Montana TMDL Fact Sheet

Whose idea was this?

In 1997, the Montana Legislature charged the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) with restoring the water quality of streams and lakes that do not support irrigation, fisheries and recreation; or provide drinking water, stockwater and wildlife habitat. The legislature also asked DEQ to work closely with conservation districts, watershed groups, and a statewide advisory group to encourage voluntary implementation of water quality restoration plans.

DEQ has classified Montana’s streams and lakes to reflect the beneficial use of the water. Pristine mountain streams are labeled “A” and mineralized streams that are not fit as drinking water are “C”. Everything between is “B”. A cold water stream gets a “1” and a warm water stream is “3”. So the average cool water stream is “B-2”. Once a stream is classified, DEQ set the standards to assure that people, animals and crops can use the water without harm to health or livelihood.

What is a Water Quality Restoration Plan?

When the amount of chemical, physical or biological agents in the water violate standards, DEQ prepares a water quality restoration plan that describes the severity of the problem and what needs to be done. The difference between the water quality standard for a pollutant and the actual amount present in the water is the reduction target. The reduction target is often referred to as a TMDL. Several activities may contribute to poor water quality, so the plan will suggest alternatives to reduce pollution from each one.

The goal of a water quality restoration plan is to reduce pollution by a specified amount (TMDL) so that the water can be put to full beneficial use by agriculture, communities, households, recreationists and wildlife. Cooperation is the best way to find an effective, fair and economical way to reduce pollution. The legislature wanted people to take part in water quality restoration voluntarily--especially the people whose activities are causing the water quality problem. The best solution is one that restores water quality and benefits or modernizes an operation. It’s the best because it is most likely to be properly installed and maintained.

A Water Quality Restoration Plan is a technical and legal document that includes:

A list of applicable water quality standards
An assessment of the sources of pollutants
A description of the impaired streams or lakes
A target measurement for each pollutant (usually the water quality standard)
Pollutant reduction targets (TMDLs)
A margin of safety that accounts for the uncertainty in the data, and an analysis of seasonal variation and future development impacts
A monitoring plan to determine when reduction targets are met.
Public participation and documentation

EPA approves TMDLs on the basis of the above elements. EPA also considers how the approval may affect “threatened and endangered species”.

What pollutants are a problem in Montana?

Sediment, nutrients, metals and elevated stream temperatures are the major types of pollutants found in Montana’s streams and lakes. These pollutants reduce water quality in 530 streams and lakes in Montana and are published in the 2002 Montana 303(d) List.

Pollutant	Pollutant Concerns / Sources	Solutions
Sediment Size of problem: 217waterbodies 3,723 stream miles 135,369 lake acres	Concerns: Although sediment occurs naturally, excess sediment in a lake or stream beds clouds the water. It reduces sunlight to aquatic plants, covers fish spawning areas and food supplies, and transports nutrients, pathogens, and heavy metals. Sources: Roads along the waterbody, bare-eroding streambanks and overgrazing or logging in the surrounding riparian areas are the primary sources of excess sediment.	Reduce excess erosion and sediment by channeling storm runoff from streets and parking lots to settling ponds. Protect streambanks by providing alternate sources of stockwater and shade. Construct logging roads to channel water away from streams. Use buffer strips between fields and streams.
Metals Size of problem: 198 waterbodies 3,717 stream miles 437,822 lake acres	Concerns: Metals such as arsenic, selenium, mercury, chromium, zinc, lead, copper, and cadmium are toxic to most forms of life. Sources: The metals come primarily from past mining activities. However, mercury can settle onto lakes with dust and smoke while soil selenium can be mobilized by farming practices.	Move mine waste to hazardous waste repositories, cap tailings to deduce erosion. Continuous crop soils with high selenium levels. Reduce air pollution levels.
Nutrients Size of problem: 120 waterbodies 2,781stream miles 170,648 lake acres	Concerns: Excess nutrients can wash into streams and lakes causing excess algal growth. Nuisance algae affects swimming and boating, creates foul tastes or odors, and kills fish by reducing the oxygen in the water. Sources: Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the form of fertilizers, manure, sludge, irrigation water, legumes, and crop residues are applied to enhance crop production.	Implement nutrient management plans to maintain high yields and save money by using only the amount of fertilizer needed by the crop. Limit the discharge of animal feeding operations by storing and managing wastewater and runoff with an appropriate waste management system. Improve irrigation water management with water conserving methods to reduce return flows.
Temperature Size of problem: 59 waterbodies 1,463 stream miles 0 lake acres	Concerns: An increase in water temperature promotes algal growth, decreases oxygen levels, and damages fish habitat. Sources: Water temperature increases when vegetation that shades a stream is lost, when the channel is widened or dammed thereby slowing the water, or when water is diverted thereby decreasing the total amount of water.	Plant riparian vegetation to shade the stream. Use water efficiently to reduce withdrawals during the warm summer months. Look for opportunities to create wetlands, riparian buffers, parklands and storm water management systems that allow the watershed to slowly release water throughout the summer months.

