West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection August 31, 2011 Ravenswood High School Middle Ohio South Watershed TMDL Status Update Meeting

Agenda  “Introduction to TMDLs” recap  Overview of Middle Ohio South Watershed Project and Status  Overview of Allocation Strategies  Discussion – Free form questions and answers

What’s a TMDL?  “Total Maximum Daily Load”  How much pollutant a stream can receive and remain healthy  TMDL is a pollution budget – prescribes reduction of pollutants that result in the restoration of an impaired stream  TMDL development required by Clean Water Act for all impaired streams

What’s an impaired stream?  Stream that doesn’t meet water quality standards  West Virginia Water Quality Standards are codified in 47 CSR 2  Standards include designated uses for WV waters and water quality criteria to protect those uses  Criteria can be numeric (concentration less than certain number) or narrative (nothing in toxic amounts to man or aquatic life)  Impaired streams are on the 303(d) List

West Virginia Section 303(d) List / Integrated Report

Numeric Criteria Examples Iron  Warmwater Aquatic Life use - 4-day average concentration not to exceed 1.5 mg/l more than once every three years Fecal coliform  Not to exceed 400/100ml (10% monthly samples)  Nor greater than 200/100 ml geometric mean (5/month)

Narrative Criterion  Biological Impairment  Conditions Not Allowable in State Waters  (47 CSR 2-3.2i) “.....no significant adverse impact to the chemical, physical, hydrologic or biological components of aquatic ecosystems shall be allowed.”

Biological Impairment  WV Stream Condition Index (WVSCI)  Standardized sample collection and analysis methodology for aquatic bugs  Multimetric – multiple types of information are evaluated  Rating Scale – 0 to 100

Biological Impairment  Streams with WVSCI scores < 60.6 are considered biologically impaired  Biological impairment TMDL – development process includes a “Stressor ID” preliminary step to identify the pollutant(s) causing the impairment  TMDL then developed for causative stressor

Stressor – TMDL Link  Organic Enrichment – Fecal Coliform surrogate  Sedimentation – Total Iron surrogate

Middle Ohio South Watershed Impairments  Approximately 88 impaired streams (monitoring)  Approximately 200 impairments - Fecal Coliform, Total Iron, Biological Integrity  Does not include mainstem Ohio River

SubwatershedStream NameCode24K-Code FeFCBIO Crooked Creek WVO-20.5OMS-1XX Oldtown Creek WVO-21OMS-2XXX Oldtown CreekTurkey RunWVO AOMS-2-DXXX Oldtown CreekPotter CreekWVO-21-AOMS-2-F X Oldtown CreekRobinson RunWVO-21-BOMS-2-GXX Oldtown CreekUNT/Robinson Run RM 2.42WVO-21-B-0.9OMS-2-G-1XX Oldtown CreekUNT/Robinson Run RM 3.33WVO-21-B-2OMS-2-G-3XX Oldtown CreekTrace ForkWVO-21-COMS-2-MXX Mill Run WVO-22OMS-4XXX Tenmile Creek WVO-23OMS-6XXX Tenmile CreekUNT/Tenmile Creek RM 4.13WVO-23-B.5OMS-6-C X Tenmile CreekUNT/Tenmile Creek RM 5.33WVO-23-COMS-6-DX X Sliding Hill Creek WVO-24OMS-11XXX Sliding Hill CreekUNT/Sliding Hill Creek RM 1.25WVO-24-AOMS-11-AXXX Broad Run WVO-25OMS-12XX Little Broad Run WVO-26OMS-13XXX West Creek WVO-27OMS-14XX Little Mill Creek WVO-31OMS-23XXX Mill Creek WVO-32OMS-24XXX Mill CreekBar RunWVO-32-COMS-24-PXXX Mill CreekCow RunWVO-32-DOMS-24-UXXX Mill CreekRight Fork/Cow RunWVO-32-D-1OMS-24-U-7XX Mill CreekLeft Fork/Cow RunWVO-32-D-2OMS-24-U-8XXX Mill CreekParchment CreekWVO-32-HOMS-24-AFXXX Mill CreekGrass RunWVO-32-H-4OMS-24-AF-11XX Mill CreekCox ForkWVO-32-H-6OMS-24-AF-17XXX Mill CreekWolfe CreekWVO-32-H-8OMS-24-AF-27XXX Mill CreekSycamore CreekWVO-32-KOMS-24-ANXXX Mill CreekLeft Fork/Sycamore CreekWVO-32-K-1OMS-24-AN-1XXX Mill CreekTug ForkWVO-32-LOMS-24-BAXX Mill CreekBear ForkWVO-32-L-4.5OMS-24-BA-13 X Mill CreekGrasslick CreekWVO-32-L-7OMS-24-BA-20XXX Mill CreekStonelick CreekWVO-32-L-7-BOMS-24-BA-20-D X Mill CreekBear ForkWVO-32-L-8OMS-24-BA-21 XX Mill CreekLaurel RunWVO-32-L-8-BOMS-24-BA-21-B X Mill CreekElk ForkWVO-32-MOMS-24-BHXXX Mill CreekLittle Mill CreekWVO-32-NOMS-24-BIXXX Mill CreekJoes RunWVO-32-N-2OMS-24-BI-3XX Mill CreekFrozencamp CreekWVO-32-N-3OMS-24-BI-9XXX Mill CreekBig RunWVO-32-N-4OMS-24-BI-10XX Mill CreekRight Fork/Big RunWVO-32-N-4-BOMS-24-BI-10-C X Mill CreekLeft Fork/Big RunWVO-32-N-4-COMS-24-BI-10-D X Mill CreekLittle CreekWVO-32-N-5OMS-24-BI-12 XX Mill CreekPoplar ForkWVO-32-N-5-BOMS-24-BI-12-H X

