The Loxahatchee River Management Coordinating Council began work on developing a Reasonable Assurance Plan to replace the Total Maximum Daily Load that was prepared for the Loxahatchee River. The Reasonable Assurance Plan is a stakeholder driven plan that examines the impairments and prepares solutions, the pollutant loading model and applying the potential projects, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection determined that the Reasonable Assurance Plan should be changed to a Pollutant Reduction Plan, which is considered a 4E Plan. This plan shows that the reductions do not meet all the Total Maximum Daily Load requirements, but it shows that the stakeholders are working on meeting the reduction requirements.

The initial projects show that the Total Phosphorus reductions should be met, but Total Nitrogen is behind. The group prepared additional projects to determine if they could meet the Total Nitrogen reduction. On May 19, 2020, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued its notification on the impaired waters rule and waterbody identification numbers that were included in the Pollutant Reduction Plan were delisted due to the approval of the Plan by Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The District is a stakeholder and supports the nutrient reduction and improvements to the Loxahatchee River’s water quality. 

The goal of a Pollutant Reduction Plan as defined under category 4E from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is to implement appropriate restoration activities, and if necessary, additional study so that by the next assessment cycle, either a Reasonable Assurance Plan can be approved or the water body meets the set standards.

Every five years, a pollutant reduction plan update will be completed. The next update is scheduled for February 2025. The update will include results of water quality data assessments, updated annual pollutant loads, any progress in achieving reductions, any monitoring changes, the status of project implementation, estimated load reductions, percentage of load reduction targets achieved, and additional management activities needed, if any, to meet the water quality criteria.