What’s the difference between point and nonpoint TMDLs?

There are two major sources of pollution: point and nonpoint. Point source pollution includes effluent from industrial plants, municipal wastewater treatment plants, and confined animal feeding operations. Usually a point source can be traced to a pipe or outfall. It is relatively easy to measure the maximum amount of pollutants that come out of a pipe on any given day. This measurement is the source of the term—total maximum daily load (TMDL). A point source TMDL becomes part of a discharge permit that the operation must achieve.

Nonpoint source pollution, on the other hand, can be found throughout a watershed and is not easily measured. For instance, roads and bridges contribute sediment by channeling runoff, constricting floodplains, being sanded in icy weather, and deteriorating due to lack of maintenance. Confidently calculating a TMDL for sediment from roads can be expensive and time consuming. Estimating the TMDL by studying a small group of roads and adding a margin of safety can be an economical approach to describing water quality impacts.

Who is responsible for TMDLs and Water Quality Restoration?

Anyone who lives in or cares about a watershed is invited to join DEQ in restoring water quality.

TMDLs require technical expertise in water quality, land use activities and mapping. DEQ is responsible for assuring that a court-ordered schedule is met for completing TMDLs. A TMDL is part of a water quality restoration plan. The plan must fulfill the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act and the state Water Quality Act. However, these plans benefit from the input of conservation districts, watershed groups and other interested individuals.

What happens after the TMDL is done?

When EPA approves a TMDL the streams are removed from the Montana 303(d) List. The next task is to implement the plan. The reduction targets are incorporated into discharge permits for point sources of pollutants. So for point sources, the TMDL becomes regulatory. Those dealing with nonpoint sources may or may not take part in restoration activities but their efforts are greatly appreciated when they voluntarily participate.

State and federal government agencies are interested in encouraging water quality restoration. They offer grants, loans, and cost-share programs. Conservation districts are well suited to provide administration and oversight of projects funded by these grants. When agencies prioritize projects for funding, they often elevate watershed projects that have restoration plans. Agencies are confident that restoration plans assure that the grant money will be spent wisely and effectively.

Five years after the plan is approved, DEQ must find out if it worked. Monitoring data is evaluated. If water quality is still impaired DEQ will determine if more time is needed, if new best management practices should be tried, or if a new plan should be written.

Is anything exempt?

Yes! By law TMDLs may not interfere with the lawful use of irrigation water. Water Quality Restoration Plans have included water conservation strategies to reduce return flows and saline seep formation. Because these activities were recommended, irrigators obtained grant funds to achieve the goals they had set for their operations—improving irrigation efficiency and reducing costs. Because water quality also benefited, the funding agency achieved its goal.

One Water Quality Restoration Plan recommended a goal for instream flow. A group of landowners entered into a “salvage water” agreement with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and received money for the water left in the stream. As long as the agreement lasts, both parties benefit.