Division of Water
Public Comment Sought on Report About Cane Run Watershed Stream Impairments

 The Energy and Environment Cabinet is seeking public comment until Sept. 4 on a draft report addressing impairments in seven stream segments within the Cane Run watershed located in Fayette and Scott counties.

The Clean Water Act requires each state to periodically identify specific waters where designated uses are not being met and water quality impairments exist. The state is also required to prioritize the list of impaired waters, calculate a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of pollutants for those waters and devise plans to improve the water quality.

The report, prepared by the Kentucky Division of Water, addresses fecal coliform impairments in seven stream segments in the Cane Run watershed that make them impaired for primary contact recreation (swimming) and, in some cases, secondary recreation (fishing and boating) designated uses. The reports include data and procedures used to calculate the TMDLs for the stream segments.

Revisions to the reports may be made following the public comment period and before they are sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval. The revised report will then be sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review, comment and approval. If approved, the stream segments will be placed in Category 4A (which is a list of all stream segments with EPA-approved TMDLs) for bacteria in the next Integrated Report to Congress on Water Quality in Kentucky.

The reports may be viewed on the Division of Water Web site at   http://water.ky.gov/Pages/PublicNotices.aspx. Comments should be sent in writing to Eric Liebenauer, Division of Water, 200 Fair Oaks Lane, Fourth Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601 or by e-mail to Eric.Liebenauer@ky.gov.