2. Proposed Amendment to the Water Quality Control Plan for the North Coast Region
The proposed Basin Plan amendment which follows is a revision of the proposal set forth in the Staff Report dated December 9, 1997. The proposed revisions are in response to comments received during the public comment period, and they include revisions for clarification purposes as well as some significant revisions. The significant revisions to the December 9, 1997 proposed Basin Plan language are indicated in bold font.
The Regional Water Board will consider amending Section 4, Nonpoint Source Measures, of the Water Quality Control Plan for the North Coast Region, to include the following language at the end of the Section:
Water Quality Attainment Strategy (Total Maximum Daily Load) for Sediment for the Garcia River Watershed
The Garcia River watershed comprises approximately 73,223 acres in southwestern Mendocino County and discharges to the Pacific Ocean. In 1996, the state of California identified the Garcia River as a high-priority waterbody according to the requirements in Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Section 303(d)(1)(A) of the CWA requires that states list those waters within its boundaries for which existing management practices are not sufficient to achieve water quality standards. The Garcia River was identified as a high-priority waterbody due to excessive sedimentation. Accelerated erosion from land use practices and other causes was identified as affecting the migration, spawning, reproduction, and early development of cold-water fish such as coho salmon and steelhead trout. When the Garcia River was designated a high-priority waterbody under the requirements of the CWA, the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the river became necessary.
As a result of the designation of the Garcia River as a high-priority waterbody under the guidelines of the CWA, landowners, land managers, resource protection agencies, and interested members of the public provided input in the preparation of the Garcia River Watershed Water Quality Attainment Strategy for Sediment (1997) (Strategy). The Strategy is a tool for landowners, land managers, interested public, and state, local and federal resource protection agency personnel to use as an aid for developing and implementing plans to reduce sediment delivery to the Garcia River and its tributaries. The Strategy identifies sources of sediment in the Garcia River watershed, estimates the sediment production in the Garcia River watershed that is directly attributable to human-related uses of the land, and sets forth a schedule and means for reducing controllable sedimentation. It is a planning document that should be revised over time as factors affecting sediment conditions are better understood. In addition, the Strategy contains the components necessary to develop a TMDL for the Garcia River watershed. Thesummary of the Strategy that follows describes the approach of the Regional Water Board to achieve sedimentation reduction and attain beneficial uses in the Garcia River watershed and serves as a TMDL for the Garcia River watershed.
The Garcia River and its tributaries have experienced a reduction in the quality and amount of instream habitat that is capable of fully supporting the beneficial use of a cold-water fishery, due to increased sedimentation. This has resulted in a reduction in the stock of coho salmon and steelhead. The acceleration of sediment delivery in the Garcia River watershed due to land management activities has resulted in the loss or reduction of pools necessary for salmonid rearing and the loss or degradation of potential spawning gravel. In addition, the loss or reduction of instream channel structure in the Garcia River watershed due to land management activities has contributed to this habitat loss or reduction.
Numeric targets, as derived from the scientific literature, focus on the elimination of sediment as a pollutant of concern, and provide instream water quality goals for restoring a cold-water fishery habitat. These desired future conditions are intended to be consistent with existing water quality objectives and beneficial uses, but are not themselves enforceable. The numeric targets will be revised if additional site-specific data for the watershed support the need for revision. Table 1 provides a summary of the Numeric Targets for the Garcia River watershed.
Table 1. Summary of Numeric Targets for the Garcia River Watershed
·Class II streams are watercourses which have fish always or seasonally present offsite within 1000 feet downstream; and/or contain aquatic habitat for non-fish aquatic species. Class II waters do not include Class III waters that are directly tributary to Class I waters.
·Class III streams are watercourses which do not have aquatic life present, but show evidence of being capable of sediment transport to Class I and II waters under normal high flow conditions during and after completion of land management activities.
·Stream order is the designation of the relative position of stream segments in the drainage basin network. For example, a first order stream is the smallest, unbranched, perennial tributary which terminates at the upper point. A second order stream is formed when two first order streams join.
