Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 11 - Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality › Part 6 - Wastewater Pollution Control Regulations › Chapter 9 - Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, Mississippi 2024 Section 303(d) List of Impaired Water Bodies › EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Current through June 25, 2024
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)
				  has developed a new collaborative framework for implementing Vision 2.0. The
				  new framework is designed to help coordinate and focus various efforts to
				  advance the effectiveness of the water program. Given resource constraints and
				  competing program priorities, leveraging resources and coordinating efforts is
				  crucial. This new framework does not change regulations, policies, or issue new
				  mandates. It is intended to provide focus for MDEQ water programs to better
				  manage the activities and promote collaboration to achieve water quality goals
				  for the streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries of Mississippi.
In order to select the priority watersheds, MDEQ used
				  landscape information to calculate metrics on the watershed scale that are used
				  to characterize and rank watersheds by resource value and potential stressors.
				  Resource value was determined using environmental and human welfare data
				  layers. Environmental Factors considered included erosion potential, impervious
				  area, wetlands, impaired waters, and concentration and types of discharge
				  permits. Human Welfare Factors included demographics, fishing advisories, water
				  supply intakes, public water supplies, recreational water bodies, public
				  waterways, national and state parks, and recreational locations. Other factors
				  considered were the presence of existing watershed plans, ongoing restoration
				  and/or conservation work, and engaged stakeholders, all of which greatly
				  increase the chances of success.
Weights for each of these were adjusted based on professional
				  judgment of the importance of each for characterizing watershed value. Once
				  these factors were developed, standardized, and weighted, the tool produced a
				  relative ranking of every watershed within the state. One hundred watersheds
				  were ranked using the Priority Framework Model to screen watersheds for
				  activities that will address the water program goals.
To continue development of priority framework and better
				  address human welfare/ environmental justice concerns; MDEQ has implemented the
				  Supplemental Demographic Index. The SDI better captures the state's
				  environmental justice factors based on five socioeconomic indicators; low
				  income, unemployment, limited English speaking, less than high school
				  education, and low life expectancy. Watersheds containing 303d listed impaired
				  waterbodies were also weighted with greater priority than in previous
				  frameworks.
MDEQ will review the selection process and screening criteria
				  annually to identify the priority watersheds for the following ten-year period.
				  Flexibility will be retained to amend watershed selection in the face of
				  changing state priorities (e.g., environmental justice, climate change) as well
				  as changing EPA national and regional priorities.