COST-SHARE FUNDS TARGETED TO TMDL WATERSHEDS

While soil conservation remains very important to the Department, addressing the potential impacts of agriculture on water quality has become a high priority. There is a great deal of national attention being given to water quality, as evidenced by the Federal actions to address Gulf hypoxia and the development of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) in watersheds with water quality impairments. Beginning on July 1, 2002, the Department shifted some of its resources to a limited number of SWCDs with watersheds with identified water quality impairments (TMDL watersheds).

These targeted funds are designated for incentive payments to landowners/ operators within that specific watershed to promote the use of management practices that reduce the movement of the specific pollutant causing the water quality impairment. If sediment or siltation is identified as the cause, traditional erosion control practices are eligible for the cost-share. If phosphorus is the cause of the impairment, the new nutrient management plan practice and traditional erosion control practices are eligible. However, if nitrate is the sole cause of the impairment, only the nutrient management plan conservation practice will be eligible for incentive payment with these targeted funds.

A TMDL or Total Maximum Daily Load is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources. A TMDL is the sum of the allowable loads of a single pollutant from all contributing point and nonpoint sources. TMDLs do not establish new regulations. Point sources implement their wasteload allocation through enforceable water-quality-based discharge limits in NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits. Nonpoint sources are expected to implement their load allocation through voluntary incentive-based programs for best management practices. Additional information on the TMDL process and status of the program can be found at the following Illinois EPA site.

The following maps have been developed by the Department to assist in locating the boundaries of the TMDL watersheds. These maps show the watershed boundaries as defined by the IEPA or consultants to the IEPA for the TMDL program along with related municipal boundaries, roads and the public land survey system. The maps are in downloadable as JPEG images and PDF file format.

To download, click on the link to the waterbody name.

	Waterbody	County
1	Beaucoup Creek	Washington/ Perry/Washington
2	Big Muddy River	Jackson
3	Big Muddy-Kincaid Lake	Jackson
4	Bonnie Creek	Perry
5	Casey Fork	Jefferson
6	Cedar Creek	Knox
7	Charleston Side Channel North Charleston Side Channel South	Champaign/Douglas/Edgar/Vermilion
8	Dutchman Creek	Johnson
9	East Fork Kaskaskia River	Clinton/Fayette/Marion
10	Fox River	Edwards/Jasper/ Richland/Wayne
11	Governor Bond Lake	Bond
12	Little Muddy River	Jackson
13	Rayse Creek	Johnson
14	Vandalia Lake	Fayette

To download, click on the image number.

Waterbody	County(s)	Map Image
Evergreen Lake PWS	McLean, Woodford	1
Glen Shoals PWS	Christian, Montgomery	1
Hettick Lake PWS	Macoupin	1
Highland Silver PWS	Bond, Madison	1
Little Vermilion River	Champaign, Edgar, Vermilion	1, 2
Little Wabash River	Clay, Coles, Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Marion, Moultrie, Shelby	1, 2, 3, 4
Macoupin Creek	Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery	1, 2
Mauvaisse Terre River	Morgan, Scott	1, 2, 3
North Fork Kaskaskia River	Clinton, Fayette, Marion	1, 2
North Fork Vermilion PWS	Iroquois, Vermilion	1, 2
Oakland Lake/Walnut Point Lake PWS	Coles, Douglas, Edgar	1
Old Hillsboro Lake PWS	Montgomery	1
Otter Lake PWS	Macoupin, Sangamon	1
Palmyra/Modesto PWS	Macoupin	1
Salt Fork Vermilion River	Champaign, Vermilion	1, 2, 3
Skillet Fork River	Clay, Hamilton, Jefferson, Marion, Wayne, White	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Sugar Creek/Paris Twin Lakes	Clark, Edgar	1

Nutrient management plans, which include soil testing, can be very effective in reducing movement of nutrients to water bodies. Currently, the nutrient management plan practice is only available in SWCDs that have a watershed with a TMDL under development. The nutrient management plan practice cost share will only be available to landowners/operators with land in the identified watersheds. The dollar amount allocated to each eligible SWCD is based on their portion of the total number of cropland acres in eligible watersheds. The Department plans to expand its availability in future years.

Appendix A of the FY 2003 CPP guidelines outlines the procedures for implementing the newly eligible nutrient management plan practice. Please read the guidelines for all of the details on the practice. One important point to note is that landowners or operators must use technical service providers approved by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service for the development of nutrient management plans. Application forms are available from any of the SWCDs listed above or in a downloadable PDF format. (CPP/NMP-1, CPP/NMP-2 and CPP-1A)