Water Quality - Water Quality Standards and Reports - 4.4.United States Specification For Drinking Water

4.4.United States Specification For Drinking Water

In the United States, Water Quality Standards are created by state agencies for different types of water bodies and water body locations per desired uses. The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires each governing jurisdiction (states, territories, and covered tribal entities) to submit a set of biennial reports on the quality of water in their area. These reports are known as the 303(d), 305(b) and 314 reports, named for their respective CWA provisions, and are submitted to, and approved by, EPA. These reports are completed by the governing jurisdiction, typically a state environmental agency, and are available on the web. In coming years it is expected that the governing jurisdictions will submit all three reports as a single document, called the "Integrated Report." The 305(b) report (National Water Quality Inventory Report to Congress) is a general report on water quality, providing overall information about the number of miles of streams and rivers and their aggregate condition. The 314 report has provided similar information for lakes. The CWA requires states to adopt water quality standards for each of the possible designated uses that they assign to their waters. Should evidence suggest or document that a stream, river or lake has failed to meet the water quality criteria for one or more of its designated uses, it is placed on the 303(d) list of impaired waters. Once a state has placed a water body on the 303(d) list, it must develop a management plan establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads for the pollutant(s) impairing the use of the water. These TMDLs establish the reductions needed to fully support the designated uses.