Proposed Policy for Nutrients for Inland Surface Waters of the State of California

DEVELOPMENT OF Nutrient Policy FOR CALIFORNIA

The State Water Board is initiating the process to develop a nutrient policy for inland surface waters, excluding inland bays and estuaries in California. The nutrient policy could include objectives and control strategies to help improve water quality in aquatic habitats by providing the benchmarks that describe conditions necessary to protect beneficial uses. Creating a nutrient policy for the state will assist in supporting the Water Boards Mission 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.

The State Water Board intends to develop narrative nutrient objectives, with numeric guidance to translate the narrative objectives. This numeric guidance, could include the Nutrient Numeric Endpoint (NNE) framework which establishes numeric endpoints based on the response of a water body to nutrient overenrichment (e.g. algal biomass, dissolved oxygen, etc.).

The technical foundation of the nutrients for freshwater lakes and streams has been developed and the State Water Board is initiating public scoping and peer review.

Freshwater Nutrient Policy Outreach

Public Meetings

• Nutrient Scoping Meeting Presentation
• CEQA Scoping Meeting for Proposed Nutrient Policy - The purpose of the scoping meeting is to provide a forum for early public consultation on the development of a nutrient policy that would establish nutrient water quality objectives and establish methods to control nutrient over-enrichment in inland surface waters of the state.
    »»  Notice  |  Scoping Document of Nutrient Policy  |  Comments Received - Deadline was 11/10/11 by Noon

Freshwater NNE Background and Resources

• NNE Analysis for the Klamath River
• Freshwater NNE Case Studies
  • Klamath River  »»  Malibu Creek  »»  Chorro Creek  »»  Santa Margarita
• EPA Region IX Nutrient Program Website
• Spreadsheet Tools for California Lakes and Streams - The State Water Board is offering screening tools to translate numeric response endpoints (algal biomass, etc.) to waterbody specific nutrient concentration targets. Documentation on the tools is available in the report Technical Approach to Develop Nutrient Numeric End Points for CA
  • Spreadsheet tool for Streams  »»  Spreadsheet tool for Lakes

Other Useful Links

• The USEPA Nutrient Criteria Website provides background information about nutrients and many useful resources & references.
• The SWRCB is working on the technical foundation of a companion project to develop a nutrient policy for California enclosed bays and estuaries. See more information on the status of development of the NNE framework for estuaries.

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(Updated 11/29/11)