A public meeting concerning the Little Juniata Creek watershed was held this week at the Antis Township Municipal Building in Bellwood.
The purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for informal exchange of information concerning the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process and the draft Phosphorus and Sediment TMDLs developed for the Little Juniata Creek watershed.
Lee McDonnell, representing the Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Water Quality Assessment and Standards presented a slide show presentation to the 15 people in attendance. He was also available to listen to comments and concerns regarding the draft TMDL.
In his presentation, McDonnell explained that “a TMDL sets a ceiling on the pollutant loads that can enter a waterbody so that the waterbody will meet water quality standards.”
The Clean Water Act requires states to list all waters that will not meet water quality standards even after technology based pollution controls required by law are in place. Then, for those listed waters, the state must calculate a TMDL.
A TMDL, or a pollutant budget, designed to improve water quality in the Little Juniata River, has been proposed, so that designated uses are no longer impaired.
The DEP is proposing to submit the TMDL to the US Environmental Protection Agency for review and approval as required by federal regulation. DEP has entered into an agreement with EPA to develop TMDLs for all impaired waters over the next several years.
McDonnell’s presentation also explained why the DEP chose the Little Juniata River.
“In 1996, DEP placed a portion of the Little Juniata River on the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters because water quality standards were not being met.
“The stream also appeared on the 1998 and 2002 lists and was listed as impaired in the 2004 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report.
“Also, aquatic life use impairments in the portion of the basin covered by this TMDL are being caused by siltation emanating from urban runoff/storm sewers and nutrient impairment resulting in excessive algal growth.”
Since this portion of the Little Juniata is currently suffering impairments caused by excess siltation and nutrient loading, the proposed TMDL includes a total sediment load and a total phosphorus load that can safely enter the stream and still meet water quality standards. It also sets targeted reductions for existing sediment and phosphorus loadings, that when met, are expected to achieve water quality standards.
When developing the TMDL for the Little Juniata, a reference watershed approach was used, comparing the Little Juniata with a similar watershed that is attaining its uses, based on biological assessments.
“The objective is to reduce the loading rate of the pollutant in the impaired watershed to a level equivalent to, or slightly lower than, the loading rate in the non-impaired, reference watershed,” McDonnell said in his presentation. “This load reduction will result in conditions favorable to the return of a healthy biological community to the currently impaired watershed.”
McDonnell encouraged comments on the situations and stated that individuals may send written comments post-marked no later than March 14 to: Lee A. McDonnell, P.E., Division of Water Quality Assessment and Standards, 11th floor RCSOB, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105 or by email to lmcdonnell@state.pa.us.
All written comments will be compiled with the report that will be sent to EPA.
