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TITLE 30ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
PART 1TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
CHAPTER 307TEXAS SURFACE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
RULE §307.3Definitions and Abbreviations

  (52) Primary contact recreation 2--Water recreation activities, such as wading by children, swimming, water skiing, diving, tubing, surfing, handfishing as defined by Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, §66.115, and whitewater kayaking, canoeing, and rafting, that involve a significant risk of ingestion of water but that occur less frequently than for primary contact recreation 1 due to:

    (A) physical characteristics of the water body; or

    (B) limited public access.

  (53) Protection zone--Any area within the watershed of a sole-source surface drinking water supply that is:

    (A) within two miles of the normal pool elevation of a body of surface water that is a sole-source surface drinking water supply;

    (B) within two miles of that part of a perennial stream that is:

      (i) a tributary of a sole-source surface drinking water supply; and

      (ii) within three linear miles upstream of the normal pool elevation of a sole-source surface drinking water supply; or

    (C) within two miles of that part of a stream that is a sole-source surface drinking water supply, extending three linear miles upstream from the water supply intake (Texas Water Code, §26.0286).

  (54) Public drinking water supply--A water body designated to provide water to a public water system as defined in Chapter 290 of this title (relating to Public Drinking Water).

  (55) Saltwater--A coastal water that has a measurable elevation change due to normal tides. In the absence of tidal information, saltwater is generally considered to be a coastal water that typically has a salinity of two parts per thousand or greater in a significant portion of the water column.

  (56) Salinity--The total dissolved solids in water after all carbonates have been converted to oxides, all bromide and iodide have been replaced by chloride, and all organic matter has been oxidized. For most purposes, salinity is considered equivalent to total dissolved salt content. Salinity is usually expressed in parts per thousand.

  (57) Seagrass propagation--A water-quality-related existing use that applies to saltwater with significant stands of submerged seagrass.

  (58) Secondary contact recreation 1--Activities that commonly occur but have limited body contact incidental to shoreline activity (e.g. fishing, canoeing, kayaking, rafting, and motor boating). These activities are presumed to pose a less significant risk of water ingestion than primary contact recreation 1 or 2 but more than secondary contact recreation 2.

  (59) Secondary contact recreation 2--Activities with limited body contact incidental to shoreline activity (e.g. fishing, canoeing, kayaking, rafting, and motor boating) that are presumed to pose a less significant risk of water ingestion than secondary contact recreation 1. These activities occur less frequently than secondary contact recreation 1 due to physical characteristics of the water body or limited public access.

  (60) Segment--A water body or portion of a water body that is individually defined and classified in Appendices A and C of §307.10 of this title (relating to Appendices A - G) in the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards. A segment is intended to have relatively homogeneous chemical, physical, and hydrological characteristics. A segment provides a basic unit for assigning site-specific standards and for applying water quality management programs of the agency. Classified segments may include streams, rivers, bays, estuaries, wetlands, lakes, or reservoirs.

  (61) Settleable solids--The volume or weight of material that settles out of a water sample in a specified period of time.

  (62) Seven-day, two-year low-flow (7Q2)--The lowest average stream flow for seven consecutive days with a recurrence interval of two years, as statistically determined from historical data. As specified in §307.8 of this title, some water quality standards do not apply at stream flows that are less than the 7Q2 flow.

  (63) Shellfish--Clams, oysters, mussels, crabs, crayfish, lobsters, and shrimp.

  (64) Sole-source surface drinking water supply--A body of surface water that is identified as a public water supply in rules adopted by the commission under Texas Water Code, §26.023 and is the sole source of supply of a public water supply system, exclusive of emergency water connections (Texas Water Code, §26.0286).

  (65) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater--A document describing sampling and analytical procedures that is published by the American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and Water Environment Federation. The most recent edition of this document is to be followed whenever its use is specified by this chapter.

  (66) Standards--Desirable uses (i.e., existing, attainable, designated, or presumed uses as defined in this section) and the narrative and numerical criteria deemed necessary to protect those uses in surface waters.

  (67) Standards implementation procedures--Methods and protocols in the guidance document Procedures to Implement the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards (RG-194), as amended and approved by the commission and EPA.

  (68) Stormwater--Rainfall runoff, snow melt runoff, surface runoff, and drainage.

  (69) Stormwater discharge--A point source discharge that is composed entirely of stormwater associated with an industrial activity, a construction activity, a discharge from a municipal separate storm sewer system, or other discharge designated by the agency.

  (70) Stream order--A classification of stream size, where the smallest, unbranched tributaries of a drainage basin are designated first order streams. Where two first order streams join, a second order stream is formed; where two second order streams join, a third order stream is formed, etc. For purposes of water quality standards application, stream order is determined from United States Geological Survey topographic maps with a scale of 1:24,000.

  (71) Surface water in the state--Lakes, bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, wetlands, marshes, inlets, canals, the Gulf of Mexico inside the territorial limits of the state as defined in the Texas Water Code, §26.001, and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, navigable or nonnavigable, and including the beds and banks of all water-courses and bodies of surface water, that are wholly or partially inside or bordering the state or subject to the jurisdiction of the state; except that waters in treatment systems that are authorized by state or federal law, regulation, or permit, and that are created for the purpose of waste treatment are not considered to be water in the state.

  (72) Sustainable Fisheries--Descriptive of water bodies that potentially have sufficient fish production or fishing activity to create significant long-term human consumption of fish. Sustainable fisheries include perennial streams and rivers with a stream order of three or greater; lakes and reservoirs greater than or equal to 150 acre-feet or 50 surface acres; all bays, estuaries, and tidal rivers. Water bodies that are presumed to have sustainable fisheries include all designated segments listed in Appendix A of §307.10 of this title (relating to Appendices A - G) unless specifically exempted.

  (73) Thalweg--The deepest portion of a stream or river channel cross-section.

  (74) Tidal--Descriptive of coastal waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of tides. For purposes of standards applicability, tidal waters are considered to be saltwater. Classified tidal waters include all bays and estuaries with a segment number that begins with 24xx, all streams with the word tidal in the segment name, and the Gulf of Mexico.

  (75) To discharge--Includes to deposit, conduct, drain, emit, throw, run, allow to seep, or otherwise release or dispose of, or to allow, permit, or suffer any of these acts or omissions.

  (76) Total dissolved solids--The amount of material (inorganic salts and small amounts of organic material) dissolved in water and commonly expressed as a concentration in terms of milligrams per liter. The term is equivalent to the term filterable residue, as used in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 136 and in previous editions of the publication entitled, Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

  (77) Total maximum daily load (TMDL)--The total amount of a substance that a water body can assimilate and still meet the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards.

  (78) Total suspended solids--Total suspended matter in water, which is commonly expressed as a concentration in terms of milligrams per liter. The term is equivalent to nonfilterable residue, as used in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 136 and in previous editions of the publication entitled, Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

Cont'd...

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