Total Maximum Daily Loads of Fecal Coliform for the Restricted Shellfish Harvesting Area in the Lower Choptank River Mainstem in Dorchester and Talbot Counties, Maryland.

摘要

Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) implementing regulations direct each state to identify and list waters, known as water quality limited segments (WQLSs), in which current required controls of a specified substance are inadequate to achieve water quality standards. For each WQLS, the state is to either establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of the specified substance that the waterbody can receive without violating water quality standards, or demonstrate that water quality standards are being met. The Lower Choptank River (basin number 02130403) was first identified on the 1996 303(d) List submitted to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The designated uses in the Lower Choptank River were listed as impaired by sediments, nutrients, and fecal coliform in tidal portions, with listings of impacts to biological communities in the non-tidal portions added in 2002. On the 2004 303(d) List, the fecal coliform listing was clarified by the identification of the Lower Choptank River mainstem as the specific area of impairment. Eleven restricted shellfish harvesting areas in the lower Choptank River were listed on the 303(d) List: (1) Jenkins Creek, (2) Tred Avon River, (3) Tar Creek, (4) Cummings Creek, (5) Northeast Branch, (6) Whitehall Creek, (7) Indian Creek, (8) Goose Creek, (9) Warwick River, (10) San Domingo Creek, and (11) the Choptank River mainstem downstream of Hunting Creek and upstream of Warwick River (hereinafter referred to as Lower Choptank River mainstem). Fecal Coliform TMDLs for the first ten of these restricted areas have been addressed in separate reports in 2004 and 2006. This document, upon EPA approval, establishes a TMDL of fecal coliform for the Lower Choptank River mainstem.