Clean Water Act : Water quality designated uses and impairments for Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve

24 Pages·2003·1.1 MB·English

by  National Park Service

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CLEAN WATER ACT
WATER QUALITY DESIGNATED USES
AND
IMPAIRMENTS
Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve
Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR-2003/308
March 2003
National Park Service
Water Resources Division
Fort Collins, Colorado
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
lWAIATER RESOURCES
DIVISION
FORTCOLLINS, COLORADO
RESOURCE ROOM PROPERTY
TheNational Park Service WaterResources Division isresponsible forprovidingwaterresourcesmanagement
policyandguidelines, planning, technical assistance,training, andoperational supporttounitsoftheNationalPark
System. Program areas includewaterrights, waterresourcesplanning,regulatoryguidance andreview,hydrology,
waterquality, watershedmanagement,watershedstudies,andaquaticecology.
Technical Reports
The National Park Service disseminates the results ofbiological, physical, and social research through the Natural
Resources Technical Series. Natural resources inventories and monitoring activities, scientific literature reviews,
bibliographies, andproceedingsoftechnical workshops andconferences arealso disseminatedthroughthis series.
Mention oftrade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the
National Park Service.
Digital copies ofthis and othercompletedpark reportsareavailable athttp://www.nature.nps.gov/wrd. Clean Water
Act designated use and impairment GIS shapefiles generated during the preparation ofthis and other park reports
may alsobe found atthiswebsite alongwithasearchabledatabaseofparkhydrographic statistics.
Analog copies ofthisreportare available fromthe following:
Technical InformationCenter [phone]
Denver ServicesCenter
P.O. Box25287
Denver, CO 80225-0287
U.S. DepartmentofCommerce [phone]
National Technical Information Center
5285 Port Royal Road
VA
Springfield, 22161
CLEAN WATER ACT
WATER QUALITY DESIGNATED USES AND
IMPAIRMENTS
for
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL MONUMENT
AND PRESERVE
Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR-2003/308
March 2003
National Park Service
Water Resources Division
Fort Collins, Colorado
in
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation
http://archive.org/details/cleanwateractwatOOsand
IV
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Director's Order NPS-75 requires the National Park Service (NPS) Natural Resource Inventory and Monitoring
Program to establish a Servicewide inventory ofwaterbodies and water quality use classifications. The Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) directs Federal agencies to articulate program goals in a quantifiable
and measurable manner. These mandates are reflected in the mission goals of the 2000 NPS Strategic Plan.
Included among these mission goals are the creation ofawaterresources inventory and achieving atarget of85% of
265 park units with unimpaired waterbodies. To help achieve the goals ofNPS-75, GPRA, and the NPS Strategic
Plan, this report summarizes for the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve (GRSA): (1) Clean Water
Act (CWA) State-designated uses; (2) CWA 303(d) quality impaired waters and causes; (3) special designations
recognizing waters ofexceptional quality as defined in State water quality standards; and (4) hydrographic statistics
based on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1:100,000 scale National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). Data
sources used to compile this report include: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Total Maximum Daily Load
Tracking System, EPA Water Quality Standards Database, EPA National Assessment Database, EPA EnviroMapper
for Water, USGS NHD, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - Water Quality Control
Division.
Based on the NHD, a total of23.43 miles ofperennial and intermittent streams are within or adjacent to the GRSA
park boundary. No lakes, ponds, or reservoirs were identified within or adjacent to the GRSA park boundary in the
NHD. State-designated uses for classified waterbodies within or adjacent to the GRSA park boundary include: (1)
agriculture; (2) aquatic life cold water-class 1; (3) aquatic life warm water- class 2; (4) domestic water source; (5)
recreation primary contact; and (6) recreation secondary contact. No waterbodies within or adjacent to the GRSA
park boundary are impaired based on the 2002 Colorado 303(d) list. No Outstanding National Resource Waters or
Outstanding State Resource Water designations have been applied to waters within or adjacent to the GRSA park
boundary.
