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 Simply
put, "impaired waters" are polluted waters.
More
technically, they are waters that do not meet water-quality standards
for their designated uses, such as recreation, fishing, or drinking.
Impaired waters could be suffering from excess nutrients, low dissolved
oxygen, toxins, bacteria, heat, or any combination of these problems.
More
than 90 percent of Delaware's waterways are considered impaired.
The state's list of impaired waters, filed with the EPA, includes
377 bodies of water that suffer from 11 different impairments, the
most common of which are pathogens and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus).
Most impairments come from nonpoint sources, which are harder to
control.
Delaware
is required to develop pollution limits called "Total
Maximum Daily Loads," or TMDLs, for all impaired waters.
A Pollution Control Strategy for reducing
pollution to meet these limits will be developed for each watershed
--- this is the task of the Tributary Action
Teams.
For
more information about Delaware's impaired waters, check these
links
on the EPA Office of Wetlands,
Oceans and Watersheds web site:
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