Regional Water Quality Management Planning

Regional water quality management planning is required by the Clean Water Act for all metropolitan areas.  By federal law, states cannot issue discharge permits for wastewater treatment facilities that conflict with regional plans.  We work with local governments to determine who provides sewer service and the areas in which it will be provided, so that duplication of effort is avoided and government dollars are used cost-effectively. 

>> View the Wastewater Facility Planning Areas Map for Dearborn County

>> View the Wastewater Facility Planning Areas Map for Hamilton, Butler, Warren, and Clermont Counties

Because OKI’s plan was first adopted in 1978, updates and amendments to the plan are required on an on-going basis as resources permit.  We tailor our water quality management planning work to specific regional needs, geographic conditions, and available resources. In the current fiscal year we will work on updating specific aspects of the regional plan for Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren Counties in Ohio and Dearborn County, Indiana, using federal funds passed through Ohio EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. 

We will work with communities to maintain clean drinking water, to meet new requirements for storm water management, and to develop watershed plans so that state water quality standards can be met and no one group--communities, businesses, or farmers--bears the entire burden of pollution reduction alone.

Grants and Special Projects

OKI coordinates and manages efforts for a number of water quality related initiatives, studies and committees.  Through collaboration with local governments and agencies in the region, OKI has also been successful in obtaining grants for projects that demonstrate ways to reduce pollution and preserve the region’s valuable water resources.