V* is a numerical value which represents the proportion of fine sediment that occupies the scoured residual volume of a pool.
Source Analysis
The controllable sources of sediment delivery associated with land management activities include: mass wasting (primarily from landslides) associated with timber harvest units and roads; fluvial erosion (primarily from gullies) associated with roads, landings, skid trails, and agricultural operations; and surface erosion (primarily from rills and sheetwash) associated with roads, skid trails, and agricultural operations. The rates of sediment delivery from these sources of sediment have been estimated using aerial photograph interpretation and data analysis. As a gross estimate, the Garcia River watershed produces at least 1,400 tons of sediment/mi2/year.
Linkage Analysis
The linkage analysis is designed to provide a quantitative description of the relationship between sediment loads associated with land management practices and instream conditions. For the Garcia River, the linkage between source and instream conditions was estimated using three methods:
1. Comparison of streams.
Streams with similar physical, climatic, and geologic characteristics to the Garcia River watershed and that had received varying degrees of sedimentation were compared to estimate the reduction in sediment loading needed to achieve the desired future condition in the Garcia River. The average sediment loading rates in two coastal forested streams in the Mendocino County, South Fork Caspar Creek (a heavily harvested watershed that was estimated to produce 1420 tons/mi2/yr) and North Fork Caspar Creek (a relatively unharvested watershed that was estimated to produce 680 tons/mi2/yr), were compared. The 52 percent difference in sediment loading between the two streams was estimated to be the reduction needed to achieve the desired future condition in the Garcia River. (Garcia River Sediment Total Maximum Daily Load, USEPA, Region IX, March 16, 1998).
2. Comparison of conditions resulting from historic and existing land management practices.
The comparison was based on two assumptions. The first assumption was that any reduction of erosion on the hillslope results in an equivalent reduction in impacts to the instream targets. Using the first assumption, the existing conditions from monitoring data from the Garcia River watershed were compared to the instream targets. The average difference between existing conditions and the instream targets was 33 percent. A 33 percent reduction in sediment delivery would be required to meet the instream targets. That was further adjusted using differences in sediment production from the period 1952-1996 and 1978-1996 based on thelikelihood that sediment delivery rates declined since 1978 due to improved forestry practices. Based on that analysis, the 33 percent reduction estimate was adjusted upward to 55 percent. (Garcia River Sediment Total Maximum Daily Load, USEPA, Region IX, March 16, 1998)
3. Qualitative analysis
The observations of existing conditions and likely causes were analyzed on a sub-watershed basis. The relative efficiencies of specific land management measures in reducing sediment input from identified sources were derived and applied to the observations of conditions and causes. The needed reductions based on those efficiencies were estimated between 50 percent and 90 percent, depending on the source. The average reduction to achieve the desired future conditions was 74 percent (Strategy).
The USEPA developed a linkage analysis which estimated that a 55 percent overall reduction in sediment loading in the Garcia River watershed was needed to achieve the desired future conditions. The USEPA added a 5 percent explicit margin of safety to account for unassessed sources. The Regional Water Board estimates an overall 74 percent reduction is necessary. The Regional Water Board estimate includes a reservation for unassessed sediment loading resulting from surface erosion on skid trails, streambank erosion from fluvial processes, and from the movement of instream stored sediment, as well as from the implicit margin of safety as explained below, whereas the USEPA TMDL does not.
Margin of Safety: The Strategy incorporates an implicit margin of safety. That is, in the development of the Strategy, conservative assumptions were made to address the uncertainty associated with the data. As site-specific data are submitted in the future, the uncertainty will be reduced, allowing for a reduction in the degree of conservatism associated with those assumptions.
