TMDL Development Process
The TMDL development process begins with monitoring the rivers, streams, lakes and springs in the state. The Kentucky Division of Water (DOW) collects data and identifies waterbodies impaired by pollutants. DOW may collect additional data if further study is needed to determine the extent of impairments in a watershed. If additional data is collected, a watershed report is generated to provide pre- and post-monitoring information on the health of the watershed.
Once waterbodies are assessed and the impaired waterbodies are placed on the 303(d) list, a TMDL Report can be developed.
There are several phases of TMDL report development:
- Working Draft — Monitoring is complete and the report is being written.
- Preliminary Draft — The TMDL Report is completed in draft form and will be sent for an internal review by DOW and for a preliminary review by the EPA.
- Interim Draft — DOW Internal and EPA preliminary reviews are complete; the TMDL Report will be sent to public notice.
- Public Notice —The proposed TMDL Report is on a 30-day public notice and open for public comments.
- Final Draft — The 30-day public notice is complete. All comments received are addressed in writing, and the TMDL report may be revised based on those comments. The TMDL report and response to comments are submitted to the EPA, Region 4, for approval.
- Approved TMDL Report — EPA has formally approved the TMDL report and it may be used for water quality restoration planning.
To learn more about data collection and the standards used to collect data, please visit the 
Surface Water Monitoring webpage and the Quality Assurance & Standard Operating Procedures webpage. For more information on watershed planning and funding, please visit the Watershed Planing page.