Adaptive Implementation of Water Quality Improvement Plans: Opportunities and Challenges

Author(s): Kenneth Reckhow

Published: September 2007

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In 2001, at the request of Congress, the National Research Council (NRC) established a committee to examine the scientific basis of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. The resultant report Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management was presented to Congress and to the USEPA later that year. The NRC committee concluded that, while the science and data in support of TMDLs were weak in a number of instances, practical reforms were possible that would enhance the effectiveness of the TMDL program. Recommendations made by the NRC committee, including the need to more explicitly consider uncertainty in all steps of water quality improvement planning and the value of adaptive implementation approaches in face of this uncertainty.