What water quality monitoring is conducted in Orange County and how is the data used?
Water quality monitoring is conducted for compliance reporting in response to NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Municipal Stormwater Permits and TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) Programs. The data are used for a variety of purposes including (1) evaluating the impacts of urban runoff on the beneficial uses (e.g. aquatic habitat, water contact recreation, etc.) of receiving waters (creeks, rivers, lakes, harbors, bays, marshes, and the Pacific Ocean), (2) tracking trends in water quality, (3) identifying illegal discharges or illicit connections to the stormdrain system, and (4) assessing compliance with TMDL targets. Annual compliance reports containing the NPDES monitoring data can be found in Section 11 of the Unified Progress Reports at: DAMP_PEA Reports Please click here for the the annual reports containing the TMDL data.
