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Designated Uses
[Why
are WQS Important?] [WQS
Review and Revision] [Role
of the Public] [Designated
Uses] [Water
Quality Criteria] [Antidegradation]
[General Policies]
[Indian Tribe Participation]
[WQS Program History]
Designated Uses: The water
quality standards regulation requires that States and authorized
Indian Tribes specify appropriate water uses to be achieved and
protected. Appropriate uses are identified by taking into
consideration the use and value of the water body for public water
supply, for protection of fish, shellfish, and wildlife, and for
recreational, agricultural, industrial, and navigational purposes.
In designating uses for a water body, States and Tribes examine
the suitability of a water body for the uses based on the physical,
chemical, and biological characteristics of the water body, its
geographical setting and scenic qualities, and economic considerations.
Each water body does not necessarily require a unique set of uses.
Instead, the characteristics necessary to support a use can be
identified so that water bodies having those characteristics can
be grouped together as supporting particular uses.
Where water quality standards specify designated uses less than
those which are presently being attained, the State or Tribe is
required to revise its standards to reflect the uses actually
being attained.
A use attainability analysis must be conducted for any water
body with designated uses that do not include the "fishable/swimmable"
goal uses identified in the section 101(a)(2) of the Act.
Such water bodies must be reexamined every three years to determine
if new information has become available that would warrant a revision
of the standard. If new information indicates that "fishable/swimmable"
uses can be attained, such uses must be designated.
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