Assessment required under Clean Water Act

Contact:  Andrea Fredenburg, 502-564-3410

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 4, 2008) – The Kentucky Division of Water is seeking comments on its draft 2008 list of impaired waters, as required by the Federal Clean Water Act.

Section 303(d) of the act requires a state to identify waters that do not or are not expected to meet state water quality standards. It also requires a state to develop a priority ranking for these waters, taking into account the severity of the pollution and the designated uses of the water (i.e., fishing, swimming and/or water supply). For each water body, the state must develop a daily maximum allowance for each identified pollutant (total maximum daily load, or TMDL) that will allow the stream to meet water quality standards.

The draft version of the “2008 Integrated Report to Congress on the Condition of Water Resources in Kentucky, Volume 2,” is available on the Division of Water Web site at http://www.water.ky.gov/sw/tmdl/303d.htm. Comments on the draft report should be sent by e-mail to andrea.fredenburg@ky.gov or by post mail to Division of Water, 14 Reilly Rd., Frankfort, KY 40601 (attention: Andrea Fredenburg). Comments by e-mail should be submitted no later than May 7 and by post mail postmarked no later than that date.