Rock River Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL)

Impaired Waters of Rock River Basin
Click photo for larger image [PDF 766KB]

Overview
Project History
Additional Resources

Overview

The DNR is in the process of developing a TMDL for the Upper and Lower Rock River Basins in south-central Wisconsin. There are over 40 waterbodies in the basin that are on the 303(d) list of impaired waters. The TMDL will focus only on the waterbodies that are impaired by excessive sediment and phosphorus. These pollutants can cause low dissolved oxygen, degraded habitat and excessive turbidity in waterways, resulting in harm to fish and aquatic life, water quality, recreation and even navigation. The TMDL will provide a quantitative analysis of the amount of sediment and/or phosphorus that the waterbodies can receive from both point and nonpoint sources and still meet water quality standards.

A consultant has been hired to prepare the TMDL report under DNR’s management using a grant provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The TMDL will be developed during 2008 and a draft TMDL Report will be released in mid-2008 for public comment. A fact sheet [PDF 57KB] on the project is now available.

Project History

DNR sponsored a public information meeting on December 12, 2006 to introduce the project to the public. The agenda included:

Introduction to the Rock River TMDL [PDF 152KB] Bob Masnado, DNR
Overview of Impaired Waters and TMDLs [PDF 1.2MB] Liesa Lehmann, DNR
Rock River Basin Land Use and Water Quality [PDF 3.36MB] Jim Congdon, DNR
Overview of Previous Rock River study [PDF 607KB] Kevin Kirsch, DNR
Phosphorus and Biological Responses [PDF 2.2MB] Dale Robertson, USGS
Water Quality Targets for Rock River TMDL [PDF 259KB] Jim Baumann, DNR
Proposed Revisions to Scope of Work [PDF 1.7MB] Kevin Kirsch, DNR

WDNR solicited comments on proposed revisions to the original Scope of Work prepared for this project, and

Additional Resources

Last Revised: Tuesday April 08 2008