Water Quality Standards History Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

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Water Quality Standards History Yesterday,
Today and Tomorrow

• ENVIRONMENTAL FEDERATION OF OKLAHOMA
• 17th Annual Meeting
• October 1-3, 2008
• Derek Smithee
• Chief, Water Quality Division,
• Oklahoma Water Resources Board

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First WQS

• Only guidelines
• Adopted in 1959
• Reprinted in 1962

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1968 WQS

• Statewide public hearings
• Much input from industries, municipalities and
  Fish Wildlife Service
• Statistical based criteria by basin
• Beneficial uses assigned for 28 interstate waters
• Approved by Secretary of Interior 1968

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1973 WQS

• First WQS submittal to EPA Region Six
• No record of approval?
• Introduces Appendix A with water body specific
  assigned beneficial uses

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1976 WQS

• Mixing zone ¼ stream width and flow
• Approval in 1979
• Photos!

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• Nice color cover photo!
• 1979 revision completed within 6 months of the
  1976
• Mixing zones 13 stream widths and ¼ stream flow

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• Introduces primary and secondary streams
• Adds waterbody segment numbers

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1985 WQS

• Plain paper cover
• Introduced scientific site specific studies to
  determine stream beneficial uses and
  criteria.the first of many UAAs
• Introduced current antidegradation policy

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1988 WQS

• New human health criteria calculations
• UAAs

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1991 OWQS

• UAAs due to change in default uses
• New recalculated aquatic life criteria
• Begins the era of yearly revisions

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Pending approval

• Revisions submitted to EPA in August 2008
  include
• Site specific criteria
• Sub categorization of the agriculture use
• Removal of Salt Plains Lake agricultural use
• Updated lake water supply beneficial uses

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WQS Present Concerns

• Consideration of naturally occurring conditions
  exemptions in assessments
• Color
• Minerals
• Turbidity
• Dissolved oxygen
• Required triennial revision
• public meetings summer 2009

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WQS Future

• Tissue based criteria
• Selenium
• Mercury
• Mussel data in criteria calculations

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WQS Future

• Nutrients
• More biocriteria
• Recalculated human health criteria
• Recalculated aquatic life criteria
• BACTERIA?

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WQS Future

• Tiered aquatic life uses
• Managed fishery uses for reservoirs
• Specified duration, magnitude and frequency as
  well as concentrations

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