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Utah Water Quality Management: Standards
- Great Salt Lake Selenium Information
- Great Salt Lake Wetlands
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- Proposed Rule Changes to Water Quality Standards | Supporting Documents
- Statewide Nutrient Criteria Development website
The Water Quality Standards Workgroup is seeking partipants for subworkgroups to assist in drafting changes to Standards of Quality for Waters of the State. Any interested persons can participate. Current topics include: Narrative Standard and biological criteria, 401 Certifications, Antidegradation, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Standards. For more information, see http://www.waterqualtiy.utah.gov/WQS/subworkgroups/index.htm or contact Chris Bittner at 801-536-4371 or cbittner@utah.gov
Standards for Quality for Waters of the State are contained in UAC R317-2. The water quality standards are intended to protect Utah’s waters and improve the quality for beneficial uses. Beneficial uses include drinking water, fish and aquatic life, wildlife, agricultural, industrial, and recreational uses. Once the beneficial uses are established, criteria that are protective of the beneficial use are set.
The standards must be reviewed and updated (if necessary) every three years through a process called the Triennial Review. In addition to the Triennial Review, standards are changed and updated as new information becomes available or in response to changes in laws from the State or Federal government.
Proposed revisions to the Standards are reviewed by the Water Quality Standards Workgroup. The Workgroup makes recommendations for standards changes to the Water Quality Board who is responsible for promulgating the standards.
Permit limits are set to ensure that the standards in the receiving waters will not be exceeded. Permit limits are typically developed by modeling the concentrations in the receiving waters after the mixing zone.
Antidegradation Reviews are intended to ensure that waters that have better quality than required by the standards are not degraded unless the degradation is necessary for important social or economic reasons.
For more information about water quality standards, please contact Chris Bittner.
Supporting Documents for Proposed Rule Changes to Water Quality Standards
Changes Proposed December 15, 2009
- Summary of Proposed Changes and Rationale
- Additional Supporting Information Discussed at the 10/29/2009 Water Quality Standards Workgroup Meeting
- Draft Report: Development of an Assessment Framework for the Impounded Wetlands of Great Salt Lake
Public Hearing January 11, 2010
- Recording of Public Hearing (15.5 MB)
Written Comments Received by January 14, 2010
- Central Davis Sewer District
- Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility
- Consolidated Coal Company
- EPA Region 8
- Jordan River/Farmington Bay Water Quality Council
- Kennecott Utah Copper, LLC
- North Davis Sewer District
- Price River Water Improvement District
- Utah Wetlands Foundation
- Western Resource Advocates
Written Comments Received by March 17, 2010
