Master Plan Development - City of Boca Raton

City of Boca Raton Regulatory Information SummaryTotal Maximum Daily Load Allocation Program3. Total Maximum Daily Load Allocation ProgramSection 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act and the Florida Watershed Restoration Act require thattotal maximum daily loads (“TMDLs”) be established for all waters that are not meeting their designateduses and, consequently, are defined as “impaired waters.” A TMDL is the maximum daily amount of agiven pollutant that a water body can absorb without exceeding the WQ Standard for that pollutant.TMDLs are developed, allocated, and implemented through a watershed management approach thatseparates the State of Florida’s fifty-two major hydrological basins in five groups. Each group undergoesa five phase cycle on a rotating schedule:Phase 1: Preliminary evaluation of water quality.Phase 2: Strategic monitoring and assessment to verify water qualityimpairments.Phase 3: Development and adoption of TMDLs for waters verified as impaired.Phase 4: Development of a Basin Management Action Plan (“BMAP”) toachieve the TMDL.Phase 5: Implementation of the BMAP and monitoring results.The methodology for identification and assessment of impaired waters is established by Rule 62-303,F.A.C., which distinguishes between waters placed on the Planning List for further verification or theVerified List for development of TMDLs. Identification of impaired waters for inclusion on these lists iscontingent upon the data collection and subsequent modeling analyses conducted by FDEP. Evaluationsare divided into the following categories based on the surface water classification:oooooooEvaluation of Aquatic Life Use SupportExceedences of Aquatic Life-Based Water Quality CriteriaBiological AssessmentInterpretation of Narrative Nutrient Criteria• Nutrients in Streams• Nutrients in Lakes• Nutrients in Estuaries and Open Coastal WatersPrimary Contact and Recreation Use SupportFish and Shellfish Consumption Use SupportDrinking Water Use Support and Protection of Human HealthL:\boca\bocaswmp\A6016.02\Final Task 2 Report - 1-07-08\r01acjh.docPage 19MOCK•ROOS