Load Allocations
Table 2. Estimates of Existing Sediment Delivery, Reduction Rates, and Future Sediment Delivery resulting from Implementation of the Strategy
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| Roads | 777 | 90 % | 78 |
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Timber Harvesting
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| Mass wasting | 140 | 50 % | 70 |
| Other | 357 | 90 % | 35 |
| Reserve | Unknown | Not applicable | 45 |
| Background | 140 | 0 % | 140 |
| TOTAL | 1414 | 74 % | 368 |
Allocations of Responsibility
In general, measures known to control mass wasting from harvested areas in timber harvest units are estimated to be 50 percent effective. Measures known to control mass wasting, fluvial erosion, and surface erosion from roads, landings, and skid trails are estimated to be 90 percent effective. Measures known to control fluvial and surface erosion from non-road related agricultural operations are estimated to be 50 percent effective on hillslopes and 90 percent effective in the riparian zone.
Table 3 provides a schedule for source reduction based on the known controllable sources of sediment delivery by source and land use for the Garcia River watershed.
Table 3. Known Controllable Sources of Sediment Delivery in the Garcia River Watershed and Schedule for Reduction by Source and Land Use
| Source and Land Use | Activity and Schedule |
| Roads, landings, skid trails, agricultural operations, and other significant human-caused earth movement | Complete a Baseline Data Inventory and a priority
list of sites within 3 years.
Update the Baseline Data Inventory every ten years thereafter. |
| Unstable areas in riparian zone and on hillslopes | Complete an Assessment of Unstable Areas and a priority list of sites within 3 years. Update the Assessment of Unstable Areas every 10 years thereafter. |
| Roads | Implement Land Management Measures to Control Sediment Delivery at a rate of 10 percent of the sites or controllable sediment volume identified in the Baseline Data Inventory each year, or until a 90 percent reduction of sediment delivery occurs. |
| Timber operations (not including mass wasting) | Implement Land Management Measures to Control Sediment Delivery at a rate of 10 percent of the sites or controllable sediment volume identified in the Baseline Data Inventory each year, or until a 90 percent reduction of sediment delivery occurs. |
| Agriculture in the Riparian Zone | Implement Land Management Measures to Control Sediment Delivery in the Riparian Zone at a rate of 25 percent of the sites or controllable sediment volume identified in the Baseline Data Inventory every four years, or until a 90 percent reduction of sediment delivery occurs. |
| Agriculture on the hillslopes | Implement Land Management Measures to Control Sediment Delivery on hillslopes at a rate of 12 percent of the sites or controllable sediment volume identified in the Baseline Data Inventory every four years, or until a 50 percent reduction of sediment delivery occurs. |
| Timber operations (mass wasting) | Implement Land Management Measures to Control Sediment Delivery due to mass wasting at a rate of 15 percent of the sites identified in the Assessment of Unstable Areas every ten years or until an estimated 50 percent reduction of sediment delivery occurs. |
Implementation Plan
The implementation plan is intended to control future and existing sources of sediment resulting from human activity to the Garcia River. To control these sources, three options are offered to landowners. These options are:
Option 1. Comply with the waste discharge prohibitions that apply within the Garcia River watershed.
Option 2. Submit a Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan, or
Option 3. Comply with the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan.
Waste Discharge Prohibitions that Apply within the Garcia River Watershed.
The following waste discharge prohibitions apply within the Garcia River watershed:
1. The controllable discharge of soil, silt, bark, slash, sawdust, or other organic and earthen material from any logging, construction, gravel mining, agricultural, grazing, or other activity of whatever nature into waters of the State within the Garcia River watershed is prohibited.
2. The controllable discharge of soil, silt, bark, slash, sawdust, or other organic and earthen material from any logging, construction, gravel mining, agricultural, grazing, or other activity of whatever nature to a location where such material could pass into waters of the state within the Garcia River watershed is prohibited.
Controllable discharges are those discharges resulting from human activities that can influence the quality of the water of the State and that can be reasonably controlled. The above two prohibitions do not apply to landowners who are conducting their land management activities in accordance with either an approved Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan or the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan. If the Regional Water Board finds that significant discharges or threatened discharges of sediment occur despite the implementation of an approved Sedimentation Reduction Plan or the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan, it will consider the need to revise the plans and will consider the issuance of a Cleanup and Abatement Order to address the discharge, but it will not impose administrative civil liabilities for violations of the prohibitions.
Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plans differ from the Garcia River Sedimentation Reduction Plan. With the Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan, the landowner is able to select land management practices for controllingsediment that are suitable for the specific activities and conditions on his or her land. In the Garcia River Sedimentation Reduction Plan, more general land management practices for road design and construction, watercourse crossings, and activities within the riparian management zone apply. The Regional Water Board strongly encourages all landowners to prepare Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plans and to use the Garcia River Sedimentation Reduction Plan only until they can develop their own plans to control discharges of sediment from their properties. The Regional Water Board also encourages groups of dischargers with similar land activities to develop collective watershed-based Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plans where appropriate.
The elements of an approvable Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan and the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan are described below.
Elements of the Site Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plans
Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plans shall contain the following elements.
1. Baseline Data Inventory
An ownership-wide baseline data inventory of existing and potential human-caused sediment delivery sites. The inventory shall include a description of all active and potential sediment sources resulting from roads, landings, skid trails and agricultural operations, and other significant human-caused earth movement activities that have or might have the ability to enter waters of the state. The baseline data inventory shall include, at a minimum, a description of the inventory method used; a map showing the ownership boundary and the location of all inventoried sites; and, for each site, an estimate of the volume of sediment, the relative potential for sediment delivery, and the degree to which it is controllable. The baseline data inventory must be comprehensive and may follow as examples the inventory methods described in the Assessment and Implementation Techniques for Road-Related Sediment Inventories and Storm-Proofing. and contained in the draft Sustained Yield Plan/Habitat Conservation Plan for the Pacific Lumber Company (August 25, 1997, Appendix 20, prepared by William Weaver, of Pacific Watershed Associates, Inc); the *STAR* Worksheet system of the Watershed and Aquatic Habitat Assessment (September 29, 1997, Appendix 6:1 prepared by Coastal Forestlands, Ltd.); or the data collection inventory described in the Manual for Forest Road Management (July 1996, pages 2-1 through 2-13, prepared by Louisiana-Pacific Corporation).
2. Sediment Reduction Schedule
The sediment reduction schedule shall describe how the controllable sources identified in the baseline data inventory will be reduced in accordance with the schedule set forth in the Allocation of Responsibility section. The baseline data inventory described in 1. above shall be used when prioritizing and conducting sediment delivery reduction activities, and the highest priority for sediment delivery reduction shall be assigned to those sites with the greatest potential to discharge sediment to a watercourse that supports anadromous fish.
3. Assessment of Unstable Areas
The assessment of unstable areas shall include an ownership-wide inventory of unstable areas that might result in future sediment delivery, including all known active and potential shallow and deep-seated landslides, debris flows and slides, earthflows, inner gorges, and unstable soils. The assessment of unstable areas shall also include all known active or potentially active gullies and streambank erosion sites, as appropriate, but should not include the sites identified in 1. above. Preparers of the inventory of unstable areas may but are not required to use existing California Department of Conservation "Geology and Geomorphic Geomorphology Maps" in combination with the field-based maps of unstable areas, or a digital terrain-type model like the one developed by Louisiana Pacific Corporation in its draft Sustained Yield Plan for Coastal Mendocino County (1997).
4. Description of Land Management Measures to Control Sediment Delivery
The description shall specify the land management practices the landowner proposes to implement to control the future delivery of sediment from inventoried sites, including a description of the practices which will be followed for road and crossing construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and obliteration; operations on unstable slopes, particularly on active or potentially active landslides, headwall swales, and inner gorges; use of skid trails and landings; agricultural activities; and wet weather operational practices. The Land Management Measures shall also include the development of a long-term road system network and plan similar to that described below in the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan. In addition, the description shall include supporting information that provides reasonable assurance that the proposed control measures will result in the sediment delivery reductions within the time frames in Table 3 of the Allocation of Responsibility section, and provide a level of water quality protection that is roughly equivalent to that expected from the applicable measures of the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan.
