 City Initiatives - Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) Program
The City of Clearwater is doing what it can to keep our waters clean and safe. The city is working with other local communities to meet targets to reduce the maximum amount of pollutants a water body can hold and continue to meet water quality standards. The Total Maximum Daily Load Program is a regional partnership that works to maintain the environmental health of our water bodies.
The Environmental Division encourages residents and visitors to protect our precious resources. Three causes of impairment in Florida waters are nutrients (such as nitrogen found in fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides), dissolved oxygen, and bacteria.
Everyone can help improve Clearwater's water quality by doing the following:
- Don't litter
- Pick up pet waste
- Limit the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers on your lawns to as little as possible.
- Don’t fertilize lawns during the rainy season. Fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides run off lawns and eventually wash into lakes, streams, the Gulf of Mexico, and Tampa Bay.
- If residents use reclaimed water, fertilizing one’s lawn is not needed as frequently, since nutrients are already available in reclaimed water.
The Total Maximum Daily Load Program is part of the Clean Water Act. It is administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which is governed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The City of Clearwater partners with Pinellas County Government for water quality monitoring of our water bodies
To learn more about total maximum daily loads, you can read the Florida Stormwater Association's Total Maximum Daily Loads guide or Pinellas County's TMDL Brochure.
Additional Resources
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