Delaware Administrative Code
Title 7 - Natural Resources and Environmental Control
5000 - Division of Watershed Stewardship
7400 - Watershed Assessment Section
7430 - TMDLs for Bacteria for the Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin, Delaware
Section 7430-1.0 - Introduction and Background

Water quality monitoring performed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has shown that the waters of the Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin (Chester River, Choptank River, Marshyhope Creek, Nanticoke River, Gum Branch, Gravelly Branch, Deep Creek, Broad Creek, and Pocomoke River Watersheds) are impaired by high levels of bacteria and that the designated uses are not fully supported due to levels of this pollutant in these waters.

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. A TMDL is composed of three components, including a Waste Load Allocation (WLA) for point source discharges, Load Allocation (LA) for nonpoint sources, and a Margin of Safety (MOS).

DNREC listed the Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin (Chester River, Choptank River, Marshyhope Creek, Nanticoke River, Gum Branch, Gravelly Branch, Deep Creek, Broad Creek, and Pocomoke River Watersheds) on several of the State's 303(d) Lists and proposes the following Total Maximum Daily Loads regulation for enterococcus bacteria.