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Basic Course: Key Concepts
Criteria Types: Specific but Complementary
While each type of water quality criterion has a specific focus, the different criteria that a State or Tribe adopts into its water quality standards should operate together to support overall protection of the water body.
Key Point. In making water quality management decisions, a State or Tribe should independently apply each criterion that has been adopted into its water quality standards. If a water body has multiple designated uses with different criteria for the same pollutant, States/Tribes should use the criterion protective of the most sensitive use.
| Criteria Types | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Human health criteria | Protect humans from toxic chemical pollutants in both water and fish tissue. |
| Pathogen criteria | Protect humans recreating in water from gastrointestinal illness caused by bacteria and viruses. |
| Aquatic life criteria | Protect survival, growth, and reproduction of fish and invertebrates from specific chemical pollutants in the water column. |
| Suspended and bedded sediment criteria | Describe the desired amount of organic and inorganic material that has settled at the bottom of a water body or remains in the water column. |
| Biological criteria | Describe the desired biological integrity of a water body often using indices derived from field data from reference conditions. |
| Nutrient criteria | Establish allowable levels of parameters such as nitrogen and phosphorus that protect against adverse effects of cultural eutrophication. |
Resources. For a definition of eutrophication and related terms, visit EPA's Nutrients Glossary page.
Learn More. Details about the six criteria types. Proceed to the Learn More Topic. »
Disclaimer:
For informational purposes only–Not official statements of EPA policy.
