Water Quality Evaluation and TMDL Program

The Water Quality Evaluation and TMDL Program (WQETP) includes two sections: the Watershed Evaluation and TMDL (WET) section and the Watershed Assessment Section (WAS).

The Watershed Evaluation and TMDL (WET) section is responsible for conducting statewide, basin-scale assessments of surface water quality, focusing its main efforts on Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) development. The WET section also assists with technical reviews, model evaluation for mixing zones and other department needs.

A TMDL is a scientific determination of the maximum amount of a given pollutant that a surface water can absorb and still meet the water quality standards that protect human health and aquatic life. Waterbodies that do not meet water quality standards are identified as "impaired" for the pollutants of concern - nutrients, bacteria, dissolved oxygen, mercury (in fish tissue), etc. - and TMDLs must be developed, adopted and implemented for those pollutants to reduce pollutants and clean up the waterbody.

The department’s mechanism for prioritizing its TMDL development schedule was to use a recovery potential screening approach to choose impaired waters where site-specific TMDLs are most appropriate and most likely to succeed. View a document detailing the approach.

The core function of the Watershed Assessment Section is to use the best available information to identify waterbodies and water segments (WBIDs) that are not meeting the applicable water quality standards and designated uses based on the Impaired Waters Rule Chapter 62-303 and Surface Water Quality Standards Chapter 62-302, Florida Administrative Code.

For more information contact Kevin O'Donnell
Water Quality Evaluation and TMDL Program
2600 Blair Stone Road, Mail Station 3555
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2400
850-245-8469