Managing the Water Program

Not too long ago, it was common to hear the national waterquality program referred to as mature. This description carried with it the conclusion that the hard work was over and that all that was left to the states, interstate agencies, and EPA was to continue implementing existing programs and await inevitable improvements in water quality. As this special issue indicates, nothing could be further from the truth. The challenges faced by the national water program are as distinct and complex as they were when the Clean Water Act ~CWA! was passed in 1972. The challenges we all face are defined by two recognitions, one of how the Clean Water Act programs have been working, the other of how much more work remains. The first recognition is that while states, interstates, and the EPA deploy much statutory, policy, administrative, and financial tools, the joint exercise of these instruments has not focused water program efforts on ambient water quality. Efforts have focused on building wastewater treatment plants, designing and implementing discharge permit programs, promulgating industrial discharge requirements, and developing best management practices. In simple terms, these efforts have focused on the sources of pollution with the expectation that controlling all the sources would facilitate water quality improvement. The second recognition, brought forcefully to attention by recent actions, is that there remain many waters that, while showing improvement, do not meet their quality goals. This includes waters where controls have been implemented as well as some just now being identified as impaired. The response to both of these recognitions is the same. Collectively, the national water program must deploy all of its tools more effectively in a watershed context that will move existing source control programs into a focus on achieving in-stream or ambient water quality goals. Existing programs have not failed, but they must take the next logical, watershed-based steps. Part of the reason that this next step for the water program is evident is the attention generated by the requirements of Section 303~d! of the CWA. Most recent attention regarding TMDLs has focused on EPA’s recent efforts to decide exactly which set of regulatory requirements should govern implementation of the program. As of this writing, the regulations promulgated in 1985 and slightly revised in 1992 continue to govern the TMDL program. Also, as of this writing, EPA has proposed to withdraw regulations promulgated in July 2000 and halted by Congress and will decide soon ‘‘whether and how’’ to propose new regulations. The temptation is to think that program improvements are contingent upon the promulgation of new regulations. EPA, however, is moving forward with a series of actions intended to improve and integrate a host of water program activities. The main thrust of hese actions is put TMDLs into proper relief with the suite of