Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 33 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part IX - Water Quality › Subpart 1 - Water Pollution Control › Chapter 11 - Surface Water Quality Standards › Section IX-1111 - Water Use Designations

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. There
				  are seven water uses designated for surface waters in Louisiana: agriculture,
				  drinking water supply, fish and wildlife propagation, outstanding natural
				  resource waters, oyster propagation, primary contact recreation, and secondary
				  contact recreation. Designated uses assigned to a subsegment apply to all water
				  bodies (listed water body and tributaries/distributaries of the listed water
				  body) contained in that subsegment unless unique chemical, physical, and/or
				  biological conditions preclude such uses. However, the designated uses of
				  drinking water supply, outstanding natural resource waters, and/or oyster
				  propagation apply only to the water bodies specifically so designated in LAC
				  33:IX.1123, Table 3, and not to any tributaries or distributaries to such water
				  bodies. The water use designations are defined as follows.
Agriculture
- the use of water for crop
					 spraying, irrigation, livestock watering, poultry operations, and other farm
					 purposes not related to human consumption.
Drinking Water Supply
- the use of water
					 for human consumption and general household use. Surface waters designated as
					 drinking water supplies are specifically so designated in LAC 33:IX.1123, Table
					 3; this designation does not apply to their tributaries or distributaries
					 unless so specified.
Fish and Wildlife Propagation
- the use of
					 water for aquatic habitat, food, resting, reproduction, cover, and/or travel
					 corridors for any indigenous wildlife and aquatic life species associated with
					 the aquatic environment. This use also includes the maintenance of water
					 quality at a level that prevents damage to indigenous wildlife and aquatic life
					 species associated with the aquatic environment and contamination of aquatic
					 biota consumed by humans. The use subcategory of
limited aquatic life
					 and wildlife
recognizes the natural variability of aquatic habitats,
					 community requirements, and local environmental conditions.
Limited
					 aquatic life and wildlife
use may be designated for water bodies
					 having habitat that is uniform in structure and morphology, with most of the
					 regionally expected aquatic species absent, low species diversity and richness,
					 and/or a severely imbalanced trophic structure. Aquatic life able to survive
					 and/or propagate in such water bodies includes species tolerant of severe or
					 variable environmental conditions. Water bodies that might qualify for the
limited aquatic life and wildlife
use subcategory include
					 intermittent streams, and naturally dystrophic and man-made water bodies with
					 characteristics including, but not limited to, irreversible hydrologic
					 modification, anthropogenically and irreversibly degraded water quality,
					 uniform channel morphology, lack of channel structure, uniform substrate, lack
					 of riparian structure, and similar characteristics making the available habitat
					 for aquatic life and wildlife suboptimal.
Outstanding Natural Resource Waters
-
					 water bodies designated for preservation, protection, reclamation, or
					 enhancement of wilderness, aesthetic qualities, and ecological regimes, such as
					 those designated under the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers System or those
					 designated by the department as waters of ecological significance.
					 Characteristics of
outstanding natural resource waters
include, but are not limited to, highly diverse or unique instream and/or
					 riparian habitat, high species diversity, balanced trophic structure, unique
					 species, or similar qualities. This use designation shall apply only to those
					 water bodies specifically so designated in LAC 33:IX.1123, Table 3 and not to
					 their tributaries or distributaries unless so specified.
Oyster Propagation
- the use of water to
					 maintain biological systems that support economically important species of
					 oysters, clams, mussels, or other mollusks so that their productivity is
					 preserved and the health of human consumers of these species is protected. This
					 use designation shall apply only to those water bodies specifically so
					 designated in LAC 33:IX.1123, Table 3 and not to their tributaries or
					 distributaries unless so specified.
Primary Contact Recreation
- any
					 recreational or other water contact activity involving prolonged or regular
					 full-body contact with the water and in which the probability of ingesting
					 appreciable amounts of water is considerable. Examples of this type of water
					 use include swimming, skiing, and diving.
Secondary Contact Recreation
- any
					 recreational or other water contact activity in which prolonged or regular
					 full-body contact with the water is either incidental or accidental, and the
					 probability of ingesting appreciable amounts of water is minimal. Examples of
					 this type of water use include fishing, wading, and boating.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
					 Promulgated in accordance with
					 R.S.
					 30:2074(B)(1).