The first public meeting on an Illinois River/Tenkiller Lake TMDL was held Feb. 4, 2010 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

There is a discussion of that meeting in the "Let's Talk" section of this Web site.

What's a TMDL?  Total Maximum Daily Load of pollutants for an impaired stream or lake.  A TMDL, for instance, might be developed for the nutrient phosphorus.  A TMDL would establish how much phosphorus the watershed can handle without impairment from algae growth and associated sight, taste and odor problems with water quality.  Point sources like sewer plants and nonpoint sources including poultry growing operations would be studied to determine their contribution to phosphorus loading of the Illinois River and Tenkiller Lake.  Now, here's the rub; poultry growing operations are not closely regulated as are municipal sewer plants.  Unless they are very large, they do not need a permit under the Federal Clean Water Act.

However, a TMDL would show the phosphorus contribution of all sources in the watershed.  Then, agreements perhaps could be reached to curtail the contribution of agricultural operations.  The cities are watching this process closely since nonpoint sources are running up their costs for water treatment in this particular watershed.

The EPA Region 6 in Dallas has established a Web page for information about the TMDL process.  See:

http://www.epa.gov/region6/water/npdes/illinoisriverwatershed/

If you have questions about the TMDL process for the Illinois River watershed, please contact STIR at: info@illinoisriver.org