Rice Creek Watershed District Southwest Urban Lakes Total Maximum Daily Load Study

This Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study addresses aquatic recreation use impairments due to excess nutrients (phosphorus) in seven lakes located in the southwest portion of the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) within the Mississippi River – Twin Cities Watershed (07010206) in east-central Minnesota (Figure 1). The goal of this TMDL is to provide wasteload allocations (WLAs) and load allocations (LAs) and to quantify the pollutant reductions needed to meet the state water quality standards. These TMDLs for nutrients are being established in accordance with section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, because the State of Minnesota has determined that these lakes exceed the state established standards for nutrients. This TMDL is based largely on a previous study completed in 2009 funded by RCWD that assessed the water quality of and pollutant loading to 24 lakes in the southwest portion of the RCWD, in relation to state standards. Throughout this TMDL, there will be references to methods and analyses from the 2009 Southwest Urban Lakes Study, which can be accessed online from the Reports & Plans section of the Rice Creek Watershed District website (www.ricecreek.org).