Water Quality Protection Policy and Action Plan - Bernalillo County

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Water Quality Protection Policy and Action PlanAppendix A, Table A-2. Some of these permits are past their expiration dates, but havebeen automatically administratively extended pending reissuance. Entities must submita notice of intent to discharge to U.S. EPA Region 6 for the general NPDES permits.2.2.2 StateThe Statewide Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) (NMWQCC, 2003) summarizes waterquality management in the State of New Mexico. The WQMP meets the requirements ofSection 208 (area-wide waste treatment management plans) and Section 74-6-4.B of the NewMexico Water Quality Act (which requires that the state maintain a comprehensive water qualitymanagement plan). The WQMP was updated in 2002; prior to that time, the document had notbeen updated since 1981.The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (NMWQCC), established by the StateWater Quality Act in 1967, is the state water pollution control agency for all purposes of thefederal CWA and for certain programs of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). To provide thebasis for many of the requirements of these acts, the NMWQCC is charged with adoption ofwater quality standards designed to protect public health and welfare and enhance the quality ofsurface water and groundwater. Those standards are described in Section 20.6.4 of the NewMexico Administrative Code (NMAC); standards that are applicable to the Albuquerquemetropolitan area are described in greater detail in Section 2.3.Section 303(c) of the federal CWA requires that water quality standards be reviewed every threeyears in the Triennial Review process. The Surface Water Quality Bureau (SWQB) of theNMED is in the process of completing the 2008 Triennial Review; proposed changes werepresented to the NMWQCC in July 2009. The NMWQCC also maintains a Continuing PlanningProcess, which meets requirements of Section 303 (continuing planning process) of the federalCWA.Section 303(d) of the federal CWA requires states to identify stream reaches that are impairedor do not meet water quality standards of the associated designated use and to establish a totalmaximum daily load (TMDL) for each pollutant in the affected reaches. TMDLs are created byNMED staff and approved by the NMWQCC; they are defined as "a written plan and analysisestablished to ensure that a waterbody will attain and maintain water quality standards includingconsideration of existing pollutant loads and reasonably foreseeable increases in pollutantloads.” TMDLs are designed to ensure that State and Tribal water quality standards can bemet.Activities related to Section 319(h) of the federal CWA are addressed by non-regulatoryprograms through the Watershed Protection Section (WPS) of the NMED SWQB. WPS staffSection 2 7
Water Quality Protection Policy and Action Planwork in watersheds with established TMDLs or with assessed data to implement bestmanagement practices (BMPs) to control pollution from nonpoint sources.2.2.3 Albuquerque/Bernalillo County AreaSeveral groups work on protection of surface water quality within the Albuquerque/BernalilloCounty area, and many of them hold public meetings on a regular basis, often monthly. Thesegroups include:• The WQPAB, a citizen advisory board formerly known as the Ground-Water ProtectionAdvisory Committee (GPAC) and sometimes referred to as the Ground-Water ProtectionAdvisory Board (GPAB), was established in 1988 by City Resolution R-143 and CountyResolution R-49-88 and has met regularly since that time. The WQPAB is composed ofnine members who are appointed by the City of Albuquerque (COA), Bernalillo County,and the Board of the WUA. WQPAB members currently meet monthly and provideadvice to their appointing agencies regarding water quality protection.• The Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is organized and operatedunder the State Soil and Water Conservation District Act of 1937; it was created in 1943by a referendum vote of landowners. SWCDs were created to preserve and beneficiallydevelop the soil, water, and other natural resources of the state (NMSA 73-20-25through 73-20-48).• The Stormwater Team was formed in 2004 to educate the public on how to reducestormwater pollution. Original members of the Stormwater Team include the partneragencies of the one municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) NPDES permit in thearea (Section 2.6.1) and Bernalillo County. The MS4 partner agencies are the COA, theAlbuquerque Metropolitan Area Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA), the University ofNew Mexico (UNM), and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).Since the Stormwater Team was established, the Ciudad SWCD and the SouthernSandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority) have also joined.• The Middle Rio Grande-Albuquerque (MRG-A) Reach Watershed Group, a multiagencycollaborative effort, was formed with the goals of establishing priorities for watershedrestoration, identifying potential projects, and seeking funding to implement BMPs forpollution control in the watershed. This group recently completed a draft WatershedRestoration Action Strategy (WRAS) (MRG-A Watershed Group, 2008), which wassupported by CWA Section 319 grant funding awarded to the Ciudad SWCD. Theimpetus for the WRAS was that the MRG-A reach, which extends from the boundary ofSanta Ana Pueblo in the north to the Isleta Pueblo in the south, was listed as an8 Section 2
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Water Quality Protection Policy and Action Plan - Bernalillo County

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