Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) are action plans to restore clean water. TMDLs examine the water quality problems, identify sources of pollutants, and specify actions that create solutions.
We do not yet know the extent of property use restrictions that may be imposed under the Napa River TMDLs. The Napa River Pathogens TMDL has been completed. The Napa River Sediment TMDL is awaiting approval by the EPA. The Napa River nutrient TMDL is “in development”.
Although the TMDL effort is based on the notion that the San Francisco Bay and the rivers that flow into it are impaired by sediment, it now appears that the lack of sediment over the past ten years is threatening the ecology of the bay. See the attached article from the San Francisco Chronicle, "S.F. Bay's slide in mud worries scientists."
More information on the TMDLs can be found at: