Program Resources

Water Quality in the Basin

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program (PRP) is governed by the Clean Water Act, Section 121, and through it projects are funded to help restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological health of the Basin's waters.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) is the authorized regulatory agency for water quality in Louisiana. Please visit the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's webpage on water to learn more about how they help protect water in the state. 

Clean Water Act Section 305(b) requires states to report on the overall health of all waters, while Clean Water Act 303(d) requires listing impaired waters that need cleanup plans. Given that both the 305(b) report and the 303(d) lists are due at the same time (April 1 of every even numbered year), EPA recommends that states combine them into a single “Integrated Report.”

Please visit LDEQ’s Integrated Report for the most recent assessment of water quality data, or EPA How’s My Waterway. LDEQ updates their Integrated Report every 2 years, and submits their water quality data to EPA, which is then published on the EPA How's My Waterway website.

For water quality data and information about surface waters in Mississippi, please visit the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's website. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) reports on the status of the state’s surface and ground waters every two years; these reports may be found on their web page for Surface Water Quality Assessments. This information is sent to EPA and is also available to the public via EPA How’s My Waterway.

The Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS)

All surface water quality data that is submitted to the EPA is available to the public via the Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS), please visit the EPA's ATTAINS website for more information. This contains official surface water quality data for the entire United States. The ATTAINS database is what informs and is used by the EPA How's My Waterway website/tool.