Areawide Water Quality Management Plan

In accordance with the Water Pollution Control Act amendments of 1972, MVRPC serves as the Designated Water Quality Planning Agency for the 5-county Miami Valley Region. In this role MVRPC prepared and continually maintains the Areawide Water Quality Management Plan . The Plan is not one document but a series of linked documents, reports, studies, and maps that describe the Miami Valley Region’s water resources, identify sources of surface and groundwater pollution, recommend strategies for addressing them. A major element of the Plan are the individual Wastewater Treatment Facility Plans that are developed and maintained by the wastewater treatment providers in the Miami Valley Region. These Plans outline protocols for providing centralized wastewater treatment in efficient manners that also protect valuable water resources.

To aid in the planning process, MVRPC has broken its 5-County Region into five basin planning areas upon which much of the Plan analysis is based. In addition MVRPC has established and maintains a management structure responsible for prioritizing issues, coordinating activities, and gathering input for the Plan. This management structure is detailed in the Areawide Water Quality Management Structure policy (Adobe Acrobat Reader:55 kb).

Water Quality Committees
Watershed based committees are the foundation of the management structure

The foundation of the management structure are two watershed-based committees: 1) the Great Miami Watershed Network and 2) the Little Miami Basin Council. The Great Miami Watershed Network is jointly coordinated by MVRPC and the Miami Conservancy District and includes representatives from the entire Great Miami River Basin, including portions of MVRPC’s planning area. The Little Miami Basin Council includes representatives from the portion of the Little Miami River basin within Greene County. These committees meet on a quarterly basis and are open to all those who have an interest in local and regional water resource issues. Participants include representatives from local jurisdictions, health departments, County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, watershed groups, businesses, and citizens.

AWQMP Amendments

Amendments to the Areawide Water Quality Management Plan are subject to the approval of the MVRPC Board of Directors. Prior to Board consideration, amendments are reviewed by the MVRPC Technical Advisory Committee and the MVRPC Areawide Facility Planning Subcommittee. Amendments may touch on any topic area covered in the AWQMP, but practically speaking, most amendment activity is in the area of wastewater treatment Facility Planning Areas. Typically, the FPA are modified geographically to indicate new areas of service. Also, a FPA can be sub-divided to show areas of current service, expected future service and areas not expected to be served by sewers.

The 2007 amendment to the AWQMP was endorse by the MVRPC Board of Directors in June 2007. The contents of the amendment can be downloaded here. MVRPC anticipates amending the AWQMP on an annual basis, as needed by Miami Valley jurisdictions on-going wastewater and development planning.