I received this email from MDNR today...

"Thanks for your email comment. I wanted to take a moment to explain what the department is undertaking in the proposed water quality standards.

There are many issues that we are revising. All have been through many public meetings and discussions. None of them will lower the water quality protections from what it presently is. It is against the law to lower the water quality standards unless new peer-reviewed science justifies the lowering of the standard while at the same time providing the same protection granted to the designated use. The only provision in the proposed standards that has been lowered is the new ammonia criteria. In this case, some of the criteria have a lower standard while others have a higher standard, depending on the stream type. However, the level of protection for aquatic life remains the same. This is based on new and improved science. The ammonia criteria was developed by EPA and peer-reviewed by many scientists. All the criteria went through public comment. Most, if not all, of the standards the state is adopting are federal standards.

The issue of lead mine water dumping into Ozark streams is not really addressed generally. Specifically there was a provision in the standards that allowed mine dewatering to be discharged into the Outstanding National Resource Waters. These waters include the Jacks Fork, Current, and Eleven Point Rivers. This provision has been deleted. As proposed, there will be no new or expanded discharges allowed in the outstanding resource water itself. There is a grandfather clause that include those facilities discharging before June 1974 or at the time of designation if a water is newly designated in the future. Discharges into the tributaries of outstanding resource waters must ensure that the water quality in the outstanding resource waters are protected. This means that the department will calculate water quality based effluent limits for anyone who wishes to discharge into the tributaries that must protect the water quality in the tributary as well as the more strict standards in the outstanding resource water. All this information can be found at 10 CSR 20-7.015(6). "


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Fishing the Ozarks