In the fall of 2008, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Water Bureau Director established a wet weather program designed to improve the understanding of rules, policies and regulations related to the monitoring, control and permitting of wet weather events and discharges. The program created five Water Bureau work groups, tasked with identifying and benchmarking best practices around controlling and reducing adverse surface water quality impacts of wet weather discharge flows. The work groups focused on the following areas:

1. Wastes to Land ‐ septage, biosolids, and animal feeding operations of all sizes
2. Earth Change ‐ soil erosion and sedimentation, forestry, construction, stormwater, and farming other than animal feeding operations
3. Urban Living ‐ municipal and industrial stormwater, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs)
4. Wet Weather Monitoring ‐ ambient and discharge monitoring practices of state agencies, permit holders, and external organizations
5. Water Quality Based Effluent Limits (WQBEL) and Water Quality Standards (WQS)