REVISED REGIONAL TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD Fecal Coliform Bacteria Impairments In the Lower Mississippi River Basin Of Southeast Minnesota IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

This Revised Regional Total Maximum Daily Load Study of Fecal Coliform Bacteria Impairments in the Lower Mississippi River Basin of Southeast Minnesota Implementation Plan has been prepared by the Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with input from stakeholders in the Lower Mississippi River Basin (referred to hereafter as the Basin). In 2002, a report titled Regional Total Maximum Daily Load Study of Fecal Coliform Bacteria Impairments in the Lower Mississippi River Basin in Minnesota was submitted by the MPCA to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose of the study and report submittal was to meet requirements of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) for 20 stream and river reaches in the Lower Mississippi and Cedar river Basins that had been listed as impaired for swimming use due to fecal coliform levels that violated Minnesota water quality standards. The study described the magnitude of the problem and provided direction for improving water quality at the listed reaches as well as in many other streams and rivers that had not been formally assessed but are believed to exhibit similar water quality conditions. The report was approved by the EPA in November 2002, although the approval was challenged by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA).