Total Maximum Daily Load Development and Implementation: Models, Methods, and Resources

Prepared by the Total Maximum Daily Load Analysis and Modeling Task Committee and sponsored by the Watershed Management Technical Committee of the Watershed Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE

Total Maximum Daily Load Development and Implementation: Models, Methods, and Resources, MOP 150, describes the state of the practice and provides guidance to practitioners in selecting analytical tools and models in the development of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) and its implementation plan. The MOP includes detailed descriptions of a variety of watershed and receiving water quality models that can be used, highlighting recent advances in TMDL analysis and modeling.

This Manual of Practice includes the following topics:

• • Critical condition determination for TMDL modeling;
• • Model data, geographic information systems, and remote sensing;
• • Model calibration and validation, and model uncertainty analysis and margin of safety;
• • USEPA TMDL report archive and report search tool;
• • Model selection and applications for TMDL development; and
• • Modeling for TMDL implementation

MOP 150 serves as a reference and resource for those engaged in the practice of TMDL analysis and modeling, including engineers, water quality professionals, regulators, and other water resource and watershed managers charged with development and implementation of TMDLs.