Planning and Managing New York State's Waters
Developing and implementing watershed plans to protect and restore New York's waterbodies is an effective way to address water quality problems in the state. Monitoring and assessment information, including water quality reports and water quality standards, is the basis for developing these plans.
Plans developed on a watershed basis are more successful at addressing water quality problems and helping to prevent future problems because they involve stakeholders in both upstream and downstream communities throughout the watershed. Watershed plans also have solutions that include pollution reductions from a number of sources, without placing an undue burden on one source. The Clean Water Plan page lists which watersheds have completed Clean Water Plans.
EPA Guidance for the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Program
Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to identify waters that do not meet water quality standards and report them to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as impaired waters. EPA issues guidance to states every two years regarding reporting and listing of impaired waters. New York publishes the Consolidated Listing and Assessment Methodology (CALM) in accordance with this EPA guidance.
The CWA also requires the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for all impaired waters to address the pollutant causing the impairment. EPA issues separate guidance to states regarding prioritization of impaired waters for TMDL development, otherwise known as "Vision". Vision is an approach and framework that describes how waterbodies are prioritized for restoration and protection plan development.
In 2013, EPA published the first guidance on Vision for Implementing the CWA Section 303(d) Impaired Waters Program. In 2015, DEC developed its Vision Approach to implement the Clean Water Act 303(d) Program and Clean Water Planning December (PDF) according to this EPA guidance. In September 2022, EPA released updated an Vision guidance memo, 2022 - 2032 Vision for the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Program (PDF), encouraging states to update their Vision prioritization framework and indicate their commitment to watershed plan development through 2032. The new goals include: Prioritization and planning, restoration, protection, data and analysis, and partnerships. The new focus areas include: Environmental Justice, climate change, tribal water quality program development, and program capacity building.
DEC collaborates closely with EPA and ultimately submits the 303(d) List of Impaired waters and TMDL decisions to EPA for approval.
New York State's 2026-2032 Vision Approach to Clean Water Planning
The 2026-2032 Vision Approach for New York State (hereafter "Vision Approach") is a collaborative, partnership-based framework that is implemented with support from multiple DEC programs and other partnerships which allows for flexible and innovative approaches to implement Clean Water Act Section 303(d).
DEC’s Vision Approach is:
- adaptive and systematic,
- builds on and improves the DEC’s existing 303(d) Program,
- is based on data collected by DEC and external partners,
- integrates information from other Division of Water programs,
- incorporates alternative plans when applicable, and
- fosters new partnerships and enhances existing partnerships.
DEC’s Vision Approach was developed to allow for flexibility and therefore, may be adjusted over time based on new data, information, scientific understanding, or other relevant information. Implementation of DEC’s Vision Approach will be tracked to evaluate progress towards restoration and protection planning goals and impact on ambient water quality. DEC's Vision Approach is also part of Division of Water's broader adaptive management strategy to address pollution.
