Basin Plan Program

The Water Quality Control Plan for the North Coast Region (Basin Plan) is the foundational water quality control planning document for the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (North Coast Water Board). It is designed to preserve and enhance water quality in the North Coast Region to protect the beneficial uses of waters for the benefit of present and future generations. The Basin Plan defines and designates beneficial uses and water quality objectives for waters of the state, including surface waters and groundwater. It also includes programs of implementation to achieve water quality objectives. The Basin Plan fulfills state and federal statutory requirements for water quality planning. On behalf of the North Coast Water Board, the Planning Unit leads the process of reviewing the Basin Plan every three years (Triennial Review) and for developing amendments to the Basin Plan as needed.

What is the Basin Plan?

The Basin Plan contains the regulations adopted by the North Coast Water Board to control the discharge of waste and other controllable factors affecting the quality of waters of the state within the boundaries of the North Coast Region. The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act defines “waters of the state” to mean any surface water or groundwater, including saline waters, within the boundaries of the state. The Basin Plan, as amended periodically, establishes the beneficial uses of water within the region; the water quality objectives necessary to protect those uses, including an antidegradation policy; the prohibitions, policies, and action plans by which protections are implemented; and the monitoring which is conducted to ensure attainment of water quality standards.


Under the federal Clean Water Act, water quality standards include designated uses, water quality criteria, and an antidegradation policy. Porter-Cologne modifies the federal language to refer to designated uses as beneficial uses and water quality criteria as water quality objectives, which includes the State Water Board’s Antidegradation Policy (Resolution 68-16). Porter-Cologne also requires a program of implementation for water quality protection in California. A program of implementation includes actions necessary to achieve objectives, a time schedule for the actions to be taken, and monitoring to determine compliance with water quality objectives and protection of beneficial uses of water.


Link to pdf of full Basin Plan.

More information about the contents of the Basin Plan can be found on the Basin Plan Documents webpage.

Basin Plan Maps

Basin Map Figure 1-1 is a pdf map of the entire North Coast Region.


Users can also explore Basin Plan information and other relevant layers using the North Coast Basin Plan web map application.

Triennial Review

The federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act require the Basin Plan to be reviewed and updated periodically (every three years). The North Coast Water Board review process includes identification of current planning program projects and the status of each, draft prioritization of proposed Basin Plan amendment projects that may enhance water quality protection, and a public input process before the Board adopts by resolution a prioritized list of basin planning projects for the next three-year period.
More information is found on the Triennial Review webpage.

Active Planning Projects

Project Name & Link	Project Type	Lead Staff Contact
2027 Triennial Review	Regulatory requirement	Prachi Kulkarni Prachi.Kulkarni@waterboards.ca.gov
Coastal Pathogen Project (4b Demonstration)	Implementation	Prachi Kulkarni Prachi.Kulkarni@waterboards.ca.gov
Gualala River Sediment TMDL Action Plan	Implementation	Joel Bisson Joel.Bisson@waterboards.ca.gov
Hydrology and Water Quality Project (formerly Narrative Flow Objective)	Implementation	Bryan McFadin Bryan.McFadin@waterboards.ca.gov
Laguna de Santa Rosa Watershed Sediment, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Temperature TMDLs (Laguna Reconciliation Project)	Implementation	Isabel Jones Isabel.Jones@waterboards.ca.gov
Lower Eel River Exception to Seasonal Discharge Prohibition (project web page under development)	Implementation	Justin McSmith Justin.McSmith@waterboards.ca.gov
Native American Culture Beneficial Uses Project	Beneficial uses	Michelle Fuller Michelle.Fuller@waterboards.ca.gov
Outstanding National Resource Waters (project web page under development)	Antidegradation	Matt St. John St.John.Matt@waterboards.ca.gov
Russian River Pathogen TMDL Action Plan	Implementation	Prachi Kulkarni Prachi.Kulkarni@waterboards.ca.gov

 

Adopted Amendments to the Basin Plan

The Basin Plan is amended from time to time to incorporate new beneficial uses, water quality objectives, and programs of implementation, including monitoring programs, and to conduct substantive and non-substantive revisions of existing language. Following adoption by the North Coast Water Board, Basin Plan amendments are not considered final and incorporated into the Basin Plan until reviewed and approved by the State Water Board, and Office of Administrative Law. U.S. EPA also approves amendments where applicable to waters of the United States.
A list of recently adopted amendments to the Basin Plan, associated approval information, and links to project webpages can be found on the Basin Plan Amendments webpage.
Historic Basin Plan amendments that have gone through the full approval process and been incorporated into the current Basin Plan are listed in Appendix 1 of the Basin Plan.