A Third Party Tmdl for the East Fork Little Miami River

Based on surveys conducted in 1982 and 1998, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has determined that several stretches of the East Fork Little Miami River (EFLMR), located in southwestern Ohio, are not meeting their use attainment goals. As a result, the EFLMR was placed on the state's 303(d) list in 2004 and designated for a TMDL. Unlike most states, which rely solely on chemical water quality standards to determine impairment, the state of Ohio determines if the waters of the state are meeting water quality goals primarily through the use of biological criteria. Some effort is made to determine potential sources and causes of impairment, but this is often based solely on anecdotal evidence. Also, due to resource constraints, streams surveyed by OEPA in 1998 are not scheduled to be re-surveyed until the year 2012, with a TMDL scheduled for development in 2014 for those stream segments still impaired. For these reasons, Clermont County decided to be proactive and take the lead in developing a TMDL for the EFLMR. The County has conducted annual chemical and biological sampling in the watershed continuously since 1996, and is in the process of developing Watershed Action Plans for five subwatersheds within the larger EFLMR basin. The County has established a close working relationship with many of the major stakeholders in the area, including local sewer districts, health districts, soil and water conservation districts, and major landowners. Based on these factors, the County felt that it was in a unique position to direct the development of the TMDL for the EFLMR, and requested financial support from the U.S EPA for this purpose in 2003.