Final 2008 California 303(d)/305(b) Integrated Report

Supporting Information

Regional Board 8 - Santa Ana Region

Water Body Name: Bolsa Chica Channel
Water Body ID: CAR8011100020080921212001
Water Body Type: River & Stream
 
DECISION ID
12574
 
Pollutant: Escherichia coli (E. Coli)
Final Listing Decision: Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision: New Decision
Revision Status Revised
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution: Pollutant
 
Weight of Evidence: This pollutant is being considered for placement on the section 303(d) list under section 3.2 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.2 a single line of evidence is necessary to assess listing status.

One line of evidence is available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. Forty-eight of the samples exceed the water quality objective.

Based on the readily available data and information, the weight of evidence indicates that there is sufficient justification in favor of placing this water segment-pollutant combination on the section 303(d) list in the Water Quality Limited Segments category.

This conclusion is based on the staff findings that:
1. The data used satisfies the data quality requirements of section 6.1.4 of the Policy.
2. The data used satisfies the data quantity requirements of section 6.1.5 of the Policy.
3. Forty-eight (48) of sixty-five (65) samples exceed the EPA's 1986 Recommended Criteria for Bacteria and this exceeds the allowable frequency listed in Table 3.2 of the Listing Policy.
4. This waterbody has not been designated with a body contact recreation beneficial use in the Basin Plan but an existing body contact recreation beneficial use has been documented thorugh pictures.
4. Pursuant to section 3.11 of the Listing Policy, no additional data and information are available indicating that standards are not met.
 
RWQCB Board Decision / Staff Recommendation: After review of the available data and information, RWQCB staff concludes that though this water body's E. coli data exceeds EPA's Recommended Criteria it is not appropriate at this time to list it as impaired. There is a Storm Water Quality Task Force working on determining the appropriate indicators and the appropriate criteria to protect body contact recreation in fresh waters. Listing this waterbody for E. coli would circumvent a much needed process that is currently underway. Regional Board staff actively participate in this process with the SWQTF and will recommend review of this data in the 2010 listing cycle by when the appropriate criteria and indicators will have been developed.
 
SWRCB Board Decision / Staff Recommendation:
 
USEPA Decision:
 
 
Lines of Evidence (LOEs) for Decision ID 12574
 
LOE ID: 21462
 
Pollutant: Escherichia coli (E. Coli)
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Warm Freshwater Habitat
Aquatic Life Use: Warm Freshwater Habitat
 
Number of Samples: 65
Number of Exceedances: 48
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Of the 65 single samples collected 48 exceeded EPA's Recommended Water Quality Criteria for single samples.
Data Reference: Orange County Coast Keeper Coastal Watersheds Project
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: USEPA Recommended Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria -1986: E. coli: log mean less than 126 organisms/100 mL based on five or more samples per 30–day period, and not more than 10% of the samples exceed 235 organisms/100mL for any 30 day period.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria - 1986. EPA440/5-84-002
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference: Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria - 1986. EPA440/5-84-002
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at two stations in the Bolsa Chica Channel: bc1 and bc2. Bc 1 is Located in Cypress in the upper Bolsa Chica Channel at Warland Street Bridge
Bc2 is located in Huntington Beach in the lower Bolsa Chica Channel at the intersection of Bolsa Chica Blvd. and Rancho Rd.
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected monthly starting with March 31, 2004 through March 30, 2006.
Environmental Conditions: Staff is not aware of any special conditions that might effect interpretation of the data.
QAPP Information: The data's quality is deemed appropriate because it was obtained under the auspices of a QAPP approved by the Regional Board.
QAPP Information Reference(s):
 
DECISION ID
12603
 
Pollutant: pH
Final Listing Decision: Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision: New Decision
Revision Status Revised
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution: Pollutant
 
Weight of Evidence: This pollutant is being considered for placement on the section 303(d) list under section 3.2 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.2 a single line of evidence is necessary to assess listing status.

One (1) line of evidence is available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. Ten (10) of the samples exceed the water quality objective.

Based on the readily available data and information, the weight of evidence indicates that there is sufficient justification against placing this water segment-pollutant combination on the section 303(d) list in the Water Quality Limited Segments category.

This conclusion is based on the staff findings that:
1. The data used satisfies the data quality requirements of section 6.1.4 of the Policy.
2. The data used satisfies the data quantity requirements of section 6.1.5 of the Policy.
3. Ten (10) of seventy (70) samples exceeded the Basin Plan Objective and this does not exceed the allowable frequency listed in Table 3.2 of the Listing Policy.
4. Pursuant to section 3.11 of the Listing Policy, no additional data and information are available indicating that standards are not met.
 
