Maryland’s Final 2014 Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality Submitted in Accordance with Sections 303(d), 305(b), and 314 of the Clean Water Act Maryland Dept. of the Environment 1800 Washington Blvd Baltimore, MD 21230 Larry Hogan, Governor Ben Grumbles, Secretary Boyd Rutherford, Lt. Governor Submittal Date: April 16, 2015 EPA Approval Date: October 16, 2015 Published and distributed by: The Environmental Assessment & Standards Program (EASP) Science Services Administration (SSA) Maryland Department of the Environment 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 540 Baltimore, MD 21230 Phone: 410-537-3906 Fax: 410-537-3873 Primary Author: Matthew Stover Section Head, Water Quality Standards Section Environmental Assessment & Standards Program MDE Contributors: DNR Contributors: Farah Abi-Akar Shermer Garrison John Backus Ron Klauda Gregory Busch Anthony Prochaska Melissa Chatham Mark Trice Lee Currey Dinorah Dalmasy Timothy Fox Nicholai Francis-Lau Jim George Anna Kasko Christopher Luckett Heather Merritt Lyn Poorman Charles Poukish Matthew Rowe Tim Rule Leonard Schugam Ken Shanks Jeff White FINAL October 16, 2015 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report, developed by the Environmental Assessment and Standards Program (EASP) of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) would not have been possible without the contributions from countless others. Special thanks goes to Farah Abi-Akar, Gregory Busch, Timothy Fox, Nicholai Francis-Lau, Christopher Luckett, and Mark Trice for their assessment contributions and to Jeff White for help in writing portions of the report. In addition, the authors would like to thank those who helped review and edit the report including Lee Currey, Sherm Garrison, Jim George, Tim Rule, and John Backus. Much of the data compiled by EASP were supplied by other Science Services Administration programs including: Field Services, TMDL Technical Development, and Water Quality Protection and Restoration Programs. In addition, many data were provided by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources with staff also assisting with water quality assessments. Last but not least, MDE would like to thank all non-state government groups and individuals who provided data for this report. This report used the most comprehensive collection of chemical, physical, and biological data ever compiled for Maryland’s Integrated Report. To view a full list of individuals and organizations that provided data during the data solicitation period please see Table 3. FINAL October 16, 2015 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 6 LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 10 PREFACE ......................................................................................................................... 15 PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 16 A.1 Data Sources and Minimum Requirements .......................................................... 17 A.1.1 Quality Control of Water Quality Datasets .................................................... 20 A.1.2 Water Quality Data Review ........................................................................... 21 PART B: BACKGROUND ............................................................................................. 23 B.1 Total Waters .......................................................................................................... 23 B.1.1 Water Quality Standards ................................................................................ 23 B.2 Water Pollution Control Programs ........................................................................ 27 B.2.1 Permits ............................................................................................................ 27 B.2.2 Tier II Waters and Antidegradation ............................................................... 27 B.2.3 Grant Programs .............................................................................................. 27 B.2.4 Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) ......................................................... 27 B.2.5 Stream Restoration ......................................................................................... 28 B.2.6 Drinking Water Supply and Protection .......................................................... 28 B.2.7 Corsica River Targeted Watershed ................................................................ 28 B.2.8 Program Coordination .................................................................................... 28 B.3 Cost/Benefit Assessment ....................................................................................... 29 B.3.1 Program Costs ................................................................................................ 30 B.3.2 Program Benefits ............................................................................................ 31 B.3.3 Summary ........................................................................................................ 31 B.4 Special State Concerns and Recommendations .................................................... 32 PART C: SURFACE WATER MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT ......................... 34 C.1 Monitoring Program .............................................................................................. 34 C.2 Assessment Methodologies Overview .................................................................. 34 C.2.1 Assessment Methodology for Identifying Waters Impaired by Bacteria in Maryland’s Integrated Report ....................................................................... 36 C.2.2 Toxics Assessment Methodology – No Revisions Adopted .......................... 43 C.2.3 Biological Assessment Methodology for Non-tidal Wadeable Streams ........ 44 C.2.4 Biological Data Quality Guidelines ............................................................... 69 C.2.5 Temperature Assessment Methodology for Use III(-P) Streams in Maryland ....................................................................................................................... 82 C.3 Assessment Results ............................................................................................... 93 C.3.1 Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) ........................................................ 113 C.3.2 Assessment Summary .................................................................................. 119 C.3.3 Split and Aggregated Water Body Segments ............................................... 119 C.3.4 Estuarine Assessments ................................................................................. 122 C.3.5 Lakes Assessment - Clean Water Act §314 (Clean Lakes) Report .............. 127 C.3.6 Non-tidal Rivers and Streams Assessment ................................................... 133 C.4 Wetlands Program ............................................................................................... 139 C.4.1 Wetland Monitoring Strategy ........................................................................ 139 FINAL October 16, 2015 4 C.4.2 National Wetland Condition Assessment ..................................................... 140 C.4.3 Future Work and Needs................................................................................ 140 C.5 Trend Monitoring ................................................................................................ 140 C.6 Public Health Issues ............................................................................................ 141 C.6.1 Waterborne Disease...................................................................................... 141 C.6.2 Drinking Water ............................................................................................. 142 C.6.3 Shellfish Harvesting Area Closures ............................................................. 143 C.6.4 Toxic Contaminants Fish Consumption Advisories..................................... 143 C.6.5 Harmful Algal Blooms ................................................................................. 144 C.6.6 Bathing Beach Closures ............................................................................... 145 C.7 Invasive aquatic species ...................................................................................... 146 PART D: GROUND WATER MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT ........................ 148 PART E: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION .......................................................................... 150 E.1 Informational Public Meeting Announcement .................................................... 151 E.2 Attendance List from Informational Public Meeting .......................................... 152 E.3 Comment-Response for the 2014 Integrated Report ........................................... 153 PART F: THE 2014 INTEGRATED REPORT............................................................. 184 F.1 Report Format and Structure ............................................................................... 184 F.2 Category 2 Waters ............................................................................................... 186 F.3 Category 3 Waters ............................................................................................... 187 F.4 Category 4a Waters .............................................................................................