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Maryland’s Final 2012 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 Martin O’Malley, Governor Dr. Robert Summers, Secretary Anthony G. Brown, Lt. Governor Kathy M. Kinsey, Deputy Secretary David A. Costello, Deputy Secretary Submittal Date: July 23, 2012 EPA Approval Date: November 9, 2012 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. Much of the data collected by EASP was supplied by other Science Services Administration programs including: Field Services, TMDL Technical Development, and Water Quality Protection and Restoration Programs. In addition, special thanks go to Maryland Department of Natural Resources staff that not only supplied large amounts of data but also assisted with water quality assessments. Finally, EASP would like to thank all those who provided data for this report. To view a full list of individuals and organizations that provided data during the data solicitation period please see Table 3. FINAL 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 5 LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................. 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 8 PREFACE......................................................................................................................... 12 PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 13 A.1 Data Sources and Minimum Requirements .......................................................... 13 A.1.1 Quality Control of Water Quality Datasets.................................................... 16 A.1.2 Water Quality Data Review........................................................................... 17 PART B: BACKGROUND ............................................................................................. 19 B.1 Total Waters .......................................................................................................... 19 B.1.1 Water Quality Standards ................................................................................ 19 B.2 Water Pollution Control Programs........................................................................ 23 B.2.1 Permits............................................................................................................ 23 B.2.2 Tier II Waters and Antidegradation ............................................................... 23 B.2.3 Grant Programs .............................................................................................. 23 B.2.4 Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)......................................................... 23 B.2.5 Drinking Water Supply and Protection .......................................................... 24 B.2.6 Corsica River Targeted Watershed ................................................................ 24 B.2.7 Program Coordination.................................................................................... 24 B.3 Cost/Benefit Assessment....................................................................................... 24 B.3.1 Program costs ................................................................................................. 25 B.3.2 Program Benefits............................................................................................ 27 B.3.3 Summary ........................................................................................................ 28 B.4 Special State Concerns and Recommendations .................................................... 28 PART C: SURFACE WATER MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT ......................... 30 C.1 Monitoring Program.............................................................................................. 30 C.2 Assessment Methodologies................................................................................... 30 C.2.1 Assessment Methodology for Identifying Waters Impaired by Bacteria in Maryland’s Integrated Report ....................................................................... 31 C.2.2 Biological Assessment Methodology and the Biological Stressor Identification Process .................................................................................... 35 C.3 Assessment Results ............................................................................................... 39 C.3.1 Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) .......................................................... 50 C.3.2 Assessment Summary .................................................................................... 76 C.3.3 Split and Aggregated Water Body Segments................................................. 76 C.3.4 Estuarine Assessments ................................................................................... 77 C.3.5 Lakes Assessment - Clean Water Act §314 (Clean Lakes) Report................ 82 C.3.6 Non-tidal Rivers and Streams Assessment..................................................... 89 C.4 Wetlands Program................................................................................................. 93 C.5 Trend Monitoring .................................................................................................. 94 C.6 Public Health Issues .............................................................................................. 95 C.6.1 Waterborne Disease........................................................................................ 95 C.6.2 Drinking Water............................................................................................... 96 C.6.3 Shellfish Harvesting Area Closures ............................................................... 96 FINAL 3 C.6.4 Toxic Contaminants Fish Consumption Advisories....................................... 97 C.6.5 Harmful Algal Blooms................................................................................... 98 C.6.6 Bathing Beach Closures ................................................................................. 99 C.7 Invasive aquatic species ........................................................................................ 99 PART D: GROUND WATER MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT........................ 102 PART E: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION .......................................................................... 104 E.1 Informational Public Meeting Announcement .................................................... 105 E.2 Attendance Lists from Informational Public Meetings ....................................... 106 E.3 Comment-Response for the 2012 Integrated Report........................................... 109 PART F: THE 2012 INTEGRATED REPORT............................................................. 126 F.1 Report Format and Structure ............................................................................... 126 F.2 Category 2 Waters ............................................................................................... 128 F.3 Category 3 Waters ............................................................................................... 129 F.4 Category 4a Waters.............................................................................................. 130 F.5 Category 4b Waters ............................................................................................. 131 F.6 Category 4c Waters.............................................................................................. 132 F.7 Category 5 Waters ............................................................................................... 133 F.8 Assessments that were Modified During the Public Comment Period................ 134 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 135 FINAL 4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Comparison of the Number of Category 5 (impaired, TMDL not yet complete) Listings Between the 2010 and 2012 Integrated Reporting Cycles per Pollutant Group................................................................................................................ 10 Figure 2: Illustration of the designated uses for Chesapeake Bay (Chesapeake Bay Program, 1998). Uses are both overlapping and three-dimensional. .............. 22 Figure 3: Federal Budget Appropriations to Water Programs (2004-2011). (Source: Association of Clean Water Administrators FY2012 Funding Chart)............. 26 Figure 4: Federal nonpoint source total budget allocation including the Maryland totals. (Sources: Association of Clean Water Administrators FY2012 Report and MDE’s 319 Annual Report) ............................................................................. 27 Figure 5: Report Format................................................................................................. 127 FINAL 5 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Category 5 Listing Status from 2010 to 2012...................................................... 9 Table 2: 2012 Delistings (water body-pollutant combinations removed from Category 5 (impaired status).............................................................................................