Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 307 - TEXAS SURFACE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS › Section 307.7 - Site-Specific Uses and Criteria

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Uses and
				numerical criteria are established on a site-specific basis in Appendices A, B,
				D, E, F, and G of §
									307.10 of this
				title (relating to Appendices A - G). Site-specific uses and numerical criteria
				may also be applied to unclassified waters in accordance with §
									307.4
				of this title (relating to General Criteria) and §
									307.5(c)
				of this title (relating to Antidegradation). Site-specific criteria apply
				specifically to substances attributed to waste discharges or human activity.
				Site-specific criteria do not apply to those instances when surface waters
				exceed criteria due to natural phenomena. The application of site-specific uses
				and criteria is described in §
									307.8 of
				this title (relating to the Application of Standards) and §
									307.9
				of this title (relating to the Determination of Standards
				Attainment).
(b) Appropriate uses
				and criteria for site-specific standards are defined as follows.
(1) Recreation. Recreational use consists of
				five categories--primary contact recreation 1, primary contact recreation 2,
				secondary contact recreation 1, secondary contact recreation 2, and noncontact
				recreation waters. Classified segments are designated for primary contact
				recreation 1 unless sufficient site-specific information demonstrates that
				elevated concentrations of indicator bacteria frequently occur due to sources
				of pollution that cannot be reasonably controlled by existing regulations,
				wildlife sources of bacteria are unavoidably high and there is limited aquatic
				recreational potential, or primary or secondary contact recreation is
				considered unsafe for other reasons such as ship or barge traffic. In a
				classified segment where contact recreation is considered unsafe for reasons
				unrelated to water quality, a designated use of noncontact recreation may be
				assigned either noncontact recreation criteria or criteria normally associated
				with primary contact recreation. A designation of primary or secondary contact
				recreation is not a guarantee that the water so designated is completely free
				of disease-causing organisms. Indicator bacteria, although not generally
				pathogenic, are indicative of potential contamination by feces of warm-blooded
				animals. Recreational criteria are based on these indicator bacteria rather
				than direct measurements of pathogens. Criteria are expressed as the number of
				bacteria per 100 milliliters (mL) of water (in terms of colony forming units,
				most probable number, or other applicable reporting measures). Even where the
				concentration of indicator bacteria is less than the criteria for primary or
				secondary contact recreation, there is still some risk of contracting
				waterborne diseases. Additional guidelines on minimum data requirements and
				procedures for evaluating standards attainment are specified in the
TCEQ Guidance for Assessing and Reporting Surface Water Quality in
				Texas,
as amended.
(A) Freshwater.
(i) Primary contact recreation 1. The
				geometric mean criterion for
E. coli
is 126 per 100 mL. In
				addition, the single sample criterion for
E. coli
is 399 per
				100 mL.
(ii) Primary contact
				recreation 2. The geometric mean criterion for
E. coli
is 206
				per 100 mL.
(iii) Secondary contact
				recreation 1. The geometric mean criterion for
E. coli
is 630
				per 100 mL.
(iv) Secondary contact
				recreation 2. The geometric mean criterion for
E. coli
is
				1,030 per 100 mL.
(v) Noncontact
				recreation. The geometric mean criterion for
E. coli
is 2,060
				per 100 mL.
(vi) For high saline
				inland water bodies where Enterococci is the designated recreational indicator
				in Appendix A of §
												307.10 of this
				title, Enterococci is the applicable recreational indicator for instream
				bacteria sampling at all times for the classified water body and for the
				unclassified water bodies that are within the watershed of that classified
				segment, unless it is demonstrated that an unclassified water body is not high
				saline.
E. coli
is the applicable recreational indicator for
				instream bacteria sampling at all times for unclassified water bodies where
				conductivity values indicate that the water bodies are not high saline. For
				high saline inland waters with primary contact recreation 1, the geometric mean
				criterion for Enterococci is 33 per 100 mL and the single sample criterion is
				78 per 100 mL. For high saline inland waters with primary contact recreation 2,
				the geometric mean criterion for Enterococci is 54 per 100 mL. For high saline
				inland waters with secondary contact recreation 1, the geometric mean criterion
				for Enterococci is 165 per 100 mL. For high saline inland waters with secondary
				contact recreation 2, the geometric mean criterion for Enterococci is 270 per
				100 mL. For high saline inland water bodies with noncontact recreation, the
				geometric mean criterion for Enterococci is 540 per 100 mL.