The Department of Environmental Quality will receive comments through Wednesday, September 23, 2009, regarding the draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for biochemical oxygen-demanding substances and nutrients for the Bayou Manchac Watershed. Bayou Manchac is in Water Quality Subsegment 040201 of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. The subsegment includes Bayou Fountain, Ward’s Creek, Ward’s Creek Diversion Canal, Welsh Gully, Cotton Bayou, Muddy Creek, and several unnamed tributaries. The model extends from just above Alligator Bayou to Amite River. The area is heavily populated and land use is primarily agriculture, grassland, vegetated urban, and wetland forest deciduous. Bayou Manchac along the mainstem is mostly comprised of wetland deciduous forest. 

 

This TMDL will incorporate a phased approach. Phase I includes the development of a TMDL for the current dissolved oxygen criterion of 5.0 mg/L year round. Implementation of permit limits or nonpoint load reductions will not be required as a part of Phase I. LDEQ is in the process of developing more appropriate dissolved oxygen criteria for various areas of the state through ecoregion-based use attainability analysis (UAA) studies. Once the dissolved oxygen criterion for Subsegment 040201 has been revised, then Phase II will be completed. Phase II will include revision and implementation of the TMDL for the new dissolved oxygen criteria. There are 138 permitted dischargers located within this subsegment. The permit limits for these facilities may be modified by the final TMDL, Phase II. 

 

            This TMDL will be incorporated into the Louisiana Water Quality Management Plan (Volume 8) upon approval by the U.S. EPA.  

 

            The  draft  TMDL  report can be obtained by submitting a public records request to LDEQ’s Public Records Management Section, which can be accessed at  http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/tabid/2231/Default.aspx or by phone at (225) 219-3172 or toll-free at 1-866-892-5337.  The draft TMDL report is also available on the LDEQ   website:  http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/default.aspx?tabid=1563.                         

For information regarding this TMDL, contact Mr. Chuck Berger at (225) 219-3554.

 

            All interested persons are invited and encouraged to comment on this draft TMDL.  The Office of Environmental Assessment will address any questions and comments expressed during the 30-day review period.  Written comments should be addressed to Mr. Chuck Berger, Office of Environmental Assessment, Water Quality Assessment Division, P. O. Box 4314, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70821-4314.