Water Condition Lists
Impaired Waters, Waters in Restoration, and Waters Attaining Standards
Every two years, Sections 303(d) and 305(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) require states to publish a list of all waters not meeting water quality standards and an overall report on surface water quality status of all waters in the state. To comply with this reporting requirement, Wisconsin produces three lists.
- Impaired Waters: This is the official CWA 303(d) list. It contains waters not attaining water quality standards that do not yet have a restoration plan in place (TMDL, alternative restoration).
- Waters in Restoration: These are impaired waters with a restoration plan in place. This list was first created during the 2020 cycle.
- Waters Attaining Standards: These are waters assessed for at least one metric and show no impairment for the metric(s) assessed. Waters have been identified since 2014. The list was first created during the 2018 cycle.
The development of three separate lists more closely aligns our methods with the listing methods of other Midwest states.
Wisconsin's Draft 2026 Lists
The draft 2026 Water Condition Lists are available for public comment. The public comment period is open from Feb. 16 to March 18, 2026. Below are the draft lists and factsheets available for this cycle.
Draft 2026 Impaired Waters and Restoration Waters Lists [XLSX]
Please submit comments by March 18, 2026, to have them considered for the final Water Condition Lists submittal to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
Email: Justin Chenevert, Waterbody Assessment Coordinator or
DNRWYWaterbodyAssessments@wisconsin.gov
Mail:
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
c/o Justin Chenevert, Water Quality WY/3
P.O. Box 7921 Madison, WI 53707
A public informational meeting about the draft 2026 lists will also be held over Zoom:
When: 1 p.m. Monday, March 2
Where: Virtual Zoom link. Meeting ID 811 1139 5449. Pre-registration is not necessary.
Until the 2026 lists are approved by the USEPA, the 2024 versions are current, official lists (see Previous lists below).
Restoration Prioritization
Restoration actions can only occur on a subset of Wisconsin's waters at any given time due to the large number of water resources in the state. When the impaired waters list is created a priority ranking of high, medium or low is given to a listing. This ranking, also known as TMDL Status, is based on the current prioritization framework document. For more information on this framework document and TMDL prioritization, visit Surface Water Quality Restoration.
Data Viewing Tools
The Impaired Waters Search Tool may be used to search DNR's database current and previous impaired waters, as well as listing update proposals.
The Surface Water Data Viewer can be used to search for impaired waters listings and proposed listings in an interactive mapping application. To view impaired waters on the map, click the
Show Layers
button to expand theImpairments and Assessments
grouping and check theImpaired Waters Status
layer. The definitions of the listing status categories are provided in the Impaired Waters Search Help Tool.EPA 5-Part Categorization
Assessed waters are placed in one of five categories depending on if there is an impairment and if there is a restoration plan in place.
Wisconsin further divides categories 4 and 5 into subcategories.
Categories and Descriptions
1 Attains all uses. Healthy Waters 2 Attains at least one use; no use impaired. 3 Insufficient information for an attainment decision. 4 An impairment exists and a cleanup plan (TMDL or alt.) has been approved by the EPA. Restoration Waters 5 An impairment exists but a cleanup plan (TMDL or alt.) is still needed. Impaired Waters Category 4 (Restoration Waters) Subcategories
Subcategory Description Key Defining Factor 4A A state-developed TMDL has been approved by EPA or a TMDL has been established by EPA for any segment-pollutant combination. TMDL approved by EPA. 4B Other required control measures are expected to result in the attainment of an applicable water quality standard in a reasonable period of time. Alternative to TMDL approved by EPA. 4C The non-attainment of any applicable water quality standard for the segment is the result of pollution and is not caused by a pollutant. No pollutant. Category 5 (Impaired Waters) Subcategories
Subcategory Description Key Defining Factor 5A Available information indicates that at least one designated use is not met or is threatened, and/or the anti-degradation policy is not supported, and one or more TMDLs are still needed. This is the default category for impaired waters. TMDL needed. Default subcategory. 5B Available information indicates that atmospheric deposition of mercury has caused the impairment and no other sources have been identified. Mercury only. 5C Available information indicates that non-attainment of water quality standards may be caused by naturally occurring or irreversible human-induced conditions. Natural or irreversible conditions. 5P Available information indicates that the applicable total phosphorus criteria are exceeded; however, biological impairment has not been demonstrated (either because bioassessment shows no impairment or because data are not available). Phosphorus only. 5W Pollutant/impairment a low priority for a TMDL because the impaired water is included in a watershed area addressed by at least one of the following DNR-approved watershed plans: adaptive management plan, adaptive management pilot project, lake management plan, or Clean Water Act Section 319-funded watershed plan (i.e., nine key elements plan). Alternative cleanup plan. Previous Lists
The following table contains previous years' Water Condition Lists and related documents.
EPA Approval column: Before the Water Condition Lists are official, they need approval from the U.S. EPA. These are the approval documents from the EPA to the DNR for each assessment cycle.
Public Comments and DNR Response column: Prior to sending the lists to the EPA for federal review, the lists are sent out for a public comment period. These are the DNR's responses to public comment for each cycle. For additional information, visit Public Participation in Water Quality Assessments.
Year List EPA Approval [PDF] Public Comments and DNR Response [PDF] Additional Supporting Documents [PDF] 2024 2022 2020 2018 2016 2014 2012 2010 2008 2006 2004 2002 1998