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Water
Quality Division
The
Oklahoma Conservation Commission is the state's nonpoint source technical
lead agency in carrying out Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management
Programs of the federal Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987. The Water
Quality division is responsible for the prioritization and management
of nonpoint source pollution of the state's waters. The Water Quality
Division has developed a strategy to monitor small feeder streams on
a rotational basis to determine the impacts of non-point source pollution
on the water resources of the state. This rotational monitoring program,
which rotates into two new basins every two years, supports the state's
ambient monitoring program. The division coordinates the development
of the state's water quality assessment and management program required
under Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act. The division also
manages a performance-based cost-share program in priority watersheds
where federal and state funds are made available to landowners to install
conservation practices to reduce the state's nonpoint source pollution.
The division director chairs the Nonpoint Source Working Group, which
is made up of federal, state and local agencies, environmental and
producer groups, and Indian tribes. The Nonpoint Source Working Group
identifies priorities where funds and technical assistance will be
directed. The Water Quality Division also includes the Conservation
Commission's Wetlands Program, which coordinates implementation of
the Oklahoma Comprehensive Wetlands Conservation Plan. The plan promotes
private and public cooperation in managing wetlands through a voluntary
system using education, technical assistance, and incentives.
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