has been uncertainty about how many have been implemented. Implementing a TMDL for an impaired water body involves applying the pollution control practices necessary to reduce the pollutant loads to the extent determined necessary in the TMDL. These practices usually consist of point source control permits and/or non-point source control Best Management Practices (BMPs).

Because there are often numerous control practices involved in a single TMDL's implementation, it would be particularly complex and expensive for states or EPA to track all implementation actions under all TMDLs. Moreover, whereas EPA oversees and approves TMDL development by states, the Agency does not have authority over their implementation. Nevertheless, states and EPA alike recognize TMDL implementation as a crucial stage en route to impaired waters restoration. Thus, the Implementation stage is among the most heavily studied of the five stages. The TMDL Program Results Analysis Project has analyzed existing implementation data and tracking capacity, funded studies of implementation rates and their driving factors, and developed resources of interest about TMDL Implementation (below).

Resources of Interest:

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• EPA Report: FY2010 National Report on Implementing TMDLs (PDF) (17pp, 507K), March 2011.
  This national study analyzed the frequency of TMDL implementation through NPDES permits and Section 319 projects and discusses how data gaps influence assessment results.
• EPA Report: Analysis of TMDL Implementation Rates in EPA Region 5 (PDF) (51pp, 614K), December 2009
  This study analyzed the TMDL implementation rates and associated patterns in the north-central US states, focusing on detecting differences among older vs newer and non-point vs mixed TMDLs.
• Fact Sheet: Analysis of TMDL Implementation Rates in EPA Region 5 (PDF) (2pp, 60K)
  This fact sheet summarizes a regional-scale sample study of TMDL implementation rates and associated patterns in the north-central US states.
• EPA Grantee Report: Implementing Total Maximum Daily Loads: Understanding and Fostering Successful Results (PDF) (154pp, 1.1MB), December 2008
  This study, completed by Kent State University with funding from EPA grant number 83339301, focuses on the states of Ohio and West Virginia; it addresses the extent to which TMDLs are being implemented, factors that facilitate implementation progress, and steps that can be taken to facilitate further progress on TMDL implementation.
• Fact Sheet: Implementing Total Maximum Daily Loads: Understanding and Fostering Successful Results (PDF) (2 pp, 45K), May 2009
  This fact sheet summarizes an EPA grant-funded study of Ohio and West Virginia; it addresses the extent to which TMDLs are being implemented, factors that facilitate implementation progress, and steps that can be taken to facilitate further progress on TMDL implementation.
• EPA Report: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Tracking Needs Assessment: Current Status and Future Needs for States in Regions 5, 6, and 10 (PDF) (37pp, 1.1MB), March 2008
  This regional study examined several states' interests in assessing TMDL implementation progress, their capacity for tracking, potential measures of implementation success, and potential assistance roles for EPA for the purpose of partnering in the development of better TMDL implementation data.
• EPA Report: Implementation of Washington's TMDL Program 1998-2003 (PDF) (38pp, 185K), February 2005
  This study examined the implementation activities associated with 308 approved TMDLs in the State of Washington from January 1, 1998 through July 31, 2003.
• EPA Grantee Report: TMDL Implementation – Characteristics of Successful Projects
  This Virginia Tech Center for TMDL and Watershed Studies report, funded in part by EPA grant numbers 83217601 and 83156301, provides state TMDL implementation information and reviews ongoing TMDL implementation efforts across the country and their associated TMDLs and implementation plans to identify factors that contribute to successful implementation.
• EPA Grantee Report: State Implementation Information Summary (PDF) (19pp, 72K), September 2008
  This Virginia Tech Center for TMDL and Watershed Studies report, funded in part by EPA grant numbers 83217601 and 83156301, provides state TMDL implementation procedural information in a comparative format.
• EPA Grantee Website: Virginia Tech Center for TMDL and Watershed Studies' TMDL Knowledgebase Clearinghouse
  Virginia Tech's Center for TMDL and Watershed Studies has developed this database, funded in part by EPA grant number 83217601, which houses selected TMDL-related information. This searchable clearinghouse contains three types of resources: TMDL guidance documents, reviews, and summaries
• EPA Grantee Website: Total Maximum Daily Loads: TMDL Implementation and Tracking
  This website by the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA) funded in part by EPA grant number 83245201, provides a variety of state documents on TMDL implementation and tracking.
• Publication: TMDL Implementation: Lessons Learned (PDF) (15pp, 282K), June 2007
  Virginia Tech Center for TMDL and Watershed Studies, funded in part by EPA grant 83156301, provided state TMDL implementation information and reviewed ongoing TMDL implementation efforts across the country to identify factors that contribute to successful implementation. Published in the Water Environment Federation's TMDL2007 conference proceedings.
• Publication: Developing Effective TMDLs: An Evaluation of the TMDL Process (PDF) (12pp, 62K), June 2007
  This summary report explores whether various characteristics of data availability, funding resources, guidance materials, stakeholder involvement, scale of TMDLs, and implementation planning positively influence development of effective TMDLs.
• Publication: Sampling TMDL Implementation Rates and Patterns in the North Central US (PDF)  (11pp, 137K), August 2009
  This paper describes the results of a statistical sampling study that estimated TMDL implementation rates and other characteristics throughout the north-central US.  Published in the Water Environment Federation's TMDL2009 conference proceedings.
• Publication: State Approaches and Needs for Measuring, Tracking, and Reporting on Water Quality Improvements (PDF)  (13pp, 103K), August 2009
  This paper summarizes a study done to determine state capacity, tools and needs for tracking elements of TMDL program progress.  Published in the Water Environment Federation's TMDL2009 conference proceedings.
  
• EPA Report: Developing Effective Nonpoint Source TMDLs: An Evaluation of the TMDL Development Process (PDF) (57pp, 293K), January 2007
  This full-length report explores whether various characteristics of data availability, funding resources, guidance materials, stakeholder involvement, scale of TMDLs, and implementation planning positively influence development of effective TMDLs.
• Fact Sheet: Summary of EPA's "100 TMDLs Review" (PDF) (2pp, 827K), December 2009
  This fact sheet summarizes a 2005 national study of the characteristics of a sample of TMDLs from all ten EPA Regions representing numerous pollutants and different settings.
• Fact Sheet: Recovery Potential Project (PDF) (2pp, 243K), May 2011
  This fact sheet overviews tools, data and a website developed by EPA to help state TMDL, nonpoint source, and restoration programs decide where best to use their limited restoration resources among large numbers of impaired waters.
  
• EPA Website: Section 319 Nonpoint Source Success Stories
  This website features stories about primarily nonpoint source-impaired waterbodies where restoration efforts have led to documented water quality improvements.

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