This paper presents the policy directions of total maximum daily loads(TMDL), which was recently adopted in Korea, for scientific management of water quality. The basic principles of water quality management are also discussed in this paper, along with the TMDL policy in United States as well as the previous policy in Korea. We discussed several unreasonable points out of the previous approaches, such as regulation of all point sources with equal standards, negligence of an assimilative capacity of the receiving water, and emphasis only on drinking water supply, etc.. For successful applications of the TMDL policy in Korea, the following directions are suggested: 1) the unit drainage basin for each TMDL application should be given, 2) the water body where the water quality standards should be maintained, needs to be guided, 3) the water quality parameters of TMDL should be given, 4) the technical guidances should be given for applications of water quality models, and 5) the seasonal TMDL would be allowed. In order to maximize the benefits of the TMDL policy, the local governments would need to implement the following strategies: 1) the increment of an assimilative capacity of the receiving water, 2) the effective controls of the non-point source pollution, 3) the advanced treatment of the point sources, 4) application of system optimization techniques along with effluent trade, and 5) utilization of watershed management systems.