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Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Nonpoint Source > Watershed Assessment > Water Quality Assessments and Reporting > Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters

The IDEM Office of Water Quality (OWQ) develops Indiana's 303(d) List of Impaired Waters as part of the state's Integrated Water Monitoring and Assessment Report, which is submitted to the U.S. EPA every two years in accordance with Sections 305(b) and 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). CWA Section 305(b) requires states to make water quality assessments and provide water quality reports to the U.S. EPA, and CWA Section 303(d) requires states to identify waters through their Section 305(b) water quality assessments, that do not or are not expected to meet applicable state water quality standards with federal technology based standards alone. Under CWA Section 303(d), states are also required to develop a priority ranking for these waters taking into account the severity of the pollution and the designated uses of the waters. Once this listing and ranking of impaired waters is completed, states are required to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for these waters in order to achieve compliance with the water quality standards.

These requirements were met for the 2008 cycle by the submission of Indiana's 2008 Integrated Report to the U.S. EPA and the subsequent approval of Indiana's 2008 303(d) list by that agency.

On May 8, 2013, U.S. EPA issued a partial approval of Indiana's 2010 303(d) list. More information pertaining to IDEM's 2010 cycle submittal and U.S. EPA's decision can be found 2010 Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters page.

IDEM submitted its 2012 303(d) List of Impaired Waters to the U.S. EPA on April 1, 2012.

On December 28, 2012, IDEM submitted a revised 303(d) list as part of an addendum to the 2012 Integrated Report. IDEM submitted its 2014 303(d) List of Impaired Waters to U.S. EPA on April 1, 2014. On September 25, 2015, IDEM submitted its finalized 303(d) list as part of an addendum to the 2014 Integrated Report.

More information on IDEM’s 2012 303(d) list can be found on the 2012 Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters page and the 2014 Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters page contains all documents contained in IDEM’s 2014 submittal. To date, U.S. EPA has not issued a decision regarding Indiana’s 303(d) List of Impaired Waters submitted for the 2012 or 2014 integrated reporting cycles.

IDEM submitted the notice of public comment period for the draft 2016 303(d) List of Impaired Waters to U.S. EPA as part of its 2016 Integrated Report on April 1, 2016. On April 6, 2016, the notice was published in the Indiana Register, formally opening the 90-day public comment period. IDEM accepted public comments on the draft 2016 303(d) list and the methodology used to develop it through July 5, 2016. Currently, IDEM is reviewing the comments received and developing its response. All public comments and IDEM’s responses and any revisions to the 2016 303(d) list will be submitted to U.S. EPA as an addendum to the 2016 Integrated Report and made available on this website.

In the meantime, the links below contain all files included in the NOC published in the Indiana Register on April 6, 2015 as well as additional files to facilitate public review.

General information on the 303(d) list is available on the Section 303(d) List Frequently Asked Questions page. You may also contact the Integrated Report Coordinator with any questions you have regarding the 303(d) list.

2016 Draft 303(d) List of Impaired Waters

Presentation of Indiana’s 2016 303(d) List of Impaired Waters to Indiana’s Environmental rules Board on May 11, 2016 [PDF]

The following links, together, comprise the Notice of Comment (NOC) Period for Indiana’s Draft 2016 303(d) List (Appendix L of the 2016 Integrated Report).

NOC Attachment 4 (Table D) and NOC Attachment 7 together identify all known waterbody impairments in Indiana (Categories 4 and 5 of Indiana’s Consolidated List) based on IDEM’s Clean Water Act Section 305(b) water quality assessments as of April 1, 2016. These files are provided in a spreadsheet format to facilitate sorting and searching of the information they contain.

Water Quality