Whether you are preparing a report or grant application or are just curious, this page will provide tools and links to information to answer your questions about the condition of streams and lakes of interest to you.
Kentucky’s Watershed Viewer: This online map allows the user to pan across the state, zoom to areas of interest and identify lots of information about your watershed. Available data include size of watershed, 305(b) use support, along with pollutant type and source of impairment, summary sheet of facts and statistics on watersheds (HUC11 scale) and much more. For help with fields and codes of the use support data in this viewer, see the 305b GIS Attributes.
U.S. EPA’s Watershed Assessment, Tracking and Environmental Results: EPA provides a similar online map to the Kentucky Watershed Viewer but also provides a searchable database of lake and stream conditions.
Kentucky’s 305(b) Report to Congress on Water Quality, formerly 305(b) and 303(d) Reports
Report: This is a report that provides the same 305(b) use support information as the Watershed Viewer, but in a text or tabular format. It summarizes all assessed or monitored streams in Kentucky, indicating their impairment status relative to water quality standards for designated uses, e.g., fully supports, partially supports or does not support aquatic life, drinking water sources or recreational use (swimming).
Maps: These PDF maps are a simple alternative to the graphical interface of the Watershed Viewer. They provide the same information as the report, but the navigation is easier to learn than the Watershed Viewer.
Kentucky’s 303(d) Status: Water bodies that are impaired or partially impaired become a priority for the state via the 303(d) list, which requires the state to begin technical analysis and planning to restore the water body. Water bodies on the 303(d) list must undergo the development of a total maximum daily load (TMDL), which is a data analysis process that allows for better planning and cleanup of the water body.
Kentucky's Approved TMDLs: A TMDL report provides a calculated pollutant load and outlines a basic implementation plan on how to achieve water quality standards with the goal of delisting the stream or lake from the 303(d) list.
Kentucky’s Special Use Waters: Special use waters are rivers, streams and lakes that are worthy of additional protection and are listed in Kentucky Administrative Regulations or the Federal Register as cold water aquatic habitat, exceptional waters, reference reach waters, outstanding state resource waters, outstanding national resource waters, state wild rivers and federal wild and scenic rivers. Not included as special use waters are water bodies designated by default as warm water aquatic habitat, primary contact recreation and secondary contact recreation.
Karst in Kentucky: The word "karst" is a term used by geologists for areas with sinkholes, caves and springs. This Web page includes a generalized map of the karst regions of Kentucky that can be downloaded. The Web page also includes a link to an informative publication by James Currens titled "Kentucky is Karst Country! What You Should Know About Sinkholes and Springs."
Download GIS 305(b) Data: You can download spatial data sets for your geographic information system. This site provides download capabilities of shape files suitable for ArcView or other geographic systems as well as metadata describing how and by whom the data were compiled.
