Maryland's Designated Uses for Surface Waters
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Attention: The Watershed Protection, Restoration, and Planning Program is reevaluating the Use Classification system and Existing Use Policy for Maryland’s surface waters to better protect cold and cool water resources. To provide guidance during this process, the Department has convened an advisory committee composed of technical experts, stakeholders, and policy makers. For information about the committee’s goals, objectives, membership, and past meetings please CLICK HERE.
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To go directly to maps of Maryland's use classes/designated uses please click
HERE. For general information on Maryland's use classification system, please read below.
Each water body in Maryland is assigned a use class. The use class is a grouping or set of designated uses that apply to a water body which individually may or may not be supported now, but should be attainable.
The State of Maryland has defined the Use Classes below. Provided next to these are general descriptions of the specific designated uses included within these Use Classes.
- Use Class I: Water Contact Recreation, and Protection of Nontidal Warmwater Aquatic Life
- Use Class I-P: Water Contact Recreation, Protection of Aquatic Life, and Public Water Supply
- Use Class II: Support of Estuarine and Marine Aquatic Life and Shellfish Harvesting+
- Shellfish Harvesting Subcategory
- Seasonal Migratory Fish Spawning and Nursery Subcategory (Chesapeake Bay only)
- Seasonal Shallow-Water Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Subcategory (Chesapeake Bay only)
- Open-Water Fish and Shellfish Subcategory (Chesapeake Bay only)
- Seasonal Deep-Water Fish and Shellfish Subcategory (Chesapeake Bay only)
- Seasonal Deep-Channel Refuge Use (Chesapeake Bay only)
+Waterbodies designated as Use II do not necessarily support the shellfish harvesting use as some waters may be tidal but too fresh to support viable populations of shellfish.
- Use Class II-P: Tidal Fresh Water Estuary – includes applicable Use II and Public Water Supply
- Use Class III: Nontidal Cold Water
- Use Class III-P: Nontidal Cold Water and Public Water Supply
- Use Class IV: Recreational Trout Waters
- Use Class IV-P: Recreational Trout Waters and Public Water Supply
The following table shows the individual designated uses included in each use class grouping.
*All of the "seasonal" (plus the Open Water Fish and Shellfish) designated use subcategories only apply to the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.
For more detailed information describing Maryland’s designated uses please visit the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) Sections
26.08.02.02 and
26.08.02.02-1.
For official information on where these designated uses apply please see COMAR Section
26.08.02.08. These geographical descriptions can be difficult to decipher. To make this easier, MDE has created a dynamic map that displays the use classes that apply to each surface water body. Click on the
Designated Uses Mapping Page to view these maps.
Maryland has recently evaluated and identified the existing use for several streams that are different than the currently specified designated uses for those streams as listed in COMAR 26.08.02.08. Using data collected after November 28, 1975, Maryland found that these streams supported cold water obligate species and water temperatures cooler than what their currently specified designated use requires. These formally recognized existing uses are described in “Existing Use Determination and Rationale” documents that underwent public review with the 2019 Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards and were approved by EPA. Please refer to our Existing Use Determinations webpage to access the existing use determination and rationale documents.
In certain water bodies, the currently designated use class may not accurately reflect the existing use of a water body. In these cases, MDE may pursue use redesignation to better characterize and protect the existing use. One such example may occur when a currently designated Use Class I (warmwater) stream has documented coldwater obligate species (e.g. brook trout, Tallaperla sp.) and meets the Class III water temperature. In this scenario, the Department will determine if the use class should be updated to Use Class III (coldwater). If the reclassification is supported by applicable data, MDE will propose the use redesignation during the next Triennial Review. Since 2019, when this type of evaluation occurs, MDE documents the evaluation in an “Existing Use Determination and Rationale” document and specifies that it recommends the change of use class. The existing use determination documents can be found on the Existing Use Determinations webpage.
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Contact Info
Please direct questions or comments concerning Maryland's Water Quality Standards to Melinda Cutler at melinda.cutler@maryland.gov.
Last Updated 08/2023