5. Description of Land Management Measures to Improve the Condition of theRiparian Management Zone
The description shall specify the land management practices the landowner proposes to improve or maintain the condition of the riparian zone such that it provides: stream bank protection, filtering of eroded material prior to its entering the stream channel, and recruitment of large woody debris to the stream channel and flood plain. In addition, the description shall include supporting information that provides reasonable assurance that the proposed control measures will result in the sediment delivery reductions within the time frames in Table 3 of the Allocation of Responsibility section, and provide a level of water quality protection that is roughly equivalent to that expected from the applicable measures of the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan.
Monitoring Plan
In areas where hillslopes have been identified as significant sources of sediment delivery, landowners are encouraged to monitor individual roads, landings, skid trails, and any other structures or facilities that have been identified to be associated with sediment delivery. The monitoring should provide information regarding the effectiveness of the sediment control efforts the landowner has implemented. In addition, individual landowners are encouraged to establish instream monitoring points above and below any significant land management activity on their properties.
Relation of Other Planning Efforts to Sedimentation Reduction Plans
The Regional Water Board does not intend for landowners to engage in duplicative or overly complex planning efforts if they are already involved in planning efforts which will satisfy the requirements of this Basin Plan amendment. For examples, the Regional Water Board will consider all of the following to be approvable as a Site-Specific Sediment Reduction Plan, as long as the documents include, or are modified to include, the elements described above and demonstrate water quality protection and restoration for the area of ownership roughly commensurate with the applicable elements of the Allocation of Responsibility and the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan:
· Non-Industrial Timber Management Plans
· Sustained Yield Plans
· Habitat Conservation Plans
· Letters of Intent followed by Ranch Plans as described in the California Rangeland Water Quality Management Plan (July 1995)
· Timber Harvest Plans
Elements of the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan
The Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan shall include Elements No. 1 through 3 and 6 of the Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plans, as well as the following land management practices, to the extent they are relevant to the land management activities and conditions on each landowner's land.
Land Management Practices That Apply Throughout the Garcia River Watershed
1. To ensure that land management activities in the Garcia River watershed are conducted in a manner that prevents controllable sources of sediment from entering waters of the state, each landowner shall plan and conduct all land management activities to comply with the following measures:
A. A long-term road system network and plan shall be developed for each ownership. The road network shall be designed and constructed to provide surfacing and drainage to match the intended road use and maintenance abilities. Roads that are not needed as part of the long-term road system network and that discharge or threaten to discharge earthen material to waters of the state shall be scheduled for abandonment or obliteration as part of the road use plan. The location of all roads within the Riparian Management Zone, including those used to access water drafting locations, shall be included in the road plan. Emphasis shall be placed on developing off-channel drafting locations. (See Land Management Practices That Apply in the Riparian Management Zone for All Activities Subject to the Garcia River Sedimentation Reduction Plan for a definition of Riparian Management Zone)
1) Roads used year round shall be designed, constructed, reconstructed or upgraded to permanent road status with the application of an adequate layer of competent rock for surface material and the installation of permanent watercourse and road surface drainage structures. These roads shall receive regular and storm period inspection and maintenance.
2) Roads used primarily during the dry season but to a limited extent during wet weather shall be designed, constructed, reconstructed or upgraded to seasonal road status with the application of spot rocking where needed to provide a stable running surface during the period of use. These roads shall be designed, constructed, reconstructed, and upgraded to provide permanent watercourse and road surface drainage structures. These roads shall receive inspection at least once during the wet weather period andshall receive at least annual maintenance.
3) Roads that are not used during wet weather shall be constructed, or reconstructed to a temporary road status. Spot rocking of the road surface shall be used, where needed, to provide a stable running surface during the period of use. Road surface drainage structures shall be designed and constructed to prevent erosion so that regular and storm period maintenance is not needed to prevent sediment discharge to watercourses. All roads that will not receive at least annual maintenance shall have drainage structures on watercourses except rock fords removed prior to October 15 of each year of installation.
4) All roads not needed for the long-term road system network within the riparian zone and across unstable areas shall be abandoned or obliterated.