SubwatershedStream NameCode24K-Code FeFCBIO Mill CreekBuffalo CreekWVO-32-N-6OMS-24-BI-17 XX Spring Creek WVO-33OMS-25 XX Cedar Run WVO-34OMS-28 XX Sandy Creek WVO-36OMS-30XXX Sandy CreekStraight ForkWVO-36-COMS-30-G X Sandy CreekCrooked ForkWVO-36-DOMS-30-KXXX Sandy CreekTrace ForkWVO-36-GOMS-30-O XX Sandy CreekBeatty RunWVO-36-HOMS-30-PXXX Sandy CreekRight Fork/Sandy CreekWVO-36-IOMS-30-SXXX Sandy CreekBiglick RunWVO-36-I-4OMS-30-S-11 X Sandy CreekFallentimber RunWVO-36-I-10OMS-30-S-22 X Sandy CreekCabin RunWVO-36-I-12OMS-30-S-24XX Sandy CreekLeft Fork/Sandy CreekWVO-36-JOMS-30-RXXX Sandy CreekCopper ForkWVO-36-J-1OMS-30-R-1XXX Sandy CreekTurkey ForkWVO-36-J-3OMS-30-R-8 XX Sandy CreekNesselroad RunWVO-36-J-5OMS-30-R-15XXX Sandy CreekRedbush RunWVO-36-J-5-COMS-30-R-15-FXX Sandy CreekMaulecamp RunWVO-36-J-5-EOMS-30-R-15-LXX Sandy CreekLockhart ForkWVO-36-J-8OMS-30-R-29XX Little Sandy Creek WVO-38OMS-32 X Little Sandy CreekRoadfork RunWVO-38-AOMS-32-EXX Washington Run WVO-41OMS-35XXX Pond Creek WVO-43OMS-44XXX Pond CreekLittle Pond CreekWVO-43-DOMS-44-FXX Pond CreekJesse RunWVO-43-D-2OMS-44-F-2X X Pond CreekUNT/Jesse Run RM 0.44WVO-43-D-2-0.5AOMS-44-F-2-AX Pond CreekJerrys RunWVO-43-HOMS-44-XXX Pond CreekJoshus ForkWVO-43-KOMS-44-AIXX Lee CreekSouth Fork/Lee CreekWVO-44-AOMS-46-AXXX Lee CreekMiddle Fork/South Fork/Lee CreekWVO-44-A-1OMS-46-A-1 X Lee CreekWillow RunWVO-44-A-2OMS-46-A-13 X Lee CreekNorth Fork/Lee CreekWVO-44-BOMS-46-BXXX Lee CreekWoodyards RunWVO-44-B-2OMS-46-B-24XX Lee CreekGunners RunWVO-44-B-4OMS-46-B-31 XX Sandy Creek WVO-46OMS-57XXX Sandy CreekVaughts RunWVO-46-AOMS-57-DXXX Sandy CreekUNT/Sandy Creek RM 4.97WVO-46-JOMS-57-O XX Pond Run WVO-48OMS-65XXX Pond RunLittle Pond RunWVO-48-AOMS-65-AXXX Briscoe Run WVO-49OMS-66XXX Big Run WVO-50OMS-69 XX Big RunWilliams CreekWVO-50-AOMS-69-BXX Big RunPlum RunWVO-50-BOMS-69-F XX Big RunHogland RunWVO-50-DOMS-69-JXXX

