A Quality Assurance Project Plan is developed prior to writing the TMDL and does the following:
- Define the issue and objectives of the TMDL, including the spatial and temporal extents of the water quality impairments.
- Provide a high-level description of the key processes and variables for temperature
- Outlines the overarching technical approach for the TMDL, including the appropriate modeling and analytical tools to be used.
- Provides the data sources for defining and creating inputs to the models, including data that were used in the modeling for the original TMDLs, if an original exists. Examples of these inputs can include meteorological data, stream flow and temperature, point sources and vegetation characteristics
- Describes how the analysis and modeling will be evaluated for acceptability
- Describes potential scenarios for evaluating management strategies for reducing anthropogenic thermal loads
- Provides various aspects for managing the TMDL development project, including documentation, the project team, data, and records management
Lower Columbia-Sandy Subbasin Quality Assurance Project Plan
This Quality Assurance Project Plan summarizes the modeling approach to be used for the temperature TMDL replacement project applicable within the Lower Columbia-Sandy Subbasin (17080001).