B. All watercourse road crossings shall, at a minimum, utilize the standards described on pages 64 - 79 of the Handbook for Forest and Ranch Roads prepared by Weaver and Hagans 1994). These standards include but are not limited to the design and installation of permanent crossings using a culvert with a minimum diameter designed to pass at least a 50-year flood frequency event. Larger diameter culverts shall be used if debris that might result in blockage of the culvert inlet is present in the channel. All crossings shall be designed and installed to prevent the diversion of stream flow down or through the road prism in the event of culvert failure, and to provide free passage to fish at all flow regimes.
C. All road design, construction, and reconstruction shall use, at a minimum, the standards described on pages 39 - 54 and 81 - 120 of the Handbook for Forest and Ranch Roads (prepared by Weaver and Hagans, 1994). These standards include but are not limited to the outsloping of the road prism (whenever feasible and safe) and the installation of rolling dips (rather than water bars) for additional road drainage. If insloped roads are necessary, ditch relief culverts shall be installed, at a minimum, at the distances described in Table 20 of the Handbook for Forest and Ranch Roads (prepared by Weaver and Hagans, 1994), and located to prevent discharge of road drainage directly onto erodible soils.
2. To prevent the discharge of sediment to watercourses from land use
practices, each landowner shall use the following protection measures:
3. To prevent the discharge of sediment from land use operations on
unstable areas, each landowner shall implement the following protective
measures:
D. Agricultural activities on unstable slopes that have the potential to deliver sediment to a water of the state shall be minimized to the extent practical.
Land Management Practices That Apply in the Riparian Management Zone
A Riparian Management Zone width shall be assigned to each watercourse based on the beneficial uses associated with the watercourse. For watercourses that directly support beneficial uses of water (Class I and II watercourses as defined in California Forest Practice Rules, Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Chapters 4 and 4.5 and in the footnote to Table 1 Summary of Numeric Targets for the Garcia River Watershed ), a Riparian Management Zone shall include a 100-foot strip of land on each side of the watercourse. For watercourses that do not directly support beneficial uses but are capable of transporting sediment to a watercourse which directly supports beneficial uses (Class III as defined in California Forest Practice Rules, Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Chapters 4 and 4.5 and in the footnote to Table 1 Summary of Numeric Targets for the Garcia River Watershed), a Riparian Management Zone shall include a 50-foot strip of land on each side of the watercourse. The Riparian Management Zoneshall be measured from the active channel or bankfull stage, whichever is wider.
1. To maintain an adequate sediment buffer between land management activities and watercourses, it is the goal of the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan that 100 percent surface vegetation and/or duff be established and maintained within the Riparian Management Zone between the watercourses and land management activities that could otherwise result in the delivery of sediment to the watercourse. It is required, however, that any soil exposure within the Riparian Management Zone that is caused by land management activities shall be stabilized with the application of grass seed, mulch, slash or rock before October 15 of the year of disturbance. Stabilization measures shall achieve at least 90 percent coverage of all soil within the Riparian Management Zone exposed by land management activities.
2. To promote stream bank stability, each landowner shall ensure that there are no commercial land management activities, including commercial or salvage timber harvest or grazing, within the first 25 feet of the Riparian Management Zone for watercourses that directly support beneficial uses of water. This measure does not apply to the watercourse crossings.
3. To maintain present levels and promote future instream large woody debris, each landowner shall restrict commercial land use activities within the Riparian Management Zone to ensure that:
Land Management Practices that Apply to Gravel Mining in the Garcia River Watershed
1.In-channel gravel mining shall follow all of the recommendations for in-channel mining contained in pages 87 to 91 of the Garcia River Gravel Management Plan, prepared for the Mendocino County Water Agency, August 1996.
2.Floodplain (Off-Channel) gravel mining shall follow all of the recommendations for off-channel mining contained in pages 91 to 93 of the Garcia River Gravel Management Plan, prepared for the Mendocino County Water Agency, August 1996.
Review of Individual Land Management Projects
Proposed land management projects which require Regional Water Board review for possible issuance of waste discharge requirements pursuant to Section 13260 of the California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, Clean Water Act Section 404 permits, and/or Clean Water Act Section 401 certification shall comply with the Strategy as appropriate.
Restoration Projects
Landowners, agencies, and interested groups are encouraged to continue their interest, participation, and cooperation with restoration activities in the Garcia River watershed. Restoration is a tool useful for both stabilizing eroding stream banks throughout the watershed and improving instream habitat conditions. To ensure that stream restoration projects are planned and implemented in a manner that allows compliance with the provisions of the Strategy, each landowner conducting restoration projects on his/her ownership shall notify the Regional Water Board in writing of any stream restoration activity, its location, the time frame of the project, and a summary of the work proposed.
Implementation Schedule
Regional Water Board staff will prepare a letter to each landowner in the Garcia River watershed requesting a statement of intent regarding the Strategy. The Regional Water Board letter will describe the options available to the landowner, which are as follows:
Option 1 Comply with the waste discharge prohibitions that apply to the Garcia River watershed.
Option 2 Prepare a Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan.
Option 3 Comply with the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan.
Landowners must comply with the Strategy through one of these three options or face potential permitting and/or enforcement action in the event of discharges of sediment. The Regional Water Board will presume that landowners who do notsubmit a statement of intent intend to comply with Option 1.
Regional Water Board staff will review and respond to each statement of intent. The Board will then prioritize efforts in the Garcia River watershed, based on its general estimates of relative threat to water quality. Highest priority will be assigned on an ownership by ownership basis to those sites identified as having the highest existing discharge or potential discharge of sediment to a watercourse that supports fisheries.
Landowners who intend to submit a Site-Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan or who intend to comply with the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Plan (Option 2 or 3) are encouraged to do so as soon as possible and to submit their plans to the Regional Water Board. Regional Water Board staff will acknowledge receipt of each plan submitted and will review each plan for completeness. If the review indicates that the plan is complete and provides reasonable assurance that the plan will result in meeting the schedule for sediment reduction described in Table 2 of the Allocation of Responsibility section of the Strategy and provide a level of water quality protection that is roughly equivalent to that expected from the applicable measures of the Garcia River Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan, the Executive Officer will approve the plan and notify the landowner in a letter.
Monitoring Plan
Monitoring by the Regional Water Board
Regional Water Board staff will establish at least one instream monitoring point in each of the 12 subwatersheds in the Garcia River watershed and shall select monitoring protocols that relate directly to the numeric targets and the sediment delivery reduction schedule in the Strategy.
Monitoring by Landowners
In areas where hillslopes have been identified as significant sources of sediment delivery, landowners are encouraged to monitor individual roads, landings, skid trails, and any other structures or facilities that have been identified to be associated with sediment delivery. The monitoring should provide information regarding the effectiveness of the sediment control efforts the landowner has implemented. In addition, individual landowners are encouraged to establish instream monitoring points above and below any significant land management activity on their properties. Regional Water Board staff will work together with the University of California Cooperative Extension to assist landowners in developing and coordinating monitoring plans.
Landowners shall submit an annual report describing the activities of the previous year and the sediment delivery reduction results by January 30 of each year. In addition, landowners utilizing either a Site Specific Sedimentation Reduction Plan or a GarciaRiver Watershed Sedimentation Reduction Plan shall notify the Regional Water Board if a change in ownership or primary land management activities on their lands occur. At least annually, Regional Water Board staff will compile and evaluate the results of the annual reports provided by landowners, for review by the Regional Water Board to assess the progress of the Strategy.
Plan for Future Review of the Strategy
Public participation was a key element in the development of the Strategy and will continue to be an essential component in its implementation. Interested persons will have the opportunity to comment on the progress of the Strategy at watershed meetings, and to the Regional Water Board at least once every 3 years, at which time the Regional Water Board shall determine if there is sufficient progress toward achievement of the numeric targets described in the Strategy. If sufficient progress toward attainment of the numeric targets is not documented, the Regional Water Board will consider revising the Strategy.
