Water Quality Protection Policy and Action Plan - Bernalillo County

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Water Quality Protection Policy and Action Planimpaired waterbody in the 2002-2004 State of New Mexico CWA 303(d) list, with fecalcoliform as the pollutant of concern.• The Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly (WA) is a "diverse, all-volunteer, non-profitgrassroots organization devoted to open, inclusive, and participatory process" (MRGWA,2008). The WA deals primarily with water quantity issues (as opposed to quality); theyworked with the Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) and its WaterResources Board (WRB) to develop the Middle Rio Grande Regional Water Plan forSandoval, Bernalillo, and Valencia Counties (WA and MRCOG, 2004).2.2.4 TribalEach of the many Native American Tribes and Pueblos in the planning area (Figure 1) isresponsible for protection of surface water quality within their lands, and the Pueblo of Sandiaand the Pueblo of Isleta have authority from the U.S. EPA to establish their own water qualitystandards. Surface water quality standards developed for Tribal lands may affect othergovernment entities that discharge to waters upstream from those lands. Sandia and Isletahave set lower allowable concentrations for particular metals and other parameters in theirwater quality standards than in the State water quality standards, and any NPDES permitsupstream of these pueblos are required to comply with their stricter water quality standards,which may affect NPDES permits in Bernalillo County. For example, standards set by thePueblo of Isleta may affect effluent discharge limits and, consequently, operation of the WUASouthside Water Reclamation Plant.2.3 Applicable Water Quality Standards for the Rio GrandeThe designated uses established by the NMWQCC for the Rio Grande in theAlbuquerque/Bernalillo County area include irrigation, marginal warmwater aquatic life, livestockwatering, wildlife habitat, and secondary contact recreation. These designated uses apply tothe main stem of the Rio Grande from the Angostura diversion works (north of Albuquerque) tothe Alameda Bridge in Albuquerque, and downstream to Elephant Butte reservoir.Appendix B contains the NMWQCC water quality standards for these designated uses forsurface water in New Mexico. Numeric criteria have been established for inorganic chemicals,radionuclides, bacterial quality, organic chemicals, and field parameters such as temperature.Additional, reach-specific criteria for the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque area have beenestablished for dissolved oxygen (DO) (above Alameda Bridge only), pH, temperature, E. colibacteria, total dissolved solids, sulfate, and chloride.Section 2 9
Water Quality Protection Policy and Action PlanRecent NMED monitoring data indicated that the MRG-A reach was impaired for fecal coliformbacteria during stormwater runoff events; therefore, NMED developed and wrote a TMDL forfecal coliform (NMED, 2002).2.4 Existing Monitoring ProgramsAn important component of any water quality protection program is to monitor and evaluateambient water quality. Many agencies and organizations have researched surface water qualityin the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County area, including:• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)• WUA• COA• Bernalillo County• AMAFCA• UNM• U.S. Forest Service• NMED SWQB• U. S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceAlthough it is beyond the scope of this report to provide details on every agency and every studythat has been performed in the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County area, some of the most relevantof these programs are discussed in Sections 2.4.1 through 2.4.4.2.4.1 Municipal Stormwater Sampling ProgramThe USGS conducts a municipal stormwater sampling program in collaboration with the partneragencies of the MS4 NPDES permit (Section 2.2.3). As part of this program, the USGS collectsstormwater quality data to meet NPDES permit requirements. The program has been inoperation since 1992 and is well documented in USGS reports (e.g., Veenhuis, 2003; Kelly andRomero, 2003).The USGS also collects water quality data from various sites along the Rio Grande and itstributaries through programs that are federally funded, such as the National Water-QualityAssessment Program (NAWQA), and through its Cooperative Program with cooperators suchas the COA and the WUA (Section 2.4.2).10 Section 2
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