RWQCB Board Decision / Staff Recommendation: After review of the available data and information, RWQCB staff concludes that the water body-pollutant combination should not be placed on the section 303(d) list because applicable water quality standards are not being exceeded.
 
SWRCB Board Decision / Staff Recommendation:
 
USEPA Decision:
 
 
Lines of Evidence (LOEs) for Decision ID 12603
 
LOE ID: 21438
 
Pollutant: pH
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Warm Freshwater Habitat
Aquatic Life Use: Warm Freshwater Habitat
 
Number of Samples: 70
Number of Exceedances: 10
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Of the 70 samples taken 10 exceeded the Basin Plan's objective. Four of these exceedances occurred in the Channel 1 sampling station and six of them occurred in the Channel 2 sampling station.
Data Reference: Orange County Coast Keeper Coastal Watersheds Project
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: Basin Plan Objective: The ph of inland surface waters shall not be raised above 8.5 pH units or depressed below 6.5 pH units as a result of controllable water quality factors.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan-Santa Ana Region
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at two stations in the Bolsa Chica Channel: Channel 1 (bc1) and Channel 2 (bc2). Channel 1 is Located in Cypress in the Upper Bolsa Chica Channel at Warland street bridge.
Channel 2 is located in Huntington Beach in the Lower Bolsa Chica channel at the intersection of Bolsa Chica Blvd. and Rancho Rd.
Temporal Representation: The samples were taken monthly starting with 3/17/2004 through 3/30/2006.
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: The data's quality is deemed acceptable because it was collected under the auspices of a Regional Board staff's approved quality assurance plan.
QAPP Information Reference(s):
 
DECISION ID
12579
 
Pollutant: Ammonia (Unionized)
Final Listing Decision: List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision: New Decision
Revision Status Revised
Sources: Other Urban Runoff | Storm sewers | Surface Runoff | Unknown Nonpoint Source
Expected TMDL Completion Date: 2022
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution: Pollutant
 
Weight of Evidence: This pollutant is being considered for placement on the section 303(d) list under section 3.1 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.1 a single line of evidence is necessary to assess listing status.

One (1) line of evidence is available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. Eight (8) of the samples exceed the water quality objective.

Based on the readily available data and information, the weight of evidence indicates that there is sufficient justification in favor of placing this water segment-pollutant combination on the section 303(d) list in the Water Quality Limited Segments category.

This conclusion is based on the staff findings that:
1. The data used satisfies the data quality requirements of section 6.1.4 of the Policy.
2. The data used satisfies the data quantity requirements of section 6.1.5 of the Policy.
3. Eight (8) of sixty-five (65) samples exceed the Basin Plan's Objective and this exceeds the allowable frequency listed in Table 3.1 of the Listing Policy.
4. This waterbody does not currently have an aquatic life beneficial use designation in the Basin Plan.
5. Pictures showing that an aquatic life use designation exists in this waterbody are available.
6. Pursuant to section 3.11 of the Listing Policy, no additional data and information are available indicating that standards are not met.
 
RWQCB Board Decision / Staff Recommendation: After review of the available data and information, RWQCB staff concludes that the water body-pollutant combination should be placed on the section 303(d) list because applicable water quality standards are exceeded and a pollutant contributes to or causes the problem.
 
SWRCB Board Decision / Staff Recommendation:
 
USEPA Decision:
 
 
Lines of Evidence (LOEs) for Decision ID 12579
 
LOE ID: 8494
 
Pollutant: Ammonia (Unionized)
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Warm Freshwater Habitat
Aquatic Life Use: Warm Freshwater Habitat
 
Number of Samples: 65
Number of Exceedances: 8
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Of the 65 samples collected, eight exceeded the Basin Plan's objective. Three of these exceedances occurred in the Channel 1 sampling station and five of them occurred in the Channel 2 sampling station.
Data Reference: Orange County Coast Keeper Coastal Watersheds Project
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: Basin Plan Objective: The objective varies according to the temperature of the water being sampled and ranged during the sampling period as follows: 0.13 mg/l - 0.51 mg/l
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan-Santa Ana Region
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at two stations in the Bolsa Chica Channel: Channel 1 (bc1) and Channel 2 (bc2)
Temporal Representation: The samples were taken monthly starting with 3/17/2004 through 3/30/2006
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: The data's quality is deemed acceptable because it was collected under the auspices of a Regional Board staff's approved quality assurance plan.
QAPP Information Reference(s):