Introduction to the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Program and Vision - Traci Iott, Connecticut, and Rosaura Conde, EPA HQ
Session 1: Tools and Other Resources
► Towards an EPA Reference Hydrography to Support Water Quality Data Integration - Jesse Boorman-Padgett, EPA HQ
► An Integrated View of NPDES Permits, Impaired Waters, and Other Water Assessment Data with GIS Routing Tools - Casey Scott, MN
► Using Data to Protect Traditional Lifeways - Angie Reed, Penobscot Indian Nation
► TADA: Tools for Automated Data Analysis - Cristina Mullin, EPA HQ
► How Arizona Uses R to Automate Assessments and TMDLs - Jason Jones, Mackenzie Moore, Matt Robinson & Zac White, AZ
Session 2: Breakouts I
Introduction to Assessment
► Introduction to Assessment - Jill Fullagar, EPA R10; Selena Medrano, EPA R6 & Emily Cira, EPA HQ
Modeling 101 for TMDLs
► Overview of Modeling Fundamentals and Application - Ben Cope, EPA R10 & Amy King, EPA R8
Examples of Engaging Partners and the Public in TMDL Development and Implementation
► TMDL Engagement with Internal and External Partners - Emily Ayers & Clay Mansfield, AZ
► Building Capacity and Efficiency Through Shared Experience - Kevin Kirsch, WI
► Montana TMDL Stream Summaries - Christina Staten, MT
► Public Engagement in TMDL Development: Watershed Advisory Groups - Thea Wickersham, ID
Advance Restoration Plans
► Advance Restoration Plans - Chris Hunter, EPA HQ
► Alternative Restoration Plan for Suffolk County Nitrogen Impaired Waters - Michele Golden, NY
► Hammer Creek ARP First Triennial Report - Mike Morris, PA
► Hammer Creek Headwaters Alternate Restoration Plan
► Hammer Creek Advance Restoration Plan First Triennial Progress Report
Protection 101: CWA 319 Guidelines, the Vision, and Incorporating Protection Plans into Watershed-Wide Planning
► Protection 101: Advancing Watershed Protection in the CWA 303(d) & 319 Programs - Miranda Chien-Hale & Steve Epting, EPA HQ; Justin Wiese, EPA R8
► California: Healthy Watersheds + High Quality Waters Project - Ali Dunn, CA
► Wonderful Waters of Wisconsin: Healthy Watersheds, High-Quality Waters - Lauren Haydon & Pamela Toshner, WI
► Wisconsin’s Healthy Watersheds, High-Quality Waters Webpage
► Wisconsin’s Watershed Restoration and Protection Viewer
How to Access ATTAINS Information in R Using Expert Query Web Services (for beginner and more advanced R users)
► rExpertQuery Cybertown Training
Session 3: Communicating Science to Non-Scientists
► Communicating Science to Non-Scientists - Chelsea Boozer, Rogue Water Lab
Session 4: Breakouts II
Assembling and Evaluating “All Existing and Readily Available Water Quality-Related Data and Information”
► Assembling and Evaluating All Readily Available Data and Information - What's Expected - Emily Cira, EPA HQ
► Colorado’s Data Call Website
► Colorado’s Section 303(d) Listing Methodology - 2026 Listing Cycle (Existing and Readily Available Data Section on pages 14 and 15)
► Maryland's Webpage for Data Solicitation
► The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative's Webpage
► Maryland’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Biological Monitoring Guidance
► New Mexico’s Comprehensive Assessment and Listing Methodology (2023) (see Appendix A for “Data Quality Levels” and a description of how the evaluations for determining data quality will be documented by the QAO in a data quality determination letter)
► New Mexico’s Data Submittal Website with Templates
► New Jersey’s Water Quality Assessment Website (information on specific providers of water quality monitoring results are available via the "2022 IR" link, through the "General Information" tab, and under the "Data Sources" header)
► 2016 New Jersey Integrated Water Quality Assessment Methods (includes the state’s description of “all existing and readily available data” for assessment use)
TMDL 101 (Foundations Excerpt): A Load Duration Curve Analysis Explanation and Exercise
► TMDL Academy – Foundations Training Excerpt - Selena Medrano, EPA R6; Rosaura Conde, EPA HQ; Andy Somor, Cadmus
Obstacles to and Opportunities for Merging and Coordinating Watershed Based Plans and TMDLs
► Introduction - Cyd Curtis & Justin Drew, EPA HQ
► Integrating TMDL and Nonpoint Programs in Washington State - Ben Rau, WA
► Simultaneous TMDLs and 9-Element Plans in Texas (feat. Challenges) - Nicole Hall, TX
► Big TMDL, Small WBPs: Implementing the Chesapeake Bay TMDL with 319 Funds? - Kathy Stecker, MD
How to Use the Tools for Automated Data Analysis (TADA) R Shiny App to Retrieve, Clean, and Visualize Water Quality Portal (WQP) Data (no R experience required)