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v
TABLEOFCONTENTS
vii
LISTOFTABLES viii
LISTOF FIGURES viii
INTRODUCTION
1
Purposes 1
Great Sand DunesNational Monument Environs andOverview 1
BACKGROUND
2
WaterQuality Standards 2
Federal Antidegradation Policiesand Regulations 2
Colorado State Antidegradation Regulations 2
303(d) Waterbodies and Total Maximum Daily Loads 3
Waterbodies (Waters ofthe United States) 3
Waterbody Identifications and Reaches 4
DATA SOURCES
5
PARK HYDROGRAPH1C STATISTICS 7
DESIGNATED USES 8
WATERQUALITY CRITERIA 10
IMPAIRED WATERBODIES 10
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD 10
OUTSTANDING NATIONAL AND STATE RESOURCE WATERS 10
LITERATURE CITED 12
vn
1
LIST OF TABLES
Table I. ParkHydrographic Statistics 7
Table II. State-Designated Beneficial UseDefinitions 8
Table III. State-Designated Beneficial Uses and Use Support Information 9
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Regional Location Map 6
Figure2. Waterbody Designated Uses and Impairment Status 1
vin
INTRODUCTION
The National Park Service's (NPS) Organic Act of 1916 and the Clean Water Act (CWA) are two important pieces
offederal legislation that provide for the preservation, conservation, and protection ofwater resources within units
ofthe National Park System. The mission ofthe Organic Act states that "the Service thus established shall promote
and regulate the use ofFederal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations ... by such means and
measures as conform to the fundamental purpose ofthe saidparks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to
conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment
of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
CWA
generations" (16 U.S.C. Section 1). The stated objective of the is to "restore and maintain the chemical,
physical and biological integrity ofthe nation's waters"(33 U.S.C. Section 1251(a)).
To help meet its resource stewardship responsibilities the NPS established the Natural Resource Inventory and
Monitoring (I&M) Program. The goal ofthe I&M Program is to acquire the information and expertise needed by
park managers to maintain ecosystem integrity in the approximately 270 National Park System units that contain
significant natural resources (National Park Service 2000a). The establishment ofa Servicewide natural resource
inventory, which is to include a waterresources inventory, is an important objective ofthe I&M Program. The 1992
Director's Order NPS-75, Natural Resources andInventory Monitoring Guideline, recommends the waterresources
inventory include: (1) location (with additional classification from that included in digital cartographic information)
of streams, lakes, wetlands, and groundwater (hot springs, cold springs); and (2) water quality use classifications
(Ibid, 26).
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) directs Federal agencies to articulate program goals
in a quantifiable and measurable manner. GPRA requires the use ofstrategic plans, annual performance plans, and
annual performance reports for Federal programs (Galvin 1999). The 2000 NPS Strategic Plan reflects the mandates
ofNPS-75 and GPRA in its mission goals. Included in these goals are the creation ofa water resources inventory
(mission goal Ibl) and achieving a target of 85% of 265 park units with unimpaired waters (mission goal Ia4)
(National Park Service 2000b, 17, 20).
Purposes
The purposes of this report are to compile and summarize the following for the Great Sand Dunes National
Monument and Preserve (GRSA): (1) CWA State-designated use classifications; (2) CWA 303(d) quality impaired
waters and causes; (3) special designations recognizing waters of exceptional quality as defined in State water
quality standards; and (4) hydrographic statistics based on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1:100,000
scale National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). This report provides the water quality use classifications for park
waterbodies as directed by NPS-75 and the I&M Strategic Plan (National Park Service 1993). Although
hydrographic statistics are presented in the report, it is important to note that these were generated from the
1:100,000-scale (medium resolution) NHD, which is complete for the entire country. It is anticipated that the I&M
NHD
Program will acquire 1:24,000-scaIe (high resolution) for parks to provide the definitive locations and
inventory ofstreams, lakes, rivers, and other hydrographic features. This effort, however, will likely take several
years.
