Water Quality Standards

Background: Congress passed the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972 in order to “restore and maintain the…Nation's waters” and to achieve “water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water” by 1983. 33 U.S.C. §§1251(a) and 1251 (a) (2).

To accomplish these goals, the DNR is supposed to use water quality standards to designate the uses of water bodies, such as cold water trout fishery or warm water sport fishery. These uses have corresponding water quality criteria that are placed in permit limits. For example, a permit allowing a discharge of pollution into a trout stream will require at least 6 mg/L of dissolved oxygen, but a permit for a discharge into a warm water sport fish stream will only require 5 mg/L of dissolved oxygen.

When the DNR designates water bodies as “Limited Aquatic Life“ or “Limited Fish Forage,” these water bodies are given little to no protection. Facilities are allowed to put more pollution into water bodies designated as “Limited.”

Federal law only allows the DNR to designate a water body as “Limited” after the DNR performs a detailed Use Attainability Analysis and proves that the water is not capable of meeting the fishable and swimmable goals of the CWA.

The DNR is proposing to amend Administrative Code, NR102 and NR104 and downgrade the designated uses of 94 water bodies to a “Limited” designation.

Status: On May 1, 2002, Midwest Environmental Advocates submitted extensive comments opposing the weakening of water quality standards, on behalf of a coalition of groups including the River Alliance of Wisconsin, Sierra Club—John Muir Chapter, and Wisconsin Wetlands Association. [View these comments: comments.pdf]