1 Interagency Review Team Coordination and Roles State Water Resources Control Board

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Interagency Review Team Coordination and Roles

State Water Resources Control Board

Water BoardsI. State and Regional Water Boards

• Mission• History• Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act

Basin Plans Permits Nonpoint Source Policy Enforcement

II. Water Quality and Timber Harvest• Regional Water Board permitting

III. Water Rights and Timber Harvesting

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Mission

State Water Resource Control Board

“The State Water Board’s mission is to preserve, enhance and restore the quality of California’s water resources, and

ensure their proper allocation and efficient use for the benefit of present and future generations.”

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Programs & Responsibilities• Discharges to surface waters• Discharges to groundwater (via land)• Storm Water: construction, industrial, municipal • Sewage Treatment Facilities• Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup

• Nonpoint Source: forestry, grazing, agriculture, dairies, septic systems, erosion

• Filling of wetlands• Total Maximum Daily Loads• Planning• Monitoring• Grants

Water Boards’ History

Dickey Water Pollution Act in 1949• Created the State Water Pollution Control Board• Established the 9 Regional Water Boards

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Regional Water Boards

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Water Boards’ History 1967

• “State Water Quality Control Board” and “State Water Rights Board” merged to “State Water Resources Control Board”

1969 - Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act• Cornerstone of todays water quality protection in

California

• Sections of Porter-Cologne used as the basis for amendments to the Federal Clean Water Act in 1972

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Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act• Established broad regulatory authority

Basin Plans Permits

• Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs)• Waivers of WDR

Enforcement

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Water Quality Control Plans Basin Plans are the Regional Water Board’s

master water quality control planning document

Description of the Region and its water quality and quantity problems

Designates water quality standards: • beneficial uses of water• water quality objectives• implementation plans

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Basin Plans

Can be updated by Basin Plan amendment Regulatory tool for Regional Water Board

staff and other resource management agencies

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Basin Plans Beneficial Use Designations Examples:

• Municipal and Domestic Supply (MUN)• Water Contact Recreation (REC-1)• Agricultural Supply (AGR)• Industrial Process Supply (IND) • Cold Freshwater Habitat (COLD)• Migration of Aquatic Organisms (MIGR)• Spawning, Reproduction, and/or Early Development (SPWN)• Rare, Threatened, or Endangered Species (RARE)• Wetland Habitat (WET)• Wildlife habitat (WILD)

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Basin PlansWater quality objectives

• Established for the reasonable protection of beneficial uses

• Narrative or Numeric• Often referenced or written into permits

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Basin Plans Water Quality Objectives

Sediment:The suspended sediment load and suspended sediment discharge rate of surface waters shall not be altered in such a manner as to cause nuisance or adversely affect beneficial uses

Turbidity:Turbidity shall not be increased more than 20 percentabove naturally occurring background levels.

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Basin Plans Water Quality Objectives (con’t)

Temperature:The natural receiving water temperature shall not be altered unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Regional Water Board that such alteration in temperature does not adversely affect beneficial uses.

At no time or place shall the temperature of any COLD water be increased by more than 5°F above natural receiving water temperature.

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Basin Plans Implementation PlansA description of the nature of actions which arenecessary to achieve the objectives

• Geographic area (e.g. Humboldt Bay)• Pollutant (e.g. mining waste)• Implementation (e.g. TMDL - Garcia River Sediment)• Activity (e.g. logging and construction)

Basin Plans Action Plan for Logging, Construction, and Associated

Activities contains the following prohibitions:

1. The discharge of soil, silt, bark, slash, sawdust, or other organic and earthen material from any logging, construction, or associated activity of whatever nature into any stream or watercourse in the basin in quantities deleterious to fish, wildlife, or other beneficial uses is prohibited.

2. The placing or disposal of soil, silt, bark, slash, sawdust, or other organic and earthen material from any logging, construction, or associated activity of whatever nature at locations where such material could pass into any stream or watercourse in the basin in quantities which could be deleterious to fish, wildlife, or other beneficial uses is prohibited.

