Water Quality Management Plans
(Clean Water Act Sections 208 & 303)

What is a Water Quality Management Plan?

Ohio EPA oversees the State Water Quality Management (WQM) Plan. The State WQM Plan is a requirement of Section 303 of the Clean Water Act and must include nine (9) discrete elements:

1. Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)
2. Effluent limits
3. Municipal and industrial waste treatment
4. Nonpoint source management and control
5. Management agencies
6. Implementation measures
7. Dredge and fill program
8. Basin plans
9. Ground water

In layperson terms, the State WQM Plan is an encyclopedia of information used to plot and direct actions that abate pollution and preserve clean water. A wide variety of issues are addressed and are framed within the context of applicable law and regulations. For some issues and locales, information about local communities may be covered in the plan. Other issues are covered only at a statewide level. Many of the topics or issues overlap with planning requirements of CWA Section 208 (items 3-9 above). The State WQM Plan includes, through references to separate documents, all 208 plans in the State.

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