1. North Dakota’s Alternative Plans
Heather Husband
North Dakota Department of Health
Watershed Management Program

3. Big Picture Overview How Alternative Plans Fit into the Overall Water Quality Program
TMDL/Surface Water Programs Today
Staff same size or smaller
Workload greatly increased
Budget/staff cuts

5. Four new concurrent additions to workload
Nutrient Criteria Development/Strategy
Water Quality Basin Management Framework
TMDL Vision/Prioritization
Changing Environmental Health Section of the ND Dept of Health into Department of Environmental Quality

6. North Dakota Basin Water Quality Management Framework
Each Basin Will:
Have a 5 year plan setting priorities and integrating DEQ water quality programs
Have a Basin Stakeholder Advisory Group to help set priorities and review plan, possibly hire watershed coordinators
Work with all DEQ Watershed Management staff

7. Alternative Plans in the TMDL Vision
TMDL Vision/Priorities
Vision instead of Pace
BSAGs will help us set priorities, but still severely time/staff limited
Recognized we are data poor for many waterbodies
TMDL staff to work on completion of TMDLs where data available

8. Why Alternative Plans? Not a replacement to TMDLs Not required
Who is going to do them?

9. Alternate Plans
Most Important Goal of Watershed Management Program

10. North Dakota’s Alternative Plans
Uses Section 319 Project Implementation Plans (PIP)
Nonpoint Source Pollution only

11. North Dakota’s Alternative Plans
EPA’s listed Alternate Plan Considerations

12. North Dakota’s Alternative Plans
Crosswalk between EPA’s listed Considerations and PIP

13. The How of Alternative Plans
Section 319 PIP Guidance Document as been rewritten.
Alternate Plans not submitted instead of TMDLs, review of progress may still lead to TMDL.
PIP has a monitoring component, so data collected can be used later to complete a TMDL if one is needed.
Another benefit of PIP as Alternate Plan, mostly created by 319 Project Sponsor.
This allows us to not duplicate costs associated with monitoring, allocate our staff resources where entire TMDLs need to be written from beginning, and still move towards that ultimate goal of restoring impaired waters.

14. Alternative Plans as Recognition
Alternate Plans will be identified in any presentation or discussion of TMDLs
The Stakeholders like the recognition of the time and work they are putting into water quality improvements.
PIPs as Alt Plans are recognized in both TMDL and 319 NPS programs
Will be identified on our webpage
Looking into producing PSA’s for the radio and newspapers
The more stakeholders feel appreciated and valued, the more they are likely to spread the word about conservation programs. We hope this will lead to more conservation practices being established.

15. Alternative Plans To Date
EPA has been generally supportive of our approach.
Two alternate plans have been “accepted” by EPA, three more will be submitted this week, and four more are in the works for 2018.
Changes made to 319 PIP grant submission guidelines to include necessary components by the next round of grant submissions, summer 2018.

16. Alternative Plans – To Summarize
Using slightly modified Section 319 PIP’s as Alt Plans for listed waters (Alt Plans for Nonpoint sources only)
Allows TMDL staff to prioritize writing TMDLs for other impaired reaches where implementation has not yet taken place or where point sources are involved
A way of showing progress towards restoration of impaired waters (ultimate goal of TMDLs) to both EPA and National Legislators
A way of showing recognition for stakeholders that have put time and money into watershed improvements
Allows us to bring together components of our Nutrient Management Strategy, Basin Management Framework and TMDL Vision process.

17. Questions? Heather Husband NDDoH, WQ Div. Regional Basin Coordinator
(701)
Questions?