The Use of the Adaptive Management Option to Meet Stricter Discharge Limits, 2013 PEERS Conference

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For many years, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has recognized that controlling nutrient levels is a necessary part of a program to improve the quality of waterbodies on a national scale. Previous efforts involving the development of technology-based numeric effluent limits and watershed-based total maximum daily load limitations have primarily focused on point source discharges. A new program designed to accelerate the progress of the control of nutrient levels has resulted in the establishment of more stringent water quality-based standards for dischargers and improvements in nutrient control from non-point sources. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has provided permit holders with some flexibility in achieving compliance with these more stringent discharge standards by expanding the range of tools available to them. Permit holders can use the traditional treatment option, a water quality credit trading option, a watershed adaptive management option, or a combination of all three. This presentation will describe the criteria that must be met before these tools can be used by a permit holder, identify the resources available to permit holders in evaluating the use of these tools, and present an example of how these tools can be made part of an overall compliance assurance program.