2010 INTEGRATED WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT REPORT Water Quality in Alabama 2008-2009 2010 Alabama Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report April 1, 2010 Prepared by: Joseph Roy This report was prepared by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management as required by Section 305(b) (the Clean Water Act). Comments or questions related to the content of the report should be addressed to: Alabama Department of Environmental Management Water Division - Water Quality Branch PO Box 301463 Montgomery, Alabama 36130-1463 (334) 271-7700 www.adem.state.al.us Table of Contents List of Tables .............................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ............................................................................................................... v Executive Summary .................................................................................................... vii List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1 Water Quality Standards ............................................................................... 1 Section 1.1 Water Quality Standards Program ............................................................. 1 Section 1.2 Water Quality Rule Changes ..................................................................... 1 Section 1.3 Conceptual Approach to Nutrient Criteria Development .......................... 1 Section 1.4 Implementation of Alabama’s Antidegradation Policy ............................. 5 Section 1.5 Surface Water Use Classification Maps .................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Rivers and Streams ....................................................................................... 17 Section 2.1 Wadeable Rivers and Streams Monitoring Strategy (RSMP) .................. 17 Section 2.2 Ecoregions ................................................................................................ 20 Section 2.3 Trend Stations .......................................................................................... 23 Section 2.4 TMDL Program ....................................................................................... 27 Section 2.5 Summaries of Designated Use Support for Rivers/Streams .................... 32 Section 2.6 Industrial River Monitoring ..................................................................... 33 Chapter 3 Lakes & Reservoirs ....................................................................................... 37 Section 3.1 Lake Water Quality Assessment .............................................................. 37 Section 3.2 Trophic Status .......................................................................................... 40 Section 3.3 Control Methods ...................................................................................... 52 Section 3.4 Restoration Efforts ................................................................................... 53 Section 3.5 Impaired Lakes ......................................................................................... 54 Section 3.6 Toxic Effects on Lakes ............................................................................ 55 Section 3.7 Acid Effects on Lakes .............................................................................. 55 Section 3.8 Trends ...................................................................................................... 56 Section 3.9 TVA Lakes ............................................................................................... 56 Chapter 4 Wetlands ........................................................................................................ 59 Section 4.1 Alabama Wetland Management Programs .............................................. 59 Section 4.2 Coastal Wetlands ..................................................................................... 59 Chapter 5 Ground Water Assessment .......................................................................... 61 Section 5.1 Overview of State Ground Water Protection Programs ........................... 61 Section 5.2 Significant State Groundwater Program Developments .......................... 61 i Table of Contents Chapter 5 Ground Water Assessment (Continued) Section 5.3 Summary of Groundwater Contamination Sources ................................. 63 Section 5.4 Summary of Groundwater Quality .......................................................... 69 Chapter 6 Coastal Waters .............................................................................................. 77 Section 6.1 Alabama Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (ACNPCP) ....... 77 Section 6.2 Coastal Assessment .................................................................................. 79 Section 6.3 Summaries of Designated Use Support for Oceans /Estuaries ................ 83 Chapter 7 Nonpoint Source Management .................................................................... 85 Section 7.1 Overview .................................................................................................. 85 Section 7.2 Progress and Challenges .......................................................................... 86 Section 7.3 Nonpoint Source Water Quality Assessments ......................................... 88 Section 7.4 Watershed Protection Approach .............................................................. 88 Section 7.5 Nonpoint Source Program Recommendations ......................................... 88 Chapter 8 Public Health ................................................................................................. 91 Section 8.1 Fish Tissue Monitoring Program ............................................................. 91 Section 8.2 Shellfish Harvesting Areas ...................................................................... 91 Section 8.3 Public Water Supply/Drinking Water ...................................................... 98 Section 8.4 Source Water Assessment Program ......................................................... 99 Section 8.5 Wellhead Protection Program ................................................................ 101 Section 8.6 Coastal Beach Monitoring ..................................................................... 102 Chapter 9 Concerns and Recommendations .............................................................. 105 References ........................................................................................................... 107 Appendix A Alabama’s Water Quality Assessment Methodology ................................ A-1 Appendix B 2010 Categorization of Alabama’s Waters ................................................. B-1 Appendix C Alabama’s 2010 303(d) Fact Sheet ............................................................ C-1 Appendix D Alabama’s 2010 303d List ......................................................................... D-1 ii List of Tables Executive Summary Table ES-1 River Basins ............................................................................................. ix Table ES-2 Atlas .......................................................................................................... x Table ES-3 Size of Surface Waters Assigned to Reporting Categories ...................... xi Table ES-4 Size of Rivers/Streams, Lakes/Reservoirs, and Estuary/Ocean impairedby Causes ...................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Water Quality Standards Table 1-1 Nutrient Criteria Implementation Schedule for Alabama Reservoirs ....... 4 Table 1-2 Cahaba River and Tributaries .................................................................... 7 Table 1-3 Hatchet Creek and Tributaries ................................................................... 8 Table 1-4 Little River and Tributaries ....................................................................... 9 Table 1-5 Sipsey Fork and Tributaries ..................................................................... 11 Table 1-6 Tensaw River, Weeks Bay and Tributaries ............................................. 13 Table 1-7 Wolf Bay and Tributaries ........................................................................ 14 Table 1-8 Surface Water Use Classifications and Special Designations ................. 15 Chapter 2 Rivers and Streams Table 2-1 Alabama Ecoregional Reference Stations ............................................... 21 Table 2-2 Alabama’s Active Trend Stations - Ambient Monitoring ....................... 25 Table 2-3 TMDL Development Progress FY2008 and FY2009 ............................. 28 Table 2-4 TMDL Program Initiatives for FY 2010 & Beyond ................................ 27 Table 2-5 TMDL Development Plan for FY 2010 and FY 2011 ............................ 30 Table 2-6 Size of Rivers and Streams Impaired by Causes ..................................... 32 Table 2-7 Size of Rivers and Streams Impaired by Sources .................................... 33 Table 2-8 Industrial River Monitoring ..................................................................... 35 Table 2-9 Industrial River Monitoring Ambient Dissolved Oxygen Summary 2008-2009 ................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3 Lakes & Reservoirs Table 3-1 Trophic Status of Significant Publicly