For Release: November 12, 1998

Contact: Alicia Good 222-3961

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has completed its draft Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, report for Stafford Pond in Tiverton and is seeking comment from the public on its findings and recommendations.

TMDLs establish the maximum pollutant load that water bodies can assimilate and still meet water quality criteria, and are established for those that fail to meet current water quality standards. It is a term that Rhode Islanders and residents throughout the country will be seeing and hearing frequently in the future as states nationwide develop TMDLs for impaired water bodies under federal Clean Water Act requirements.

DEM has identified 99 bodies of water with over 200 impairments associated with various pollutants. The Stafford Pond TMDL report is the department's first of its type. DEM's Office of Water Resources work plan proposes to develop 30 additional TMDLs to address these impairments by the year 2000, with a total of 234 TMDLs scheduled for completion by the year 2010.

"TMDLs, in concert with current pollution control efforts, provide a more comprehensive approach to water quality protection," said DEM Director Andy McLeod. "They offer a more inclusive framework for evaluating pollution control efforts, working in close cooperation with our stakeholders."

Stafford Pond, a 487-acre reservoir that supplies drinking water to portions of Tiverton and Portsmouth, has been plagued with frequent algal blooms caused by high levels of the nutrient phosphorus. The algal blooms have caused taste and odor problems, requiring more intensive water treatment by the Stone Bridge Fire District.

According to the 1997 final report of a major study of the pond commissioned by DEM, the high levels of phosphorus come primarily from a nearby dairy farm, storm drains, and residential land uses. All are nonpoint sources of pollution.

DEM's draft TMDL for the pond addresses water quality improvement through reductions in phosphorus loading, and is the result of monitoring not only the pond and its tributaries, but stormwater and groundwater as well. The monitoring shows total phosphorus levels in the pond averaging .039 milligrams per liter (mg/l), consistently above the water quality standard of 0.025 mg/l.

The objective of the TMDL is to restore the pond to a level that supports its designated use by reducing algal abundance, reducing total phosphorus levels, and increasing dissolved oxygen levels.

A steering committee of stakeholders - officials from the local community, watershed residents, the Stone Bridge Fire District, the Portsmouth Water District, the Eastern RI Conservation District, the University of Rhode Island Watershed Watch program, and representatives of state and federal agencies - will help guide implementation activities.

Some are already underway. DEM is currently working with the Natural Resources Conservation Services on a runoff management system for the dairy farm, and is working with the state Department of Transportation to support implementation of stormwater best management practices at the two drainpipe outfalls to the pond.

The 37-page draft TMDL for Stafford Pond is available from DEM's website at www.dem.ri.gov.. Copies can also be obtained from DEM weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. by calling Claudia Colarusso at 222-3961 ext. 7601, or TDD 222-4462.

Written comments on the draft report can be sent to Wayne Jenkins, principal environmental scientist, DEM Office of Water Resources, 235 Promenade St., Providence, RI 02908-5767. The deadline for receipt of comments November 30 at 4 p.m.