The 305(b) report, 303(d) list of impaired waters, and the dissolved oxygen section of Table 11 of the assessment methodology from the Draft 2022 Integrated Report (IR) are currently available for review and comment. Comments will be accepted from October 29, 2021, to December 3, 2021.
Note: A public comment period was held for the IR assessment methodology between January 20, 2021, to February 26, 2021. Comments on any other sections of the IR assessment methodology beyond Table 11 are outside the scope of this comment period.
DWQ offers a step-by-step tutorial to walk reviewers through the online form before they begin. Click on the buttons below to take the tutorial and/or submit comments.
Comment Form Tutorial
Thank you for your comments on the Draft 2022 Integrated Report. This page will guide you through the commenting process. Before opening the Qualtrics comment form, please carefully read the information below and craft your comment submission accordingly.
Contact Information
The first section of the comment form requires basic contact information and verification that you have third party permission to share the information/data in your comments.
Data File Submission
You will also be asked whether you plan to upload supporting data with your comment submission.
If you plan to submit data files, please review the Components for Credible Data section and Credible Data Matrices of the 2022 Assessment Methods (5 MB). You will need to provide a signature in your submission to ensure you understand and will follow credible data requirements. From the Credible Data Defined section:
“To be considered for 303(d) water quality assessments, all readily available data and information that are submitted to the Water Quality Assessment Program or obtained during the assessment program‘s data compilation process must be of high quality.DWQ‘s assessment program defines credible data as a complete and validated data submission consisting of:
- water quality samples and field measurements (data) that are collected following the adherence and documentation of appropriate quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) procedures
- environmental data that are representative of water quality conditions at the time of sampling
- field sample collection, processing, and laboratory analyses that are documented and follow established protocols, procedures and methods, which are available when needed/requested.
To ensure that the data and information used by the assessment program is of high quality, the assessment program relies on documentation from project planners, sample collectors, and laboratories to assist in documenting that the data are of known quality and defensible. External entities are not obligated to collect data under the specifications of any of DWQ’s or EPA’s currently established quality assurance protocols to be considered credible. However, all sources of data must meet the definition of credible data. DWQ will evaluate the credibility of data using the criteria and documentation described in the following sections.”
Formal Letter versus Text Field Entry
We are using the Qualtrics comment form to consolidate, organize and properly address all comments on the Combined Draft 2018/2020 Integrated Report. All respondents will have the opportunity to submit a formal letter with their submission. However, we would prefer you to use the text fields within the form to submit your comments.
The form allows respondents with limited resources to submit their comments in the text fields to skip directly to the formal letter upload section. Please note the 100 MB file size limit. Clicking next on this page will submit the form.
Text Field Entry Details
Choosing to use the text fields to submit your comments will take you to an overview of the comment submittal process. The form organizes the comments into three categories:
- Monitoring Location (or latitude/longitude) – each comment should refer to a specific location where data were collected and assessed.
- Assessment Unit – each comment should refer to a specific assessment unit. Assessment unit ID’s and names can be found in the Draft 2022 Integrated Report. Comments at the assessment unit scale will likely refer to a particular water quality assessment.
- General Comment – comments that do not have a spatial component covered by the Monitoring Location or Assessment Unit categories. General comments may be at a statewide level, or refer to all assessments on a given water quality parameter. General comments may also concern aspects of the report (format, clarity, etc.) that do not involve assessments.
You should separate and categorize comments based on the most specific category that applies. Please note that comments on two separate monitoring locations (or assessment units) count as two separate comments. Once you have your comments separated and categorized, count them up and determine the number of separate text fields you will need to submit your comments.
At this point, the form will loop through the same comment menu and provide text fields for the number of comments you requested (the comment number out of the total number of comments requested is displayed in the top left). Note that the maximum number of separate comments is 10 in each submission, and comments are limited to a page and a half of single-spaced text (6650 characters). You may submit the comment form multiple times if needed.
Each category has different required elements. The Monitoring Location category requires a monitoring location ID or a latitude and longitude. Providing a name for the location is also helpful but not required.
The assessment unit category requires BOTH an assessment unit ID and name.
The General Comment category does not have any required text. If you over-count the number of comments you would like to submit, use the General Comment category to quickly flip through to the end of the comment text entry section.
In each comment page, you may upload data files or any supporting information for your specific comment.
Once you finish with your text field comments, you have the ability to upload a formal letter associated with your comments. This is the last page before form submission.
Form Submission
Once the form is submitted to the Qualtrics database, you may download a copy of your responses by clicking “Download PDF” on the right side of the screen. If you have any issues or questions during the comment submission process, feel free to contact Elise Hinman for assistance. We thank you for your input!
Go to the Comment Form …
At the end of the public comment period, the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) will review feedback and reach out with any additional questions. DWQ will provide a formal response to all comments prior to finalizing the 2022 IR.
Questions
Please contact Elise Hinman or Jodi Gardberg for assistance.