Listing of Reports on Benthic, Water Quality and Watershed Assessments

An ecological assessment of a watershed includes evaluations of more than one aspect of watershed health: water quality, habitat condition, and benthic macroinvertebrate community status.

A TMDL is a plan of action used to clean up streams that are not meeting water quality standards and includes pollution source identification and strategy development for contaminant source reduction or elimination.

Report required by the Clean Water Act and EPA that provides information on the impaired streams and also the overall assessment of West Virginia's waters. This is a combination of the section 303(d) and 305(b) requirements in the Clean Water Act.

The Groundwater Biennial Report to the Legislature describes the status of the state's groundwater and groundwater management programs including detailed reports from each agency that holds groundwater regulatory responsibilities.

Watershed based plans (WBPs) focus on addressing a specific nonpoint source impairment identified in WVDEP's Integrated Report with the goal of reducing or removing the impairment, so the waterbody can meet Water Quality Standards and be removed from the 303(d) list. Specific elements are necessary in the plan to qualify for funding under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.

Often water quality issues arise and special sampling efforts are pursued to collect necessary water quality and biological information to help understand the situation and possibly provide solutions.