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The Southeast Georgia Regional Development Center (SEGa RDC) contracts with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division to perform planning related to the waters of our region.
These planning items can vary from water monitoring to the completion of extended revision plans that monitor and reduce Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) in our streams and rivers.
A TMDL or Total Maximum Daily Load is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's
sources.
Water quality standards are set by States, Territories, and Tribes. They identify the uses for each waterbody, for example, drinking water supply, contact recreation (swimming), and aquatic life support (fishing),
and the scientific criteria to support that use.
A TMDL is the sum of the allowable loads of a single pollutant from all contributing point and nonpoint sources. The calculation must include a margin of safety to ensure that the waterbody can be used for the
purposes the State has designated. The calculation must also account for seasonal variation in water quality.
The Clean Water Act, section 303, establishes the water quality standards and TMDL programs. Click here to go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's TMDL website.
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