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Permits – Waste Discharge Requirements Section 13260:• Regional boards prescribe waste discharge requirements (WDRs)

• WDRs are permits to discharge

• WDRs implement Basin Plan requirements

• Discharge is a privilege, not a right

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Permits – Waivers Section 13269:• WDRs may be waived for specific type discharge

that is consistent with applicable Basin Plan and is in the public interest

• Discharges involving similar types of waste and requiring similar treatment standards may be regulated under general WDRs or Categorical Waivers

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Water Quality and Timber HarvestRegional Water Board Timber Permits

• Timber operations constitute a discharge, or potential discharge of waste

• Generally rely on existing programs or regulations, such as the FPRs, Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plans, Northwest Forest Plan

• Add additional conditions as necessary to meet water quality requirements

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Regional Water Board Permits Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements General Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs)

Ownership Permits• Green Diamond Forest Management WDR• Green Diamond Roads WDR• U.S. Forest Service Nonpoint Source Waiver

Watershed Permits• Elk River, Freshwater Creek, Bear and Jordan

Creeks Individual WDR or Waiver

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Nonpoint Source PolicyState Water Board 2004 Policy for the Implementation and Enforcement of the Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program (NPS Policy) requires nonpoint source discharges of waste to be regulated by:1. waste discharge requirements (WDR), 2. waiver of WDRs, or3. prohibitions to ensure compliance with Basin

Plans.

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EnforcementWater Quality Enforcement Policy – February 2002

Framework for:• identifying and investigating noncompliance• taking the appropriate level of enforcement• prioritizing enforcement for the maximum

environmental benefits

Goal of being fair, firm and consistent

Progressive enforcement

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Participate in CAL FIRE THP review process

Independent permitting of THPs

Permit USFS forestry and related projects

Provide input to BOF in rule making

Participate in interagency timber review (1492)

Participate in monitoring and restoration projects

Enforcement when necessary

Regional Board Forestry Program

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Water Quality and Timber Harvest Road and crossing construction, maintenance, and

decommissioning

Harvest locations (unstable areas, streams)

Harvest timing (winter operations)

Harvest methods (i.e. tractor, cable, shovel, etc.)

Harvest rates and cumulative impacts

Streamside buffer zone protections for sediment,

shade, recruitment of large wood

Forest Practice Rules and Water Quality

896 – purpose of the act,

898.2 – conditions requiring THP disapproval

916 – Watercourse and lake protection

923 – Road rules

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BOF, CAL FIRE and Water Quality 1988 - Management Agency Agreement

- State Board certify FPRs as BMPs - BOF and CDF joint management agencies for implementation of

water quality management plans- US. EPA withheld certification

2003 – Memorandum of Understanding• Reaffirms MAA• CDF recognizes obligation to assure timber operations comply

with applicable water quality requirements

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Water Quality Protection -The BasicsControl sediment

• Identify and correct existing sources• Avoid creating new sources• Regular inspections

Preserve and restore shade on streams

Preserve and restore large wood

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Mission StatementDivision of Water Rights

“To establish and maintain a stable system of water rights in California to best develop, conserve and utilize in the public interest the water resources of the state while protecting vested rights, water quality and the environment.”

General Principles

All water belongs to the people of the state

Water rights are a right to the use of water

Water use must be reasonable and beneficial

Water Quality and Water Rights Quantity affects quality

Allocation and efficient use of water can be influenced by water quality standards

Water Rights

Surface Water Includes subterranean streams flowing through

known & defined channels

Pueblo Rights Riparian Rights

Federal Reserved RightsPre-1914

Appropriative Rights

Post-1914Appropriative Rights

Riparian Rights Apply to the natural flow only

The parcel of land must at some point be contiguous to the source stream or overlie the subterranean stream

For use only on the portion of the riparian parcel within the watershed of the source stream

Riparian Rights Limited to smallest legal tract in the chain of title

Unless preserved, a parcel severed from contiguity by conveyance loses the riparian right, and it cannot be re-established

The right does not extend to seasonal storage of water

Appropriative Rights For diversion of water on parcels that do not

abut a stream

For storage of water on any parcel

Pre- and post-1914 rights differ

Post-1914 Appropriative Rights APPLICATION:

• Request for a permit to divert and use water. PERMIT:

• Authorization for the diversion and use of water. LICENSE:

• Confirms the diversion and use of water authorized by the permit.

Appropriative Rights

“First in Time -- First in Right.”

Cannot be increased

Can be lost by nonuse

Statement of Water UseCWC §5101 Requires:

File statement of water use and diversion by July 1

Supplemental statements

Water diversion measurements

Penalties for failure to file