Delaware Administrative Code
Title 7 - Natural Resources and Environmental Control
5000 - Division of Watershed Stewardship
7400 - Watershed Assessment Section
7411 - TMDLs for the Shellpot Creek Delaware
Section 7411-1.0 - Introduction and Background
Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 3, September 1, 2024
1.1 Water quality monitoring performed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has shown that the Shellpot Creek is impaired by high levels of bacteria and elevated levels of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorous, and that the designated uses are not fully supported by water quality in the stream.
1.2 Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires states to develop a list (303(d) List) of waterbodies for which existing pollution control activities are not sufficient to attain applicable water quality criteria and to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for pollutants or stressors causing the impairment. A TMDL sets a limit on the amount of a pollutant that can be discharged into a waterbody and still protect water quality. TMDLs are composed of three components, including Waste Load Allocations (WLAs) for point source discharges, Load Allocations (LAs) for nonpoint sources, and a Margin of Safety (MOS).
DNREC listed Shellpot Creek on several of the State's 303(d) Lists and proposes the following Total Maximum Daily Load regulation for nitrogen, phosphorous and Enterococcus bacteria.
