8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
1/16
The Ahwahnee Water Principles:Em bedding NPS in Com m unity Developm ent
efficient use of water resources.
Cities, counties and regional plan-
ning agencies are incorporating
concepts embodied in th e Water
Principles in to th eir developm ent
plan s, and th e State Water Resources
Control Board (State Water Board)
may make the Principles part of its
program of grants an d loan s for
water in frastructure p rojects.
Som e of th e key features of the
Water Prin ciples are use of p aving
A N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E W A T E R E D U C A T I O N F O U N D A T I O N
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Fal l 20 05
BY GLENNTOTTEN
T
he intermit tent nature of
n on point source water pollu-
tion, i ts ever-chan gin g volume
and comp osition, presen ts tough
challenges for cities and local
governments facing explosive
growth and water quality problems.
Is there a way to balance the de-
m and s of Californ ias m ushroom ing
popu lation and increasin gly expen-
sive real estate wh ile at th e same
tim e dealin g with d ifficult urban
run off problem s?
Regional and local planners
believe they h ave foun d such a way
in th e Ah wahn ee Water Prin ciples
for Resou rce Efficient Lan d U se, a
set of guidelines adop ted in early
2005 by th e Local Governm ent
Com m ission (LGC).
The Water Principles emph asize
m ore comp act urban development
th at m akes use of n atural an d
plann ed features to m anage urban
runoff, improve and enh ance
ground water resources and prom ote
In This Issue
Fal l 20 05
Mercury TMDL Returned ...... 3
Garcia River TMDL........ ....... 4
Nonpoint Source News ....... . 9
TMDL Roundup ................. 11
Rethinking Urban Runoff
Management .................. 14
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
2/16
Edi tors
Rita Schm idt Sudman
Sue McClu rg
Writers
Glenn Totten
Gary Pitzer
Edi tor ia l Assi s tance
Diana Farmer
P h o t o s
California Departmen t of
Water Resources
Sue McClu rg
Rivertech
State Water Resources Con trol Board
TreePeople
Jonathan Warmerdam
D e s ig n a n d La y o u t
Curt Leipold,
Graphic Comm unications
The Water Education Foundat ion th anks
all the sources and experts who reviewed
this newsletter for balance and accuracy.
Water Education Foun dation
717 K St., Suite 3 17
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 444-6240
Fax (916) 448-7699
e-mail: feedback@wateredu cation .org
W e b p a g e : w w w . w a t e r e d u c a t i o n . o rg
Pres ident
Hen ry Vaux Jr., Ph.D.
Execut ive Direc tor
Rita Schm idt Sudman
Laurel Ames, California W atershed Network
Grant Davis, The Bay Institute
Denn is Dickerson ,McGuire Malcolm Pirnie
Steve Fagun des, State W ater Resources Control Board
David Gu y, General Manager, Northern California Water Association
Jake Macken zie, City of Rohnert Park
Dan iel Merkley, State W ater Resources Control Board
Michele Stress, San Diego County Departm ent of Public W orks
Sam Ziegler, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The California Runoff Rundown is published
by the Water Education Founda tion. The
mission of the Water Edu cation Foun dation,
an imp artial, non-profit organization, is to
create a better und erstanding of water issuesand h elp resolve water resource problems
through educational programs. The
California Runoff Rundown is published
through a grant from the State Water
Resources Control Board w ith fund ing from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
under the Federal Nonpoint Source
Pollution Control Program (Clean Water Act
Section 319). Its contents do not represent
position s of the State Board or U.S. EPA, and
neither organization has end orsed the
contents.
Em ail yo ur story ideas to Glen n Totten , gtotten @w atereducatio n.o rg
Urban areas across California are implementing programs to reduce
runoff, which has emerged as the most serious water quality
problem for m any com m un ities. Not only can run off contribute
to floodin g, but in pickin g up a h ost of contam inan ts, some of them toxic,as it flows across streets an d buildin g surfaces, run off poses a h ard-to-solve
pollution threat to rivers, creeks and beaches.
With Californias growing population making water supplies tighter
th an ever, urban areas are looking toward a new developmen t m odel that
can allow th em to accomm odate growth and address som e of th eir runoff
prob lems. Part of th e an swer lies in th e Ah wah n ee Water Principles, pro-
filed in th is issue. Th e Water Principles h ave gotten a good deal of atten -
tion from local and regional planning agencies as a low-impact develop-
m ent strategy th at can address problems posed by urban run off and en-
h ance water supplies through ground water recharge.
In th is issue ofTh e California Runoff Rundown, youll fin d exam ples of
practical projects that h ave demon strated inn ovative ways of building
run off m anagemen t features in to urban landscapes. If you h ave an ex-
am ple of a successful urban run off project, we h ope yo ull sh are it with
your peers through Th e California Runoff Rundown. x
2 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
3/16
T
h e State Water Board voted
4-1 Sept. 7 to sen d a m ercury
TMDL back to th e San Fran-
cisco Bay Region al Water Board foraddition al review. Th e Regional
Water Board will have n ine m on th s
to review and amen d th e TMDL to
meet conditions outlined by the
Stat e Water Board.
Presented with th ree options for
dealing with th e San Fran cisco Bay
m ercury TMDL, th e State Water
Board ch ose Option 2, wh ich gives
the San Francisco Bay Regional
Water Board n ine m on th s to revise
th e TMDL to add ress issues identi-
fied by th e State Water Board an dby the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency. Th e first of th e two
oth er options (Option 1) would
have approved the San Francisco
Bay Region al Water Board s m ercury
TMDL; the th ird opt ion wou ld have
approved i t with non bind ing
recom m endation s that th e TMDL be
corrected to address specific
issues.
The resolution approved by th e
State Water Board stop ped sh ort of
calling inadequate the Regional
Water Boards m ercury TMDL
approved in September 2004, but i t
iden tified several issues it said
n eeded to be add ressed before the
TMDL can b e app roved. Those
issues in cluded an absence of
specific m on itorin g requirement s
for meth ylmercury, waste load
allocations that failed to account for
variations among dischargers and a
failure to identify all sources of
mercury that may affect San Fran-
cisco Bay.
Option 2 approved by th e StateWater Board was supported by the
boards staff an d by en viron m ental
and fishing groups, who said ad-
dressing th e issues raised by th e
board would result in faster removal
of mercury from th e Bay and
reductions in mercury in wildlife,
includ ing fish . The State Water
Board agreed to clarify language in
th e resolution to en sure th at dis-
posal of dredged material contain-
ing m ercury comp lies with provi-
sion s of a long-term m anagemen tstrategy for mercury.
Opponents of Option 2 included
the San Francisco Bay Regional
Water Board, refineries and sanita-
tion agencies that operate wastewa-
ter treatm ent p lants that d ischarge
into the Bay. They argued that
adoption of Option 2 would be
costly to implemen t an d result in
on ly margin ally faster attain m ent of
water q uality objectives for m ercury.
The Region al Water Board projects
its TMDL would ach ieve water
qu ality o bjectives in 12 0 years.
San Francisco Bay is listed under
th e federal Clean Water Act as
imp aired by m ercury. Th e largest
single source is mercury mined and
used du ring th e Gold Rush era. As
m uch as 8 mil lion poun ds accumu-
lated in Bay sediments from mer-
cury m ines in t h e San Fran cisco Bay
Area or mercury-laden sediments
th at drain ed into th e bay from
Cen tral Valley rivers. Bed ero sion in
th e Bay accoun ts for almo st 40
percent of mercury released into the
Bay each year, compared with about
15 percent p er year from urban and
n on -urban run off. Municipal an d
ind ustrial wastewater d ischarges
accoun t for less th an 2 percent.
Mercury is a particularly difficult
pollutant to d eal with because it can
convert to an organic form, m eth-
ylmercury, wh ich is highly toxic
and accum ulates in food web
organism s. Elevated m ercury levels
in fish h ave prom pted advisories
from public health agencies forsport and subsistence anglers who
regularly catch an d eat Bay fish.
Exposure to mercury can cause
n eurotoxic effects on th e brain and
spin al cord such as abn ormal
sensory fun ction . It also is lin ked
with birth d efects and developm en-
tal im pairm ents in children.
EPA has objected t o certain parts
of the TMDL. It supp orted Opt ion 2
because it said th at op tion aggres-
sively targets legacy mercury pollu-
tion, en sures that p oint sources don ot increase disch arges, establishes
n um eric targets an d im proves
m on itorin g for meth ylm ercury. In
add ition t o th e State Water Board,
EPA must ap prove th e Region al
Water Boards m ercury TMDL.
The specific n um eric targets in
th e TMDL are to redu ce average
m ercury con centration s in Bay fish
tissue by about 40 percent to 0.2
parts per million (ppm), reduce
m ercury in wild bird eggs by mo re
than 25 percent to 0.5 ppm andreduce mercury in suspen ded
sedimen t by about half to 0.2 ppm .
During im plemen tation, th e TMDL
will be reviewed regularly to fine-
tune targets and allocations as new
information becomes available.
Cop ies of the San Fran cisco Bay
Water Board s TMDL docum en ts are
available at www.waterboards.ca.gov/
sanfranciscobay/fbaymercurytmdl.htm .x
State Water Board Sends BackSan Francisco Bay Mercury TMDL
The Latest News
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 3
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
4/16
The relatively small Garcia
River watershed in southwest-
ern Mendocino County is
shaping up as a big player in th e
implemen tation o f Total Maxim um
Daily Load (TMDL) standards on
m ore than two dozen o th er rivers in
th e North Coast region . The suc-
cessful imp lemen tation of a TMDL
for sedim en t in th e Garcia River
Watersh ed b odes well for sim ilar
TMDLs being developed b y th e
North Coast Region al Water Quality
Control Board, say two of those whoh ave worked closely on th e TMDL.
I th in k its a successful pro gram
over all; it bod es well for th e future,
said Jon athan Warm erdam, an
environm ental scien tist for th e
North Coast Water Board. Craig
Bell, Garcia River Watersh ed C oo rdi-
n ator for th e California Departmen t
of Fish an d Gam e, agreed, calling
th e Garcia River th e watershed with
a warranty, thanks to the TMDL.
Like oth er North Coast rivers that
emp ty into th e Pacific Ocean , th e
Garcia is imp aired by sedim en t
discharges m ostly attributable to
h istoric and on goin g tim ber har-
vesting operations. The sediment
has contributed to loss of suitable
h abitat and elevated temp eratures
in th e river th at ad versely affect
several species of salmon.
The G arcia River origina tes in
th e rugged Coast Ran ge just west
of Yorkville, in Men docin o Co un ty,
and empties into the Pacific Ocean
about 50 m iles west near Point
Arena. Th e sparsely popu lated,73,000-acre watershed h as been
h om e to timber operation s for
decades as well as some agriculture.
Th e work th at led up to th e
adop tion of th e Garcia River TMDL
in 2002 dates back to th e mid-
1990s. It has invo lved a variety of
stakeholders such as timber compa-
nies, farmers, conservation groups
and regulators. About 20 landown -
ers properties that make up ap-
proximately 75 percent of th e
watershed are currently developing
or im plemen ting erosion con trol
plans and man agement plans to
com ply with th e Garcia River
TMDL, Warmerdam said.
A TMDL is a calculation of the
maximum amoun t of a pollutant
th at a waterbody can receive andstill meet wat er quality stan dards,
and an allocat ion of that amoun t
to the pollutants sources in the
watershed. The Garcia River has
been identified as impaired by
sediment discharges from various
sources, m ainly un paved roads
(in cludin g skid t rails from loggin g
operation s) and timber h arvestin g
operations. The Garcia River Water
Quality Attainm ent Action Plan,
wh ich in cludes the TMDL, is at
www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/programs/ tm dl/garcia/garcia.ht m l).
Annual average sediment load
in th e Garcia River is estimated at
1,380 to n s per year. The two biggest
sources are fluvial erosion an d m ass
wasting (e.g., landslide).
Und er developm ent since 1997,
th e Garcia River TMDL is the first
of i ts kin d in th e six-coun ty North
Coast Region, and gives landowners
th ree comp liance option s:
Op t ion No . 1 - Com ply wit h
the Garcia River WatershedWaste Disch arge Proh ibition ,
wh ich applies to all landown -
ers and ban s the con trollable
disch arge of soil, silt, bark,
slash, sawdust, or oth er or-
ganic and earthen m aterial
from loggin g, construction,
gravel m inin g, agricultural or
grazing act ivities;
Opt ion No. 2 Develop an
Erosion Con trol Plan an d Site-
Specific Managem en t Plan; or
Opt ion No. 3 Develop an
Erosion Co n trol Plan an d
com ply with t h e Garcia River
Managemen t Plan, wh ich
specifies gen eral lan d m an age-
m ent m easures for un stable
areas an d riparian areas and
for areas related to roads,
skid trails, landin gs, n ear-
stream facilities and gravel
mining.
4 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
Garcia River TMDL:
Tim ber harvesting is a m ajor source of
sedim ent in th e Garcia River wat ershed.
Watershed with a Warranty
Garcia River TMDL:
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
5/16
The North Coast Water Board has
encouraged land own ers to cho ose
Opt ion s No. 2 or No. 3. Both
option s require developm ent of an
Erosion Co n trol Plan to control
existin g sou rces of sedimen t an d a
man agement plan to prevent futuresources of sedimen t an d im prove
th e watercourse conditions on th e
property. The North Coast Water
Board s execut ive officer is in ch arge
of approvin g the com pliance
documents .
The Erosion Con trol Plan in-
cludes the following elemen ts: an
inven tory o f sedim en t-delivery sites,
a sedimen t reduction sch edule, an
assessm en t of un stable areas and a
m on itoring p lan to evaluate sedi-
ment-control efforts. Warmerdamdescribed sedimen t-delivery sites
as hum an-caused sources th at h ave
th e poten tial to deliver 10 cubic
yards of sedimen t or m ore over th e
40-year life of the TMDL. The major
sediment-delivery sites typically are
associated with roads, skid trails,
watercourse crossing an d old cul-
verts, he explained.
Landowners must agree to follow
a management plan, which
includes a series of land m an age-
m ent m easures to prevent futuresedimen t d ischarges associated with
land use activities, as well as to
improve th e watercourse cond ition s
on th eir property. These land
m anagemen t m easures include such
th ings as stream b ank p rotections,
filterin g of eroded m aterial before
it ent ers a watercourse, protection
and avoidan ce of unstable areas
and recruitmen t of large woody
debris to th e watercourse chan n el
and floodp lain . Land own ers can
choose to d evelop th eir own site-
specific man agem ent plans (Option
No. 2) or follow th e set of best
m an agemen t practices (BMPs) called
th e Garcia River Man agemen t Plan
(Option No. 3) provided in th e
Garcia River TMD L.
Salmon popu lation s have really
declined over the last couple of
decades, Warm erdam said, n oting
th at rebuilding h abitat for salm on
and steelh ead is th e main focus of
the Garcia River TMDL. One species
th at uses th e Garcia River, Coh osalm on , is listed as a threaten ed
species under the federal Endan-
gered Species Act (ESA) for several
North Coast rivers and was listed
in March 2005 as endan gered un der
the California ESA for the Garcia
River area.
Sa l m o n R eb o u n dThe TMDL has been in effect
sin ce 2002, and imp rovements to
fish-spawning habitat already have
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 5
been d ocum ented, said Bell . Coho
salmon , th e mo st sensitive of the
salmonid species that visit theGarcia River, have returned for six
years straight, he noted. The hardier
steelh ead trout h as sh own increases
in the last five years, and pink and
Ch inook salm on were reported in
2003 in nu mbers not seen in m ore
th an 20 years, he said.
Th e improvemen ts are partly the
result o f 15 years of work in volving
regulators, landowners and stake-
h olders, but th ree recen t m ajor land
CONTINUED ONPAGE 12
Broken culverts contribut e to sediment discharge.
Unpaved roads are sources of sediment.
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
6/16
materials that allow runoff to soak
into groun dwater, landscaped
swales (shallow vegetated depres-
sions) that filter sediments and
pollutants from run off and encour-age in filtration to groun dwater and
recognition th at n atural features
such as wetlands, recharge zones
an d riparian areas can b e assets for
flood protection, water quality
improvemen t and groun dwater
recharge.
The Ah wah n ee Water Prin ciples
address every one o f our m ajor goals
an d ob jectives at th e Water Board,
said Celeste Cant , executive
director of th e State Water Board.
Som e of the prin ciples seem atfirst glan ce to be a radical departure
from Californ ias tradition al sprawl
developm ent pattern , but advocates
believe th ey m ay offer a way to
accomm odat e C alifornias skyrock-
etin g popu lation growth wh ile also
protectin g precious water resources.
You just can t con tin ue with
patt erns of th e past, says Jake
Mackenzie, mayor of the City of
Roh nert Park, about 50 m iles north
of San Francisco, and an enthusias-
tic sup port er of th e Water Prin -
ciples.
Th is wh ole notion of storm-
water man agement an d urban
n on point source run off h as to be
incorporated into growth and
developm ent if we are goin g to be
successful, said Mark Pisano,
executive director of th e Sout h ernCaliforn ia Association of Govern -
m en ts (SCAG). Agreeing w ith
Mackenzie, Pisan o said th e Water
Principles need to be incorporated
into city an d coun ty gen eral plans
and into project developm ent plan s,
as well.
At th e state level, th e State Water
Board is taking a close look at t h e
Water Principles an d con sidering
how to build incentives for follow-
ing them into grants and loans
issued by th e board for waterinfrastructure p rojects. The Water
Board is looking t o see wh ere we
can incorporate [the Water Prin-
ciples] and . . . ask the recipient s of
our money to take responsibility for
th eir actions and to be accoun table
to future gen erations, Cant said.
Proponents believe the Water
Principles hold a key to the way
Californ ia will grow now an d in th e
future, focusing on low-impact
growth that uses land and natural
resources efficient ly and th at workswith natu ral processes rath er th an
subjugating them. The dispersed
development of the last 50 years is
goin g to be equally match ed by a
m ore focused developm ent in th e
n ext 50 years. Th e Water Principles
will be part of that n ew growth ,
Pisano said.The app roach also dovetails with
th e growin g density of developm ent
in Californias urban areas. With
real estate values skyrocketing, infill
development projects are reclaiming
former in du strial properties for
oth er purposes such as housing and
com m ercial uses.
Wat er Pr in c i p l es i n Act i onThe Water Prin ciples are too n ew
for man y local governm ents or
regional plann ing agencies to h aveform ally adopted th em, but th ere
are man y examples of developm ent
across Californ ia th at reflect con -
cepts embodied in the Principles.
The San Fran cisco Bay Area h as
been especially active. There the San
Fran cisco Bay Region al Water
Qu ality Co n trol Boards approval in
2001 of an am endm ent to th e Santa
Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution
Prevent ion Program (San ta Clara
program ) perm it triggered a review
of local design stan dards for avariety of housing, public and
comm ercial developm ents. The
revised design stand ards follow
practices very sim ilar to th ose
recomm ended in th e Ahwah nee
Water Principles.
A comm on th read run ning
through those standards is planning
of n ew developmen t to mitigate the
water quality impacts of stormwater
runoff. For many urban areas,
stormwater runoff is the m ost
serious water pollution and water
quality problem they face.
Projects cited in A Guidebook of
Site Design Exam ples issued by th e
Santa Clara program take advantage
of nat ural site top ograph y, cluster
developm en t in less sensitive
portion s of a site to p reserve envi-
ronmentally beneficial features and
use design techn iques to min imize
imp ervious surface area to en cour-
Ah w ah n ee Water Pr in c ip l es
CONTINUED FROMFRONTPAGE
6 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
Permeable paving materials filter runoff.
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
7/16
The Ahw ahn ee
Water Principles
address every on e
of o ur major goals
and objectives at
th e Water Board. Celeste Cant , Executive
Director, State W ater Board
age in filtration o f
runoff.
Specific p ractices
cited in th e Guide-
bookinclude reduc-
ing street an d right-
of-way widths(con sistent with fire
protection n eeds),
installing curb cuts
to allow for storm -
water drain age in to
swales and landscaping, using
grading and drainage practices that
direct run off to d etention basins,
swales and vegetated ch ann els
and prom oting alternatives to
automobiles. Some examples:
A San Jose apar tment complex
is designed t o allowstorm water runoff to enter a
rocky swale, wh ere it is filtered
before entering the storm
drain. The project reduces the
velocity of runoff and provides
some n atural treatmen t before
run off enters the storm drain.
A comm erc ia l deve lopment in
Palo Alto u sed a constru cted,
vegetated
bioswale
to provide
natural
t reatment of
runoff, reduce
the volum eand velocity
of runoff and
reduce p esti-
cide use. Th e
same project
features a parking area m ade
with p ermeable pavers th at
allow runoff to infiltrate and
provide natural treatmen t.
The Sant a Clara Valley Water
District headquarters building
in San Jose uses curb cu ts in its
parking lot to direct runoff tovegetated swales that p rovide
n atural treatmen t of run off
and reduce impervious surface
areas. Th e buildin g also con -
n ects rooftop d own spouts to
landscaping to treat runoff
from th at source.
More exam ples of projects that
incorporate runoff management
features are summ arized in th e
San ta Clara p rogram Guidebook,
wh ich is posted on th e Bay Area
Stormwater Management Agencies
Association website at
www.basmaa.org/resources/files/
SCVURPPP_Site_Design_Exam ples.pdfRelated docu m en ts are available at
www.scvurppp.org
The Low-Impact Development
Center, In c., reports that a porou s
paving system coupled with a swale
can ach ieve 91 percent removal of
total suspended solids from runoff
and 75 percent to 92 percent re-
moval of metals (copper, manga-
n ese, iron, lead an d zinc). Other
studies of perm eable paving system s
with swales have rep orted signifi-
cant reduction s in n itrates, n itritesand ph osphorus, as well as reduc-
tions of up to 90 percen t in run off
volum e because of in filtration
(see www.lid-stormwater.net/
perm eable_pavers/permpavers_
benefits.htm for det ails).
In south ern Californ ia, th ere has
been similar interest in building
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 7
CONTINUEDON NEXTPAGE
Infiltration units under construction at
Sun Valley filter and store runoff.
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
8/16
You just cant
continue w ith
development
patterns of the
past.
Jake Mackenzie,Mayor of Rohnert Park
run off m anage-
m ent features into
new d evelopm ent ,
according to
Pisano. The organ i-
zation TreePeople
h as worked withth e City of Los
Angeles and oth er
partners on projects
th at follow con -
cepts outlined in th e Water
Principles.
On e such project is in Sun Valley,
a comm un ity of 71,000 in th e
northeast San Fernando Valley that
is n otoriou s for int ersection flood-
ing during storm events because it
was built with out storm drains.
TreePeople is collaboratin g with th eLos Angeles County Department of
Public Works on a series of projects
in Sun Valley Park th at will capture
run off and direct it to treatmen t
devices that remove sediment, trash
and m etals. Two un dergroun d
infiltration basins can h old up to
2.25 m illion gallons of treated
runoff for groundwater recharge.
Inflow is irregular, but storage is
temp orary and in filtration is con-
tin uou s. Besides clean ing th e
run off, th e project will reduce areaflood ing an d im prove park facilities.
A similar system for directing
run off to a storage un it was built
at Open Charter School in Santa
Mon ica. Run off infiltrates thro ugh
ath letic fields an d lan dscaped areas
int o a 110,000-gallon cistern, wh ich
removes sediment and other con-
tamin ant s, m akin g the treated water
available for reuse to irrigate land -
scaping instead of flowing untreated
int o San ta Mon ica Bay.
For more information on th ese
pro jects, visit www.treepeople.org.
Pri nc i p l ed Grow t hThe Water Principles are advisory,
but Jud y Corbett, executive director
of LGC, says they are gainin g
support from key local, regional and
state agencies th at regulate develop-
m ent an d allocate grant fun ding for
water infrastructure construction
and improvemen ts.
The Region al
Plann ing Comm it-
tee of the Associa-
tion of Bay Area
Governments
(ABAG) in th e n ine-coun ty San Fran-
cisco Bay Area h as
adopted them.
SCAG, ABAGs
coun terpart in th e Los An geles area,
h asnt formally adopted th em, but
a n um ber of developments in th e
region h ave followed con cepts listed
in th e Prin ciples, Pisano said.
The Ah wah n ee Water Prin ciples
are grouped into n ine comm un ity
principles and five implementa-
tion prin ciples. Th ey are designedto com plemen t a broader set of
community-development principles
adopted by LGC in 1991. Both sets
of principles are nam ed for the
Ah wah n ee Hotel in Yosem ite Valley,
wh ere they were drafted.
Five of th e nine comm un ity
prin ciples d irectly add ress urban
n on point source run off. They stress
m ore comp act developm ent , m ul-
tiple uses of natu ral water features
such as wetlands and open space to
m anage runoff and improve waterquality and u se of landscapin g and
permeable surfaces to promote
infiltration of run off rather th an
quick disposal throu gh storm
sewers.
Th e implemen tation principles
encourage early in volvemen t of
water agencies in lan d u se decision -
m aking an d collaboration s on water
resources plann ing am on g local
officials, special districts, stakeh old-
ers and others on a watershed basis.
The Water Principles follow th e
format and content of th e 1991
comm un ity-development pr in-
ciples. In tend ed to p romo te growth
th at is less autom obile-depen dent ,
th e 1991 principles encourage more
com pact, resource-efficien t develop-
ment. Many cities in California
have adopted and implemen ted the
1991 principles, including Santa
Mon ica and Cathedral City in
Californ ia, accordin g to Corbett
and Mackenzie.
Advocates of t h e Water Principles
say th ey are not an ti-growth. The
Ah wah n ee Water Prin ciples are n ot
a n o-growth scen ario; th is is a low-
impact growth scenario, Can tsaid.
Em b e d d e d i n Pl a n n i n gLocal governm ents can adopt th e
1991 Principles and/or the Water
Prin ciples or tailor th em t o suit
th eir needs, Corbett said. Mackenzie
said the key to using the Water
Prin ciples as a tool to m an age urban
run off is to get them embedd ed in
general plans adopted by cities and
coun ties. Th e general plans are
critical because on ce you get th esePrin ciples into coun ties general
plans, everything th at follows m ust
be compatible and con sisten t, he
said, callin g general plans th e
constitution for growth in Cali-
fornia.
Rohnert Park updated its general
plan in 2000, but is preparing to
revisit it in th e n ext fiscal year,
Mackenzie said. When Son om a
Coun ty did its mo st recent an alysis
of available water supp lies to ac-
comm odate projected futuregrowth , it ident ified recyclin g of
h ighly treated wastewater as a water
resource along with traditional
sources such as surface water an d
groundwater, he said.
Asked if its a h ard sell to co n -
vince local governm ents to ado pt
th e Principles, Mackenzie said m an y
are realizing that in order to accom-
m odat e C alifornias pro jected
popu lation growth, a new develop-
m ent m odel is an im perative, n ot
an opt ion . Were strongly suggest-
ing that in the 21st century, to
accom m odate the 500,000 to
600,000 n ew Californian s each year,
weve absolutely got to ad opt th ese
Principles, he said.
Pisano said skyrocketing h ou sin g
costs and lack of in frastructu re
resou rces to service th e n eeds of
sprawling communities are causing
8 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
CONTINUED ONPAGE 13
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
9/16
CONTINUED ONPAGE 12
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 9
Cen tral Valley Ag Waiver Updates
Th e Cen tral Valley Regional
Water Qu ality C on trol Boards
conditional agricultural
waiver program (see The Runoff
Rundown , Spring 200 5) is un der-
going some ch an ges. On Aug. 5,
th e Region al Water Board appro ved
amen dm ents to the waiver th at
clarify procedures for inspections
of private property and p rotection
of tech nical reports that m ay
con tain trad e secrets. Both chan gescame in respon se to a court ruling
in May th at largely uph eld th e
waiver program b ut sent th ree
issues back to t h e Cen tral Valley
Water Board for revision . A th ird
issue, defining agricultural-
dom inated waterways and con -
structed ag drains as surface waters
of th e state, was sch eduled for
con sideration at a Sept. 15-16
m eeting of th e Cen tral Valley
Water Board .
On Aug. 15, th e Cen tral Valley
Water Board s execu tive officer
issued revised monitoring and
reporting requirements for coalition
groups. One change requires a
coalit ion group to report with in th e
next business day if it determines
th at a water q uality objective h as
been exceeded in a ru no ff sam ple.
The coalit ion group m ust make thedetermination of whether a water
qu ality o bjective was violated
with in five bu sin ess days of receiv-
ing the laboratory analytical report.
For copies of all th e chan ges to th e
Cen tral Valley Water Board s ag
waiver regulation s, go to http://
www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/
programs/irrigated_lands/
index.html#News x
Fees for Ag Waiver
Growers who p articipate in
any of the agricultural
waiver programs to reduce
run off from irrigated lan ds soon
will begin p aying a fee to cover
costs of administering and enforc-ing th e program s. The State Water
Board ap proved em ergency regula-
tions Jun e 16 und er which it plans
to collect about $1.9 million to
fund 22 position s.
The amou n t a grower pays
depen ds on acreage and wh ether
a grower participates in the condi-
tional waiver program individually
or th rough a coalit ion group. For
coalition s or groups th at collect fees
from p articipatin g growers, th e fee
is $100 per coalition o r group, plus$0.12 cen ts per acre. For coalitions
or groups that do not collect fees,
each p articipatin g grower pays a
base fee of $100, plus $0.20 cents
per acre. For individual growers,
th ere is a base fee of $100, plus
$0.30 cents per acre. Several coali-
tion groups offered alternative
proposals.
The State Water Board also
approved a memorandu m of un der-
standing with th e Department of
Pesticide Regulation for a pilotprogram in Glenn and Butte coun-
ties und er wh ich two field staff will
be hired to supp ort im plemen tation
of th e irrigated lan ds program
th rough p ublic education, inspec-
tion of watersh ed mon itorin g
locations an d assisting in iden tifica-
tion of sources of water quality
problems. The agreement is ex-
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
10/16
Assessing and evaluating
project success;
TM DL im pl em en t at ion ;
Com m uni t y gr oup invo lve-
m ent an d pu blic participation
experiences;
Report s on vegeta ted t reatment
systems;
Agricultura l management
practices; Bioassessment techn iques; and
Develop ing and i m p lem en t ing
watersh ed p lans.
On the closing day, conference
participants have th e option of
attending two full-day workshops:
one m onitor ing design an d data
quality concepts, or a second
worksh op on performan ce m easure-
m ent design . Also available is a
choice of two full-day field trips:
on e covers the h istory of Cache
Creek and efforts to preserve an d
protect i ts water qu ality; the o th er
field trip will visit th e Mokelum n e
River watersh ed to observe com-
pleted and on goin g projects to
enh ance overall riparian h abitat and
water q uality.
Registration for th e Third Bien -
n ial California NPS Conference is
$125 if postm arked by Sept. 23,
$150 if postmarked later, and
1 0 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
Updated Calif.
NPS Encyclopedia
An upd ated California Nonpoint
Source Encyclopedia (NPS
En cycloped ia) is n ow avail-
able from th e State Water Board.
This con den sed, quick-reference
guide provides an entry po int to
information on non point source
m anagemen t p ractices in California
including brief discussions and the
intent of 61 nonpoint source
m anagemen t m easures for each of
th e six n on point source categories
(agriculture; forestry; urban areas;m arin as and recreation al boating;
h ydromo dification an d wetlan ds;
riparian areas and vegetated treat-
m ent system s).
Th e NPS Encyclopedia describes
man agement pract ices and how
th ey can be used to m eet each
m anagemen t m easure, along with
th eir applicability to various situa-
tion s and th eir cost-effectiveness in
different climatic and land use
settings. The information is in-
ten ded to assist state agen cies,
region al water board s, local agencies
and n on point source practit ioners
in identifying and implementing
practices to protect high-quality
waters and restore imp aired waters.
To d own load th e n ewest edition
of th e En cycloped ia, visit th e State
Water Boards NPS website at
www.waterboards.ca.gov/nps/
index.html. x
2005 Biennial Non pointSource Con ference
includes all m aterials, two contin en-
tal breakfasts, two lunches and a
poster session. Field trips are $25
extra and include a box lun ch.
Detailed information on th e confer-
ence, in cludin g a complete agen da
an d registration forms, is availableat http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/nps/
fall2005.html.
For general conference inform a-
tion, contact Kim Wittorff of the
State Water Board at (916) 327-9117
or [email protected], o r
Tina Yin of U.S. EPA at (415) 972-
3879 or Yin [email protected]. x
NPS News
Measurin g Water Quality
Improvemen ts is th e
th em e of th is years Th ird
Bienn ial California N PS Con ference,
to be h eld in Sacram ento November
7-9. Th e con feren ce will high light
specific projects an d p ractices th at
successfully ad dress C aliforn ias
leading cause of water quality
impairments nonpoint sourcepollution.
The focus of the con feren ce will
be on th e im portan ce of design ing
projects to achieve measurable
water quality im provemen ts an d on
techn iques for m on itoring imp rove-
m ents. It will offer an opp ortun ity
to learn about th e num erous NPS
pollution con trol projects th at h ave
been supp orted by state and federal
funds, especially Clean Water Act
(CWA) Section 319 and Bond
Propositions 13, 40 an d 50. It will
prom ote techn ology transfer by
examining on-the-ground examples
related to agriculture, forestry,
urban development, marinas and
boating, hydrom odification an d
habitat alteration, abandoned mines
and oth er land use activities th at
affect water quality.
Con curren t session topics
include the following:
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
11/16
NPS News
CONTINUED ONPAGE 12
San Fran ci sco Bay (Regio n 2 )Project report for p a t h o g e n s i n N a p a R i v er released Jun e 30
Con tact: Peter Krottje, 510/6 22-2382; project sum m ary available atwww.waterboards.ca.gov/san franciscobay/napariverpathogentm dl.ht m
Project report for s ed i m e n t i n N a p a R i v e r released Jun e 28
Con tact: Michael Napolitano, 510/ 622-2331; project sum m ary
available at www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/
napariversedimenttmdl.htm
Proposed TMDL and Implemen tation Plan for D i a z in o n a n d P e s t i -
c ide-Related Tox ic i ty in San Fran cisco Bay Area Urban
Creeks released August 5, 2005
Con tact: Bill Joh n son , 510/622-2354; project sum m ary available at
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/
urbancrksdiazinontmdl.htm
Cen tral Coas t (Region 3)State Water Board approved May 19 Central Coast Regions TMDL for
path ogen s i n San Lui s Obi spo Creek
Con tact: Ch ristop h er Rose, 805/542-4770; staff report available at
www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/TMDL/303dandTMDLprojects.htm
Los Ang eles (Region 4)Adop ted TMDL Jun e 2 to redu ce m eta l s i n L os Ang e l e s Ri ver and
tr i butar i e s
Con tact: Jenn y Newman , 213/576-6808
Adop ted TMDL Jun e 2 to redu ce metals in Ballon a Creek
Con tact: Rebecca Ch ristman n , 213/576-6757
Adop ted TMDL Jun e 2 to redu ce t o x i c p o l l u t a n t s i n B a ll o n a Cr e ekEstuary
Con tact: Rebecca Ch ristman n , 213/576-6757
Colo rado River (Regio n 7 )State Water Board approved July 21 a TMDL for se d i m e n t / s il t a t io n
for th ree Im per i a l Va l l ey dra i ns th at emp ty into th e Salton Sea
with n um eric targets iden tical to TMDLs approved earlier for th e
New River and Alam o River; to view staff reports, visit
www.waterboards.ca.gov/coloradoriver/tmdl/TMDL_Status.htm
San t a Ana ( Reg i on 8 )State Water Board approved May 19 Santa Ana Regions TMDL for
nu tr i ent s i n Lake E l si no re and Cany on Lak eContact: Cindy Li, 951/782-4906 or Hope Smythe, 951/782-4493;
staff report available at www.waterboards.ca.gov/santaana/html/
elsinore_tmdl.html
San Di ego ( Reg i on 9 )Adopted TMDLs June 29 for copp er, z i nc an d l ead i n Cho l l as
Creek tributary to San Diego Bay
Con tact: Jam es Sm ith, 858/4 67-2732; staff report available at:
www.waterboards.ca.gov/sandiego/rb9board/May5/item%208/EOSR.pdf
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 1 1
EPA ReleasesImprovedStormwater
ManagementModel
An improved comp uter pro-
gram for plann ing, analyzing
and designing urban
stormwater drainage and sewer
system s is ava ilable from U.S. EPA.
The u pd ated version (Version
5.0.005b) of the open-source
StormWater Managemen t Mod el(SWMM) includes a modern graphi-
cal interface and a more intuitive
m odelin g approach. SWMM simu-
lates sin gle event o r con tinuo us
stormwater quantity and quality
prim arily for urban areas.
The runo ff comp on ent o f SWMM
sim ulates the op eration of drain age
areas that receive rainfall and
generate run off th at m ay in clude
pollutants. A routing compo n ent
simulates transport of runoff
th rough a system o f pipes, chan -nels, storage/treatment devices,
pum ps and regulators.
The free program, including
tutorials, can be down loaded from
www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/swmm. x
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
12/16
1 2 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
Garcia River TMDL
CONTINUED FROMPAGE 5
tran sfers also are h elping to m eet
th e TMDLs goals. Th e Con servation
Fun d an d The Nature Conservancy
recently teamed u p to p urchase
23,000 acres of lan d u sed for tim beroperation s that Warm erdam de-
scribed as on e of th e biggest sources
of sedimen t in th e watershed. The
two groups currently are inventory-
ing th e property for sedimen t sources
A Louisiana Pacific timber opera-
tion was sold to Mendo cin o Red-
wood Co. Bell said the new owners
h ave in vested h eavily in land
restoration an d h ave in dicated th ey
inten d to pu rsue a conservation -
mind ed approach that emph asizes
sustainable forestry practices. Athird tract of 1,200 acres in the
Garcia River estuary, form erly a
private ranch , h as been purchased
by th e state. Bell said h e expects
th at work to reduce sedimen t
discharges in t h e up per watersh ed
event ually will deepen th e estuary,
m aking it easier for salmon to acces
the rivers upper reaches.
The No rth Coast Water Boards
staff is studying the Garcia River
TMDL as a possible m od el for
TMDLs under development foroth er rivers in th e region,
Warmerdam said. Techn ical TMDLs
have been completed for 14 rivers
in th e region, an d 11 ot hers are in
developm en t (to view a list of North
Coast rivers and the status of their
TMDLs, visit waterboards.ca.gov/
northcoast/programs/tmdl/
Status.html#list).
Warm erdam said th e North Coast
Water Boards staff recogn izes th at
th ere are physical variation s in each
watersh ed, but m any of th e lessons
learned w ith th e Garcia River TMDL
will be applicable to sediment and
temp erature problem s in o th er
rivers in th e region . Bell said t h e
growin g nu m bers of fish return ing
to the Garcia River bodes well for
th e future of th at river as well as
oth ers in th e North Coast Region
th at follow its TMDL app roach .
Bell credited th e reboun din g fish
NPS News
After the Storm VideoAvailable
Profiles of three major watersheds and how they are addressing the
th reat of polluted run off are in cluded in a 30-minu te video pro-
gram co-prod uced b y EPA an d Th e Weather Ch an n el. EPA recently
acquired full righ ts to After th e Storm , m aking it available for broad cast
and for use in classroom s, at conferences and oth er fun ction s.
The pro gram h ighligh ts th ree case stud ies San ta Mon ica Bay, th e
Mississipp i River Basin/ Gu lf of Mexico an d N ew York C ity wh ere
polluted runoff threatens watersheds highly valued for recreation,
com m ercial fish eries and n avigation . Key scientists and water qu ality
experts offer insigh t int o th e problem s as well as solution s to run off
challenges.
For m ore information about th e program , visit www.epa.gov/
weatherchannel, or call (513) 489-8190 to inq uire about getting a free
copy. Broadcast qu ality t apes also are available on loan for use by cable
television stations and others. x
pected t o foster a closer working
relationship between staff of the
Central Valley Regional Water
Board, agricultural com m ission ers
in th e two coun ties and farmers.
The conditional waiver program
is intended to reduce runoff from
irrigated agricultu ral land s (see th e
Sprin g 2005 issue ofThe Runoff
Rundown at www.water-ed.org/
rundown.asp for more information
Fees For Ag Wa iv er
CONTINUED FROMPAGE 9
on th e programs). In addition to
th e Cen tral Valley waiver pro-
gram , th e Central Coast Water
Board has a separate program, and
th e Los Angeles Water Board is
scheduled to consider a waiver
proposal in November. Updates
on waiver programs are posted on
th e Sout h ern C aliforn ia Agricul-
tural Water Team web site at
www.scawt.com/index.php. x
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
13/16
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 1 3
n um bers to years of work on th e
origin al Garcia River plan , bu t
added th at th e TMDL played a
crucial role by cem en ting in place
key provision s of the p lan an d
requiring participation by all land-
own ers. Th e goal of the TMDLstated in th e Garcia River TMDL
implemen tation action plan is to
reduce sedimen t in t h e Garcia River
by 52 percent by 2049. The TMDL
assures, under a timeline, that in
th e wh ole Garcia River watersh ed,
th e erosion prob lems will be fixed
com preh ensively in 20 years. I call
i t th e watersh ed with a warran ty,
he said. x
Ah w ah n ee Water Pr in c ip l es
CONTINUED FROMPAGE 8
a wh ole different form of develop-
men t mod el to become m ore
viable. That m odel focuses on
usin g land m ore in tensively and
locat ing h ousing an d em ploymen t
centers n ear tran sit corridors. As
we move forward on th at effort , theWater Principles and the stormwater
run off [elemen ts] are and will be
part of th at developmen t pattern,
he said.
The State Water Board is cau-
tiously studying incentives to
imp lemen t practices like th ose in
th e Water Principles th at it could
offer to local com m un ities through
its grant and loan programs, Cant
said. With con trol over gran t an d
loan fun ding for projects such as
construction and upgrades of
sewage treatmen t plants and m u-
n icipal storm sewers, the Water
Board h olds a large carrot t o d an gle
before local com m un ities in n eed of
n ew or im proved in frastructure.
One such carrot is the State
Revolving Fund (SRF), which pro-
vides low-int erest loan s for waste-
water treatm en t facilities, water
reclam ation facilities an d im ple-
mentat ion of
non point source
projects or
programs. Cant
said th e Water
Board is stud y-
ing the SRF as apilot program
for encouraging
low-impact
development .
Communit ies
count on the
SRF program to
help them m eet
National Pollutant Discharge
Elimin ation System (NPDES) re-
quirements, she noted.
The State Water Board h as pro-
po sed to am en d its SRF policy tointegrate th e concept of
sustainability into the policy by
prom oting infill developmen t,
protect ing and enh ancing n atural
resources such as wetland s, water-
sheds and op en space, and by
encouraging efficient development
patt erns. The State Water Board
also said it is planning to expand
th e SRF eligibility criteria to allow
for use of perm eable paving m ateri-
als wh en existin g paving is dis-
turbed during installation of sewercollection system s.
By u sing carro ts such as th e SRF,
Cant said th e Water Board h opes
to d evelop a policy th at encou rages
local governm en ts to look closely at
land use decision s and ask if th ere
are alternatives that can in corporate
concepts from the Water Principles
to help solve problems of runoff,
water quality and even water
supply.
SCAG h as its own initiative,
called Compass, to encourage its
m ember agen cies to adopt n ew
developm ent p atterns con sisten t
with th e Water Principles. Th e
theory behind Compass is that the
way in wh ich an entire region
works can be tran sformed by chan g-
ing just 2 percent of the u rban area,
Pisano explained.
A key to making the concepts in
th e Water Prin ciples work is to get
them incorporated
into city an d
coun ty gen eral
plans and into
design s for specific
projects, Pisano
and Mackenziesaid. If we don t
get it into o ur
general plans an d
design of specific
plans and budget
plans, then I think
this will be an
uphill battle,
Pisano said. The Co m pass in itiative
seeks to en courage developers to
th ink o f features like bioswales and
perm eable pavemen ts as assets for
m arketing th eir products ratherth an as add-on features with extra
costs. For m ore in form ation on th e
Com pass initiative, visit
ww w.socalcom pass.org/2percent /.
Mackenzie and Pisano th ink it
will be easier th an it seems to
chan ge the sprawl tenden cies th at
h ave m arked Californ ias develop-
m en t for decades. Mackenzie said h e
is seeing recognition among local
governm ent officials th at a n ew
development m odel that blend s
growth with p reservation of n aturalresou rces such as water is an im -
perative, n ot an op tion.
For Pisano, t h e driving forces are
h ousing affordability and th e cost
of delivering com m un ity services to
spread-out com m un ities. Youre
seeing th e evolution of a differen t
urban development pattern emerg-
ing, h e said.
There is broad agreemen t th at th e
Water Principles can b e an im por-
tant p art of accomm odat ing
Californ ias pro jected p opu lation
growth while sim ultaneously
h elping to add ress its num ber one
water quality problem, nonpoint
source run off.
More information on the
Ah wah n ee Water Principles is
available at LGCs web site,
www.lgc.org/. Download a copy of
th e Water Prin ciples at www.lgc.org/
ahwahnee/h2o_principles.html x
Youre seeing
the evolution of
a different urban
development
pattern em erging.
Mark Pisano,Executive Director,
Southern California
Association of
Governments
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
14/16
kn owledge of hyd rology as well as
greater environmental awareness,
engineers are design ing n ew h ous-
ing developm ents with drainage
apparatus that takes a favorable
view of runoff an d th e natu ral
ability of landscape to d eter pollut-
ants from m igratin g down stream
and contributing to degraded waterqu ality. As opp osed to years past,
h ydrologists tod ay realize th e fast-
m oving stormwater con duits are
conveying a lot of junk to th e
ocean , Nestlin ger said.
That realization, coupled with
tighter regulatory limits on
storm water flows, has led to d evel-
opm ent o f en gin eered system s that
slow th e pace of dry weather and
stormwater flows by mimicking
natural processes while still preserv-
ing and protectin g lives and p rop-erty. Instead of qu ick disposal, so-
called d ry weath er flows are
directed to engineered wetland s
wh ere pollutan ts are naturally
biodegraded.
In Lagun a Hills, Hasan Nou ri
directs Rivertech , a sm all consultin g
firm specializing in sedim en t
transportation an d water quality
engineering. Nouri credits the
regions flood control designers for
doin g a fan tastic job in creating a
system that rapidly diverted storm
flows away from h om es an d toward
ocean d ischarge, but said chan gin g
awaren ess of en viron m ental imp act
has required a reassessment of that
strategy that returns water to
alluvial streams.
Society has demanded cleaner
rivers, streams an d ocean s, h e said.
In response to th at demand the
regulatory agen cies establish ed
Latterday Im agin eers Re-Think
Urban Runoff ManagementBY GARYPITZER
Orange Countys Disneyland
famously employed
imagineers to design and
build its amu sem ent park attrac-
tion s. Im agineering of a different
sort is still goin g on in O range
Cou n ty, focused on creative ways of
man aging runoff during both dry
and wet weather.In th e past, drainage systems for
residential developmen ts shun ted
wet and dry weather flows away
from th e area as quickly as possible,
th rough b ox culverts toward an
ocean disch arge. Ou r design
ph ilosophy in th e 1960s was to
m ake it small, fast-m oving an d easy
to m aintain , said Alan Nestlinger,
an Orange County hydrologic
consultant wh o spent 35 years as a
flood con trol en gin eer with th ecounty.
Th at milieu h as chan ged, h ow-
ever. Today, based on imp roved
1 4 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN FALL 2005
Trash from runoff litters a
California beach.
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
15/16
I believ e th e dry
w eather flow is th e
biggest source of
pollution to o ur
streams, rivers and
beaches.
Hasan Nouri, Rivertech
[discharge] rules, an d it is th e job of
us engineers to be in comp liance
with those rules.
As regulators began to clam p
down on permitted disch arges in
the 1990s, Nouri engineered
storm water flows for exclusive, $1billion developm ents in south ern
Orange County that ensured peak
flows did n ot exceed pre-develop-
m ent rates while allowin g the
bypass of sand and gravel to do wn-
stream reaches and ultimately,
beach sand n ourishm ent. He ac-
knowledged th e plans require
necessary acreage to facilitate
runoff, but th at the
end result is
an am enity, not a
liability becauseth e need to treat
runoff to numeric
stand ards is elimi-
nated.
Nou ri said basin s
constructed in
coastal parks an d
golf courses arou n d
Newport Beach
m ore than 20 years
ago successfully
m inimized th e flood risk but did
n ot ad dress first flush an d dryweather flows, which are th e m ajor
sources of non point source pollu-
tion . I believe th e dry weath er flow
is th e biggest source of pollution to
our stream s, rivers and beach es,
Nouri said. Wh en we have dry
weather flow con tributed b y urban-
ized areas day after day, week after
week and mon th af ter mon th we
sen d lot of pollutan t loads to the
receiving waters.
Wh ile associated with th e Orange
County Flood Control District,
Nestlin ger said h e saw th e ben efits
of Nou ris approach after a structu re
was installed on a tributary of
San tiago Creek th at allowed sedi-
m ent to m ove as part of the flow.
I was amazed at th e performan ce
of the structure, he said. It not
on ly stopped bank erosion, but th e
stream bed restored itself with in a
year or two. With t h at, I became an
FALL2005 THECALIFORNIA RUNOFFRUNDOWN 1 5
advocate of his
approach.
Th e drainage
solutions de-
signed by
Rivertech ad-
dress the contradictory require-
m ents of open space protection ,flood p rotection and pollution
con trol, Nestlin ger said. He ac-
knowledged the challenge associ-
ated with re-designed flow manage-
m ent, n amely the fact th at acreage
is n eeded to facilitate th e convey-
ance. Retrofitting existing sites is
never easy, requiring investment
and the p ossible condemn at ion of
private prop erty, h e said.
Environm entalists, who are
h appy to see developers take a m ore
sustainable approach to run off
management, embrace Rivertechs
approach. In th e beginn ing, we
m ade our p oint via l it igation,
said G arry Brown , executive director
of Oran ge Coun ty CoastKeeper.
Now, th eyve got th e m essage.
Brown said th e problem of
polluted runoff became glaringly
apparent in th e sum m er of 1999,
wh en officials were forced to close
Hun tington Beach for exten ded
periods, damaging the reputation of
Surf City and h arming th e local
econ om y. Th e gravity of the situa-
tion h as con vin ced developers to
agree to comply with n um eric
pollutant standards as identified in
th e stringen t Californ ia Toxics Rule.Thats ho w m uch weve raised
th e bar in O range Coun ty, Brown
said.
A particularly noteworthy
example of revised runoff manage-
men t can be found at the Irvine
Companys 115-acre Pelican Hill
golf resort along the Newport Coast
Situated n ear Crystal Cove State
Park, a sen sitive marin e environ -
m en t, th e project features a state-of-
th e-art water m anagemen t system.
Seven subterran ean cistern s each
h olding as m uch water as on e-and -
a-half Olym pic-size swimm ing p ools
capture and h old run off th at is
m ixed with reclaim ed water and
used for irrigation .
Brown said the mixture of re-
claimed water with naturally treated
run off provides a greater margin o f
safety th an use of reclaim ed water
alon e for land scape irrigation . x
Natural an d constructed
wetlands f ilter runoff.
8/3/2019 Fall 2005 California Runoff Rundown Newsletter
16/16
If you w ould like t o receive this
newslett er electronically, please
send your ema il add ress to:
Share Your Success
Have an interesting story to tell about you r non point
source pollution control or storm water program?
Wh y not sh are your experien ce with oth ers th rough
The Runoff Rundown? On e of the goals ofThe Runoff Rundown is
to b e a forum for sh aring ideas that h ave successfully reduced
n on point source or urban run off. These can b e programs or
policies initiated by cities, local an d region al agencies, regional
water board s, or in th e private sector. To sh are your story, con tact
Glenn Totten, Water Education Foundation, at (916) 444-6240,
or send e-m ail to [email protected].
717 K Street, Suite 3 17
Sacramen to, CA 95814
Phon e: (916) 444-6240
Fax: (916) 44 8-7699
www.watereducation.org
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
Non-Profit O rganization
U.S. Postage
PAIDSacramento, CA
Permit No. 430
Top Related