Sunrise River Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load Study

The Clean Water Act (1972) requires that each State develop a plan to identify and restore any waterbody that is deemed impaired by state regulations. A Total Maximum Daily Load Study (TMDL) is required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a result of the federal Clean Water Act. A TMDL identifies the pollutant that is causing the impairment and how much of that pollutant can enter the water body and still meet water quality standards. Four lakes within the Sunrise River Watershed are currently on the EPA's 303(d) Impaired Waters List for Excess Nutrients: Linwood, Second, Vibo, and White Stone (see Table 1 for impairment listing). Three stream reaches will also be addressed: the West Branch of the Sunrise River (Aquatic Life – Fish and Macroinvertebrate Bioassessments and Turbidity), Lower Sunrise River (Aquatic Recreation – E. coli), and Hay Creek (Aquatic Recreation – E. coli). This TMDL report will only address impairments that are not addressed in another nested TMDL report (for example: Chisago Lakes Chain of Lakes Watershed TMDL, Comfort Lake Forest Lake Impaired Lakes TMDL, North Branch of the Sunrise River Fecal Coliform TMDL, and Martin and Typo Lakes TMDL).