The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for polluted waters in the US. Under section 303(d) of the CWA, the TMDL program identifies polluted waters, determines how much pollutants must be reduced to meet water quality standards, and ensures that on-the-ground actions occur to reduce the pollutants. The US Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board have identified the Napa River as an important waterbody for TMDL development, based on the Regional Board s listing of the River as impaired due to unacceptable levels of sedimentation, bacteria, and nutrients. Using a watershed approach, the Regional Board and EPA will work with Napa County, the Napa County Resource Conservation District, landowners, vintners and growers, ranchers, environmental groups, and many other stakeholders in an effort to develop a sediment TMDL by June 2004 that uses steelhead trout habitat as the technical focus of the study.
Paul Jones
U.S.Environmental Protection Agency