Hawk Creek Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load

Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) provides authority for completing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for impaired waters to achieve state water quality standards and/or designated uses. The TMDLs establish the maximum amount of a pollutant a waterbody can receive on a daily basis and still meet water quality standards. The TMDLs are divided into wasteload allocations (WLA) for point or permitted sources, load allocations (LA) for nonpoint sources and natural background, plus a margin of safety (MOS). This TMDL report addresses impairments for 13 stream reaches consisting of 13 E. coli and 5 turbidity (total suspended solids - TSS) impairments, as well as 4 lakes for nutrient eutrophication impairments, in the Hawk Creek Watershed. Addressing multiple impairments in one TMDL report is consistent with Minnesota's Water Quality Framework that seeks to develop watershed-wide protection and restoration strategies rather than focus on individual reach impairments.