WATER QUALITY ADVOCATE

Iowa's surface and groundwater serves as a precious resource for industries, businesses and communities and provides state citizens and visitors with invaluable cultural and recreational opportunities. While water quality is regulated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), regulatory compliance assistance is available through the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) Water Quality Advocacy Program.

Water Quality Advocacy Fact Sheet [PDF: 223k] — Assisting Your Business With Environmental Resources
Water/Wastewater Funding Opportunities [PDF: 90k] — Funding Available for Water-Wastewater Needs
IDNR Water Quality Listserv Sign-up [www.iowadnr.gov/water/listserv.html] — Get the latest water quality information directly to your inbox. Subscribe to the IDNR's Water Quality listserv.
Water Quality Helpful Links [PDF: 56k]

News

EPA Approves latest Water Quality Standards for Iowa [www.epa.gov/region07/water/iowa_water_quality_stds_decision_letter.pdf]
Environmental Finance Center is Coming to Region 7 [http://efc.boisestate.edu/efc/] — On October 1, 2007 Boise State University opened a satellite operation of the Region 10 Environmental Finance Center in the Midwest for Region 7 of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Region 7 Satellite EFC will provide communities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska with many of the services, tools and technical assistance provided by the EFC in Region 10. The Satellite Office is located at the Region 7 Headquarters Office in Kansas City, Kansas.

Events

Upcoming Rain Garden Workshops [PDF: 1.5MB] — May 29 and June 2, 2008 – A technical training workshop addressing rain garden functions in the urban landscape, including essential design elements and construction and maintenance.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System: The Application Process 101 — An opportunity to complete and submit your NPDES permit application and/or ask questions regarding your permit. Coming Summer 2008.

Permits

The Environmental Business Assistance Portal [http://regassist.iowa.gov/business_resources/environ_assistance/index.html] provides easy access to assistance with regulatory requirements and resources for your business operation or project. Information on compliance requirements, including permitting, is available.

Information on the Environmental Assistance Portal includes:

Wastewater Construction Permits
NPDES Permits
Stormwater Permits
Floodplains Permit
Sovereign Land Construction Permit
Funding and Technical Assistance, including contact information

Forms

NPDES permit Forms [www.iowadnr.gov/water/npdes/forms2.html]
Wastewater Construction Forms [www.iowadnr.gov/water/wastewater/downloads.html ]
Private Well Applications and Forms [www.iowadnr.gov/water/wells/concert.html ]
Miscellaneous Water Forms, including Animal Feeding, Flood Plain, Dam safety [www.iowadnr.gov/water/forms.html ]

Presentations

Introduction to Antidegradation January 2008 EPC Meeting [PDF: 902k]
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit [PDF: 2.6MB] — The Application Process
Effects of Use Attainability Analysis on Wastewater Treatment Plants, October 2007 [PDF: 145k]
The Pretreatment Streamlining Rule: Overview of the Changes to the National Pretreatment Regulations, April 2007 [PDF: 491k]

Use Assessment/Use Attainability Analysis

Recent rulemaking and 2006 legislative action tasked IDNR to establish new levels of water quality protection. The goal is to bring Iowa closer to compliance with the Clean Water Act requirements and U.S. EPA regulations and ensure all 26,000 miles of Iowa's perennial (flowing year-round) streams are protected at the highest levels for recreation and aquatic life uses (also known as fishable/swimmable). Because not all streams warrant the highest level of protection, i.e., not all streams are fishable/swimmable, the IDNR Water Resources Section has been conducting stream assessments since 2006 with the goal to accurately designate a stream's use.

Use Assessment/Use Attainability Analysis (UA/UAA) [www.iowadnr.gov/water/uaa.html]
UA/UAA Fact Sheet [www.iowadnr.gov/water/files/uaa_factsheet.pdf]

Because NPDES permit limits are based on stream designations, permit limits cannot be drafted until the proper stream designation is established. Yet, the proper stream designation is not established without a UA/UAA. Ultimately, the IDNR cannot draft a NPDES permit until the entire UA/UAA process is complete.

UA/UAAs Facility Search [http://programs.iowadnr.gov/uaa/search.aspx]

Antidegradation

Antidegradation [PDF: 237k] — Antidegradation refers to federal regulations designed to maintain and protect high quality waters and existing water quality in other waters from unnecessary pollution.

Stormwater

Iowa Stormwater Management Manual [www.ctre.iastate.edu/pubs/stormwater/index.cfm] — The Iowa Stormwater Management Manual presents planning and design guidelines for the management of stormwater quality and quantity in the urban environment. Though it is not a comprehensive list, this manual includes the most commonly-used stormwater management best management practices. While this manual includes most of the commonly-used stormwater management BMPs, it is not a comprehensive list.
Urban Stormwater Retrofit Practices Manual [www.cwp.org/Downloads/ELC_USRM3.pdf] — Published in August 2007, the Urban Stormwater Retrofit Practices Manual from the Center of Watershed Protection outlines the most recent ideas on how retrofits can help restore small urban watersheds. The manual was written to organize the enormous amount of information needed to restore small urban watersheds into a format that can easily be accessed by watershed groups, municipal staff, environmental consultants and other users.
EPA Stormwater-LID [www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/stormwater_hq/] — Retaining as much stormwater as possible on the land-rather than letting it run into storm drains-can help keep harmful flows and pollutants out of our streams and rivers. Low impact development (LID) is one crucial tool used to deal with the stormwater runoff problem. See EPA LID projects related to stormwater runoff.

EPA Stormwater Management Fact Sheet [www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/stormwater_hq/pdf/fact_sheet.pdf]

Helpful Links

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Water Quality Home Page [www.iowadnr.gov/water/]
Water Web [http://programs.iowadnr.gov/iowawaterweb/Map.aspx]
Interactive Mapping [http://csbweb.igsb.uiowa.edu/imsgate/introduction/home.asp]
Water Quality Standards [www.iowadnr.gov/water/standards/]

The Environmental Protection Agency [www.epa.gov/enviro/]

To Learn More:

Phone: 515.242.4871 or 800.351.4668
E-mail: regulatoryassistance@iowalifechanging.com

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