![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081019173808im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
What are Water Quality Standards?
[Why are WQS Important?] [WQS Review and Revision] [Role of the Public] [Designated Uses] [Water Quality Criteria] [Antidegradation] [General Policies] [Indian Tribe Participation] [WQS Program History]
Designated Uses
The water quality standards regulation requires that States and authorized Indian Tribes specify appropriate water uses to be achieved and protected. Appropriate uses are identified by taking into consideration the use and value of the water body for public water supply, for protection of fish, shellfish, and wildlife, and for recreational, agricultural, industrial, and navigational purposes. In designating uses for a water body, States and Tribes examine the suitability of a water body for the uses based on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the water body, its geographical setting and scenic qualities, and economic considerations. Each water body does not necessarily require a unique set of uses. Instead, the characteristics necessary to support a use can be identified so that water bodies having those characteristics can be grouped together as supporting particular uses.
Where water quality standards specify designated uses less than those which are presently being attained, the State or Tribe is required to revise its standards to reflect the uses actually being attained.
More information on designated uses, including use attainablity analyses.