Total Maximum Daily Load of Sediment in the Evitts Creek Watershed, Allegany County, Maryland.

摘要

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has identified the waters of Evitts Creek (basin number 02141002) on the States 303(d) List submitted to the EPA by MDE as impaired by low pH (1996), nutrients (1996 and 1998), sediments (1996), and impacts to biological communities (2006)(MDE & DNR, 2006). The designated use of Evitts Creek is Use IV-P (Recreational Trout Waters and Public Water Supply) for the mainstem only and Use I (Water Contact Recreation and Protection of Aquatic Life) for all other tributaries (COMAR, 2006a and 2006b). This document proposes to establish a TMDL of sediment in Evitts Creek to allow for the attainment of the above mentioned designated uses. The objective of the sediment TMDL established in this document is to ensure that there will be no sediment impacts affecting aquatic health, when aquatic health is evaluated based on Marylands biocriteria (Roth et al., 2000, Roth et al., 1998 and Stribling et al., 1998), thereby establishing a sediment load that supports the Use I/IV-P designation for the Evitts Creek watershed. The watershed sediment load includes the potential effect for water clarity and erosional and depositional impacts, thus accounting for all of the sediment impacts that indicate a sediment impairment per the Maryland 303(d) listing methodology (MDE, 2006b).