(1) Purpose. The establishment of water quality standards.

(2) Water Quality Enhancement:

(3) Definitions. All terms used in this paragraph shall be interpreted in accordance with definitions as set forth in the Act and as otherwise herein defined:

(6) Specific Criteria for Classified Water Usage. In addition to the general criteria, the following criteria are deemed necessary and shall be required for the specific water usage as shown:

(7) Natural Water Quality. It is recognized that certain natural waters of the State may have a quality that will not be within the general or specific requirements contained herein. This is especially the case for the criteria for dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and fecal coliform. NPDES permits and best management practices will be the primary mechanisms for ensuring that discharges will not create a harmful situation.

(8) Treatment Requirements. Notwithstanding the above criteria, the requirements of the State relating to secondary or equivalent treatment of all waste shall prevail. The adoption of these criteria shall in no way preempt the treatment requirements.

(9) Streamflows. Specific criteria or standards set for the various parameters apply to all flows on regulated streams. On unregulated streams, they shall apply to all streamflows equal to or exceeding the 7-day, 10-year minimum flow (7Q10). All references to 7-day, 10-year minimum flow (7Q10) also apply to all flows on regulated streams. All references to annual average stream flow also apply to long-term average stream flow conditions.

(10) Mixing Zone. Effluents released to streams or impounded waters shall be fully and homogeneously dispersed and mixed insofar as practical with the main flow or water body by appropriate methods at the discharge point. Use of a reasonable and limited mixing zone may be permitted on receipt of satisfactory evidence that such a zone is necessary and that it will not create an objectionable or damaging pollution condition. Protection from acute toxicity shall be provided within any EPD designated mixing zone to ensure a zone of safe passage for aquatic organisms. The procedure is as described in paragraph 391-3-6- .06(4)(d)(5)(vi), except that the numerical pass/fail criteria applies to the end-of-pipe without the benefit of dilution provided by the receiving stream.

(11) Toxic Pollutant Monitoring. The Division will monitor waters of the State for the presence or impact of Section 307 (a)(l) Federal Clean Water Act toxic pollutants, and other priority pollutants. The monitoring shall consist of the collection and assessment of chemical and/or biological data as appropriate from the water column, from stream bed sediments, and/or from fish tissue. Specific stream segments and chemical constituents for monitoring shall be determined by the Director on the basis of the potential for water quality impacts from toxic pollutants from point or nonpoint waste sources. Singularly or in combination, these constituents may cause an adverse effect on fish propagation at levels lower than the criteria. Instream concentrations will be as described in 391-3-6-.03 (5)(d). Additional toxic substances and priority pollutants will be monitored on a case specific basis using Section 304(a) Federal Clean Water Act guidelines or other scientifically appropriate documents.

(12) Fecal Coliform Criteria. The criteria for fecal coliform bacteria provide the regulatory framework to support the USEPA requirement that States protect all waters for the use of primary contact recreation or swimming. This is a worthy national goal, although potentially unrealistic with the current indicator organism, fecal coliform bacteria, in use today. To assure that waters are safe for swimming indicates a need to test waters for pathogenic bacteria. However, analyses for pathogenic bacteria are expensive and results are generally difficult to reproduce quantitatively. Also, to ensure the water is safe for swimming would require a whole suite of tests be done for organisms such as Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, etc. as the presence/absence of one organism would not document the presence/absence of another. This type of testing program is not possible due to resource constraints. The environmental community in the United States has based the assessment of the bacteriological quality of water on testing for pathogenic indicator organisms, principally the coliform group. The assessment of streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries in Georgia and other States is based on fecal coliform organisms.

Coliform bacteria live in the intestinal tract of warm blooded animals including man. These organisms are excreted in extremely high numbers, averaging about 1.5 billion coliform per ounce of human feces. Pathogenic bacteria also originate in the fecal material of diseased persons. Therefore, waters with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria represent potential problem areas for swimming. However, there is no positive scientific evidence correlating elevated fecal coliform counts with transmission of enteric diseases. In addition, these bacteria can originate from any warm blooded animal or from the soil.

Monitoring programs have documented fecal coliform levels in excess of the criteria in many streams and rivers in urban areas, agricultural areas, and even in areas not extensively impacted by man such as national forest areas. This is not a unique situation to Georgia as similar levels of fecal coliform bacteria have been documented in streams across the nation. The problem appears to lie in the lack of an organism which specifically indicates the presence of human waste materials which can be correlated to human illness. Other organisms such as the Enterococci group and E. coli have been suggested by the USEPA as indicator organisms. However, testing using these organisms by States and the USEPA has indicated similar problems with these indicator organisms.

The Environmental Protection Division will conduct a monitoring project from 1993 through 1995 to evaluate the use of E. coli and Enterococci as indicators of bacteriological quality in Georgia. The Environmental Protection Division will also conduct studies to determine if a better human specific indicator can be found to replace current indicator organisms.

(13) Specific Water Use Classifications. Beneficial water uses assigned by the State to all surface waters. These classifications are scientifically determined to be the best utilization of the surface water from an environmental and economic standpoint. Streams and stream reaches not specifically listed are classified as Fishing. The specific classifications are as follows:

CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER BASIN CLASSIFICATION

Chattahoochee River Headwaters to Buford Dam Recreation

Chattahoochee River Buford Dam to Atlanta (Peachtree Creek) Drinking Water and Recreation

Chattahoochee River Atlanta (Peachtree Creek) to Cedar Creek Fishing²

Chattahoochee River New River to West Point Dam Recreation

Big Creek Georgia Hwy. 400 to City of Roswell Water Drinking Water intake