Phosphorus Compliance in the Milwaukee River Watershed: The Views of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility Operators and Administrators

A Report by the River Alliance of Wisconsin In Partnership with the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust January 2013
Background Over the next several years, municipalities having wastewater treatment facilities will decide how to comply with water quality based effluent limits for phosphorus. In 2010, Wisconsin passed new administrative rules, referred to as the Phosphorus Rules, which established numeric water quality criteria for phosphorus and a framework for implementing phosphorus criteria in point source discharge permits. Two alternative compliance options, water quality trading and the Watershed Adaptive Management Option, were provided to allow more cost-effective means for point sources to achieve phosphorus compliance. Although the two options differ in important ways, they both take a watershed-based approach to meeting water quality standards for phosphorus, and in the case of the Adaptive Management Option, point source dischargers are encouraged to collaborate to achieve phosphorus compliance. In January 2013, the WDNR released a technical handbook on Adaptive Management to advise point sources and their consultants as well as other interested entities about adaptive management, when to consider adaptive management, and how to develop a successful adaptive management plan. Relatively soon, the WDNR will release a technical handbook on water quality trading. The WDNR encourages point sources to contact them to discuss the compliance options when the need arises. Project Purpose As the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust seeks to achieve healthy and sustainable water resources through a watershed-wide approach, it is important to understand the interest by municipal wastewater treatment facilities to pursue watershed-based options for phosphorus compliance. The River Alliance of Wisconsin conducted a series of meetings with municipal officials tied to wastewater treatment administration and operations in the Milwaukee River watershed. The goal of this effort was to provide insight on the perspective of municipal wastewater treatment facilities on the issue of phosphorus compliance, including the alternative, watershed-based compliance options. Meetings with Municipal Wastewater Officials We conducted meetings with nine of the eleven municipal facilities that discharge to surface waters in the upper Milwaukee River watershed: the Villages of Campbellsport, Fredonia, Grafton, Kewaskum, Newburg, Random Lake, Saukville, and the Cities of Cedarburg and West Bend. Most of the meetings were conducted in-person, from August to November 2012, with municipal staff most familiar with wastewater facility operations and issues. The meetings were conducted with four main intentions: to learn about challenges each facility faces to achieving phosphorus compliance; to understand the concerns each municipality has with the phosphorus compliance options; to find out what interest each municipality has in the phosphorus compliance options, including collaborating with other entities; and to inform wastewater dischargers about agricultural watershed projects happening in the Milwaukee River watershed. The municipalities expressed a range of thoughts and opinions, yet commonalities were apparent. The meetings were not intended to record official positions regarding phosphorus compliance.

General Conclusions Officials associated with all facilities are uncertain about the effect the states water quality standards for phosphorus and/or the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report will have on future phosphorus discharge limits. Currently, officials associated with mid to large-sized municipal wastewater facilities in the upper Milwaukee River watershed are operating under the assumption that their next 5-year permit will include a more stringent phosphorus limit and are eager to know more about their compliance options. Municipalities are eager to understand more detailed information about their phosphorus compliance options specifically the Watershed Adaptive Management Option and water quality trading. Officials expressed an interest in achieving phosphorus compliance in a cost-effective manner. Several suggested that a reasonable route to meeting reduced phosphorus limits might include both optimizing facility operations to remove phosphorus and implementing some form of the phosphorus compliance options provided in the Phosphorus Rules. Regardless, municipalities will require assistance with enumerating the costs of different compliance scenarios. Some officials suggested that municipal wastewater facilities might benefit from working together toward phosphorus compliance. Several individuals promoted a collaborative process as a way to help municipalities decide the best course of compliance actions and to implement a watershed-based approach. Some officials question the fairness of requiring municipal wastewater treatment facilities to reduce phosphorus considering the contributions to the watershed from nonpoint sources and other point sources. Most of the concerns expressed by officials relate to the municipalities unfamiliarity with watershedbased compliance options in particular, how to implement them. Also, several expressed concerns about the potential challenges their municipality might face in pursuing the phosphorus compliance options even in situations where they are more cost-effective; for example, competing priorities, location in the watershed, changing land use, statewide municipal tax levy limits, and the political feasibility of reducing phosphorus runoff outside the municipality. Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities Discharging to Surface Waters In the Upper Milwaukee River Watershed Municipality Random Lake Campbellsport Cedarburg Grafton Saukville Newburg Fredonia Cascade Jackson Kewaskum West Bend WPDES Permit Expiration Dec 31, 2011 June 30, 2012 June 30, 2013 Dec 31, 2013 March 31, 2014 Sept 30, 2014 Dec 31, 2014 Sept 30, 2015 Sept 30, 2015 Sept 30, 2015 March 31, 2016 Surface Water Outfall Silver Creek Milwaukee River Cedar Creek Milwaukee River Milwaukee River Milwaukee River Milwaukee River N. Branch MKE River Cedar Creek Milwaukee River Milwaukee River Chemical P Removal Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes