The state of Florida, as are all states in the U.S., is required to prepare total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) of pollutants for impaired waters within the state. In short, TMDLs are the total amount of a particular pollutant that can be discharged to water of the state without causing impairment of the designated uses of the water body. For each of the impaired waters, where the impairment is due to abatable, man-induced causes, Florida must define the TMDL, which is to include a Wasteload Allocation for point sources, a Load Allocation for nonpoint sources including natural background conditions, a consideration of seasonal variability and a margin of safety. The state of Florida is addressing this task through a multi-year process, eventually involving the designation of over a thousand TMDLs for the numerous water bodies of the State.

CES is providing Technical Support Services to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. This support includes, but is not limited to:

• Development of a Protocol for Determining TMDLs
• Development and updating of a Best Management Practices database
• Organization of a Technical Advisory Review Committee
• Various support tasks for development of specific TMDLs

Under this three-year agreement CES is providing these services through the participation of university faculty and private sector partners.

Congress added the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program (SWAPP) to the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1996. All 50 states participate in SWAPP, which was developed to ensure that drinking water is protected at the source. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for implementing SWAPP in Florida.

Under this multi-year agreement CES is assisting DEP in implementing the SWAPP program through coordinated activities by university faculty and private sector partners. These teams provide ground water modeling to delineate assessment areas for public water supply sources. Work also includes review of surface water modeling and assessments. All outputs are provided in a GIS format for use by DEP. CES is also disseminating SWAPP information to local communities, public water utilities and citizens. This outreach is being provided through DEP's website at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp.

The Center is an active member of Palm Beach County's Pollution Prevention (P2) Coalition. CES maintain the P2 Coalition web site to provide the citizens and businesses of Southeastern Florida with a discrete and easily accessible location for obtaining information, guidance, and contacts for pollution prevention and waste reduction practices. The site can be found at http://p2.ces.fau.edu