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Bill Matuszeski Chesapeake Bay Program Office Annapolis, Maryland January 24, 2001

Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation Committee Briefing on Water Quality Steering Committee Activities: Introduction and Background. Bill Matuszeski Chesapeake Bay Program Office Annapolis, Maryland January 24, 2001. Components. Designated uses Criteria Standards Impairments TMDLs.

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Bill Matuszeski Chesapeake Bay Program Office Annapolis, Maryland January 24, 2001

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  1. Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation Committee Briefing on Water Quality Steering Committee Activities: Introduction and Background Bill Matuszeski Chesapeake Bay Program Office Annapolis, Maryland January 24, 2001

  2. Components • Designated uses • Criteria • Standards • Impairments • TMDLs

  3. Characteristics of Existing State Designated Uses • Reflect jurisdictional boundaries, not resource habitats • May build in low vs. high salinity waters delineation but only for determining which EPA criteria to apply (freshwater vs. saltwater) • Use language still boils down to protection of “fishable/swimable”

  4. Relevant EPA Criteria • Dissolved oxygen • Only freshwater criteria were available until this winter • EPA published saltwater criteria for the Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras region in December 2000 • Nitrogen • Criteria for nitrate, ammonia based on toxicity effect, not eutrophication connection

  5. Relevant EPA Criteria • Phosphorus • Criteria based on toxicity of elemental phosphorus • Chlorophyll a • No national criteria exist currently • Water Clarity • Some references to turbidity, but no real criteria address water clarity

  6. Existing State Standards • Dissolved oxygen • Maryland: not less than 5 mg/L • Virginia, Delaware: 5 mg/L average, 4 mg/L minimum • Chlorophyll a • No existing state standards • Water Clarity • Delaware, DC: not more than 10-20 Nephelometric units (NTUs) above natural levels, respectively • Maryland: 50 units monthly average, never exceed 150 NTUs

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