Impaired waterbody protocol for the northwest area of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management

The USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, and the US Environ mental Protection Agency have worked collaboratively with state and federal regulatory agencies and tribes to develop a protocol for addressing Clean Water Act section 303(d) waters. The protocol assists land management agenc ies in meeting responsibilities to maintain and restore water quality on fe derally administered lands, and supports Clean Water Action Plan (Environme ntal Protection Agency, 1998)implementation. Protocol content includes an o verarching strategy and decision framework that deals with listed waterbodi es by providing a consistent approach to protect and restore threatened or impaired water quality. The strategy outlines seven components for addressi ng listed segments and calls for completion and implementation of water qua lity restoration plans (WQRPs) to support state developed-EPA approved Tota l Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). WQRPs may vary by state, but will have six c ommon elements, including: 1) a condition assessment and problem descriptio n; 2) goals and objectives; 3) management actions to achieve objectives; 4) implementation schedule; 5) monitoring and evaluation; and 6) public parti cipation. The decision framework is a four step process (validation, assess ment, solution development, and implementation and monitoring) which leads to the development and implementation of WQRPs appropriate to the scale and complexity of the water quality problem.