Great Sand Dunes National Monument Environs and Overview
GRSA is located in western Colorado in the San Luis subbasin1 (Figure 1). Based on the NHD, a total of23.43
miles ofperennial and intermittent streams are within or adjacent to the GRSA park boundary. No lakes, ponds, or
reservoirs were identified within or adjacent to the GRSA park boundary in the NHD (Table I). State-designated
uses for classified waterbodies within or adjacent to the GRSA park boundary include: (1) agriculture; (2) aquatic
life cold water - class 1; (3) aquatic life warm water - class 2; (4) domestic water source; (5) recreation primary
contact; and (6) recreation secondary contact (Table II and Figure 2). Use support designations are provided in
Table III. No waterbodies within or adjacent to the GRSA park boundary are impaired based on the 2002 Colorado
303(d) list. NoOutstandingNational Resource Waters(ONRWs) orOutstanding State Resource Waterdesignations
havebeen appliedto waterswithin oradjacenttothe GRSA parkboundary.
1 A subbasin isequivalentto the USGS cataloging unit identifiedby an 8-digit hydrologic unitcode.
BACKGROUND
WaterQuality Standards
An important component ofthe CWA is the requirement ofwater quality standards. Water quality standards are
established by the States and consist of three elements: (1) designated use classifications; (2) numerical and/or
narrative water quality criteria; and (3) an antidegradation policy (Environmental Protection Agency 1998, 5). The
CWA
requires all States to establish use classifications for all waterbodies within the State, e.g., public drinking
water supplies, propagation of fish and wildlife, recreational purposes, industrial, and other uses. Water quality
criteria are numerical descriptions ofthe physical, chemical, and biological characteristics ofwaters necessary to
supportthe designateduses (Gallagherand Miller 1996, 58).
Federal Antidegradation Policies and Regulations
The antidegradation policy as promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Code ofFederal
Regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 131.12 acts as a key portion of States' water quality standards by requiring, at a
minimum, States to include provisions for the management of water quality in accordance with the following
'Tiers':
Tier 1: Includes the provisions to protect existing uses ofwater in the State, which constitute the absolute floor or
minimum level ofprotection thatmustbeprovided all waters(Environmental ProtectionAgency 1993, 4-1).
Tier 2: Applies to waters whose quality exceeds that necessary to protect "fishable/swimmable" goals ofthe CWA.
Management ofthese waters must attempt to keepthem at existingquality. Degradation may be allowed ifit cannot
be avoided forsocial oreconomic developmentreasons, but only afterpublic reviewhas occurred(Ibid).
Tier 3: Applies to ONRWs where ordinary use classifications and supporting criteria may not be sufficient or
appropriate. ONRWs are frequently considered the highest quality waters oftheUnited States, but may also include
waterbodies that are of "exceptional recreational or ecological significance," as stated under 40 C.F.R. Section
131.12(a)(3) of the antidegradation policy. ONRWs are afforded the highest level of protection under the
antidegradation policy. Existingwaterquality is to be maintained andprotected, and only activities that cause short-
term andtemporary degradation may be allowed (Environmental ProtectionAgency 1993,4-10).
An additional concept ofa Tier 2 V% waterbody was developed by States out ofa concern that the Tier 3 provision
was too restrictive ofsocial and economic development. A Tier2 Vi waterbody, which the EPA does accept, offers
moreprotection than a Tier2 waterbody without the strict prohibition against the lowering ofwaterquality found in
the Tier3 provision (Ibid,4-2).
TheNational Park System encompasses some ofthe most sensitive, pristine, and significant aquatic resources in the
United States. Many ofthese aquatic resources have been afforded the protection ofTier 2 54 or Tier 3 ONRW
status. Such exceptional waterbodies locatedwithin oradjacenttopark boundariesshall be identified in thisreport.
Colorado State Antidegradation Regulations
Colorado's water quality standards and regulations are codified in Regulation No. 31 of the Colorado Code of
Regulations (C.C.R.) at Title 5 C.C.R. 1002-31 (Basic Standards and Methodologies for Surface Water). The
antidegradation provisions of Regulation No. 31 are summarized below as quoted from the 1998 Colorado Water
Quality Managementand Drinking WaterProtection Handbook:
The antidegradation provisions ofthe Basic Standards and Methodologies for Surface Water: (1)
set forth provisions regarding the adoption ofwater quality-based designations for certain surface
waters; and (2) establish an antidegradation review process applicable to certain activities
impactingthequality ofsurfacewaters. Seegenerally, section 31.8.