Session 5: Breakouts III
When Streams Go Dry: Approaches to Monitoring and Assessment Challenges
► Leveraging Low-Cost Remote Environmental Monitors to Measure Stream Health in the Arid Southwest - Jason Elliott, AZ
► Monitoring Stream Connectivity with Trail Cameras - Mary Becker, CT
► E. coli Assessment: When Streams Go Dry or Other Bad Things Happen - Molly Rippke, MI
► Sample Comparability Following Severe Drought - Mindy Neil, WV
Algal Blooms/HABs: Linking Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Other Drivers
► Environmental Drivers of Cyanobacterial Abundance and Cyanotoxin Production in the Upper Mississippi River - Shawn Giblin, WI
► Lake Nutrients: Assessment and TMDLs - Sebastien Clos-Versailles & Robert Voss, MO
► Environmental Factors Controlling Phytoplankton Dynamics in a Large Floodplain River with Emphasis on Cyanobacteria, Giblin & Gerrish (2020)
► Environmental Drivers of Cyanobacterial Abundance and Cyanotoxin Production in Backwaters of the Upper Mississippi, Giblin, Larson & King (2022)
► Thresholds in the Response of Free-Floating Plant Abundance to Variation in Hydraulic Connectivity, Nutrients, and Macrophyte Abundance in a Large Floodplain River, Giblin, et al. (2013)
► Lake-Type-Specific Seasonal Patterns of Nutrient Limitation in German Lakes, with Target Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations for Good Ecological Status, Dolman, Mischke & Wiedner (2016)
► The Use of Metaphyton to Evaluate Nutrient Impairment and Proposed Nutrient Criteria for Wetlands and Backwaters in the Upper Mississippi River, Sullivan (2008)
► Identifying and Quantifying Environmental Thresholds for Ecological Shifts in a Large Semiregulated River, Giblin (2017)
TMDL 101 (Foundations Excerpt): EPA Collaboration and Public Participation in Preparing a TMDL
► TMDL Academy: Foundations Training Excerpt - Rebecca Veiga Nascimento, EPA R10 & Rosaura Conde, EPA HQ
Continuous Monitoring: Approaches to Data Management and Quality Control
► New Mexico's Approach to Continuous Data Management and Quality Control Using Excel Macros - Meredith Zeigler, NM
► Oregon DEQ Continuous Data Management - Travis Pritchard, OR
► PADEP Continuous Instream Monitoring Data Management and QA/QC with Aquarius Software - Matt Shank, PA
► Quality Control Checks in WISKI - Brittany Faust, MN
► Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Network - Cathy Anderson, TX
► Utah's Use of Cloud-Based Big Data Tools for Continuous Water Quality Data - Paul Burnett & Alan Ochoa, UT
► ContDataSumViz: An Open Source R Shiny Web Application for Summarizing and Visualizing Continuous Water Quality Sensor Data - Laura Naslund & Michael Pennino (EPA HQ)
How to Answer Common Questions with Available Data Tools
► How to Answer Common Questions with Available Data Tools - Jesse Boorman-Padgett, Hillary Marler & Wendy Reid, EPA HQ
Beginner R User: Introduction to Using the EPA TADA R Package to Retrieve, Clean, Analyze, and Visualize WQP Data
► Vignette
Session 7: Breakouts IV
How to Incorporate Greater Hydrologic Uncertainty and Extremes in TMDLs
► Incorporation of Hydrologic Uncertainty and Extremes in NM TMDLs - Heidi Henderson, NM
► Stream Suspended Sediment and Phosphorus Response to Wildfire in a Montana Watershed, and Implications for TMDL Development - Michael Suplee & Troy Clift, MT & Greg Clark, USGS
► Considering Future Climate Conditions in Development of TMDLs and Other Water Quality Plans in Connecticut - Rebecca Jascot & Kate Knight, CT
Algal Blooms/HABs: Innovative Approaches to Criteria Development, Assessment, and TMDLs
► Determining Phosphorus Load Reductions Needed to Reach Water-Quality Goals for Delavan Lake, Wisconsin - Dale Robertson, USGS
► Oregon’s Approach to Incorporate Harmful Algal Blooms in 303(d) Programs - Lesley Merrick & Dan Sobota, OR
► Harmful Algal Blooms & Nutrients Provisions - Zane Poulson, CA
► Oregon DEQ Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Strategy (June 2011)
► Draft Assessment Methodology for Oregon’s 2026 Integrated Report (March 25, 2025)
► USGS Original Delavan Lake Study
Examples of Tracking TMDL Implementation and Effectiveness
► Tracking TMDL Implementation in Texas - Nicole Hall, TX
► Implementation Plan Progress Reports - Ashley Wendt, VA
► Montana's TMDL Implementation Evaluation Process - Kyle Milke, MT
► TMDL Tracking – Watcha Been Up to, and How’s the Water? - Pat Oldenburg, WI
TMDL Revisions: Process and Examples
► Making Changes to an Approved TMDL - Chris Hunter, EPA HQ
► Regional Perspective - Selena Medrano, EPA R6
► TMDL Revisions - Andrea Plevan, MN