TMDL Components TMDL =  WLA + LA + MOS  Pollutant allocations to point sources are called wasteload allocations (WLA)  Pollutant allocations to nonpoint sources are called load allocations (LA)  TMDLs must include a margin of safety (MOS); Explicit 5% MOS is used

WVDEP TMDL Process (4 yrs)  Stream Selection  Pre-TMDL monitoring, source identification and characterization  Contract to model water quality and hydrology  Determine baseline condition and allocate pollutant loads  Report development  Finalization and EPA approval

MDAS Model  Watershed Model  Runs dynamically on a 1-hour time step  Represents land use (hydrologic processes) and river processes  Can include nonpoint and point sources  Streambank Erosion component - Bank Pin Study

Bank Erosion Pin Study December 2009-March 2011, ongoing December 2009-March 2011, ongoing 87 total sites with 4-10 pins/site 87 total sites with 4-10 pins/site 5 measurements/site 5 measurements/site Total Erosion rate: 0 - ~300 mm (11.8 in) Total Erosion rate: 0 - ~300 mm (11.8 in) Most erosion occurs after freeze-thaw cycle (barren banks) Most erosion occurs after freeze-thaw cycle (barren banks) Correlate erosion rate with bank conditions & land use. Correlate erosion rate with bank conditions & land use.

Modeling Approach  Segment watershed  Configure model to represent all sources  Calibrate model for hydrology (flow) and water quality  Iron  Fecal  Sediment  Run MDAS for Baseline conditions (existing)  Run MDAS for TMDL scenario(s)

Middle Ohio South Watershed Approximately 88 impaired streams Approximately 88 impaired streams Approximately 200 impairments Approximately 200 impairments 486 subwatersheds delineated where model makes water quality predictions 486 subwatersheds delineated where model makes water quality predictions Project does not include mainstem Ohio River Project does not include mainstem Ohio River

Middle Ohio South Project Status  Completed:  Monitoring  Source tracking  Baseline Modeling (ongoing)  Bio. Stressor Ids  Status Update Meeting  Next Steps:  Allocations  Draft Document Public Meeting  EPA Approval

 Top-down approach  Headwater subwatersheds analyzed first analyzed first  Allocation strategy dictates order and magnitude of reduction order and magnitude of reduction  If necessary, loads are reduced then routed to downstream subwatershed Allocation Methodology

 WVDEP priorities:  Ensure criteria compliance at all sws outlets  Target the primary causative sources  Strategy is general  Sometimes only one significant source in sws  Critical conditions must be considered  Always some amount of professional judgement Allocation Methodology

Fecal Coliform Sources  Point sources  Municipal Facilities (WWTP)  Package Plants  Home Aeration Units  CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow)  MS4 entities including DOH (Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems)  Nonpoint source  Failing septic systems and/or straight pipe illicit discharges  Stormwater runoff from Non MS4 urban/residential lands  Stormwater runoff from agricultural lands

Fecal Coliform Strategy  100% reduction of all untreated sewage discharges (failing septics, straight pipes) as required by WV Bureau for Public Health regulations  Reduction of CSO sources to criterion value  Reduction of MS4s to criterion values  Sensitivity analysis to address severity of agricultural vs. urban/residential impacts

Metals (Fe) Sources  Point sources  Discharges from active mining operations  Non-mining industrial discharges  Construction Stormwater  MS4 discharges  Nonpoint sources  Abandoned Mine Lands  Bond forfeiture sites  Sediment sources (forestry, oil and gas, roads, agriculture, non MS4 urban/residential, streambank erosion)

Total Iron Strategy  Reduction of AML to practical limits (undisturbed forest loading for surface disturbances; water quality criteria values for seeps  If metals are strongly associated with TSS, reduction order is AML, sediment sources including MS4 entities, then active mining permits and bond forfeiture sites  If no metals/TSS correlation, proposed order is AML, bond forfeiture sites and active mining permits

Middle Ohio South Watershed TMDL Path Forward  DEP/Tetra Tech will allocate loads and wasteloads and develop draft report  Formal public comment period and public meeting on the draft TMDLs in first quarter of 2012  DEP will address comments, prepare final draft and submit to EPA for approval (final draft will include Response Summary)

Contact Information  Comments should be submitted to Steve Young at (10 meg limit for )  Questions - contact Dave Montali, Jim Laine, Ben Lowman, Mike McDaniel  (304)  or 

Discussion…..