Abstract:
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program is under review for changes to the program and water quality standards. In North Carolina, limited resources and multiple objectives hamper the surface water quality monitoring program, but suggest that a rigorous re-evaluation of sample site selection and monitoring frequency could yield some gains. This article discusses how the Neuse River illustrates certain good and bad features of the current TMDL program, and what could be improved.