Impact/Purpose:

Development of sound tribal water quality standards.

Description:

Water quality standards are the foundation for water management actions. They provide the basis for regulating discharges of pollutants to surface waters, and provide a target for restoration of degraded waters. Water quality standards identify and protect uses of the water bodies, and set criteria (chemical specific, biological, and/or physical) to protect each use. EPA has been issued criteria guidance for 20 years, and encouraging states to adopt and update their water quality standards. Tribes also may develop their own water quality standards. In order to have an EPA-approved standards program, the tribe first needs program authorization, EPA's recognition that the tribe is in a position to implement a water quality standards program within their reservation. Tribes face a number of unique challenges in developing their water quality standards. And EPA staff have a workload challenge of providing technical assistance to state and tribes. In response to growing interest in water quality standards among the Region 10 tribes, EPA staff developed and hosted a Tribal Standards Workshop on May 21-24, 2001. The training provided basic information about what water quality standards are and how they are used. They presented a fictitious yet realistic Thunder River Reservation, which contained many of the land uses and water quality issues facing northwest tribes. Workshop participants went through the process of designating uses and developing criteria for this reservation. The participants also participated in or listened to panels on various topics of interest, such as obtaining treatment as a state, understanding toxics and human health criteria, unique issues in Alaska, the Endangered Species Act, and many other topics. Interest was very high - discussions continued at meal times and evening sessions were exceedingly well attended.

Record Details: