Final California 2018 Integrated Report (303(d) List/305(b) Report)

Supporting Information

Regional Board 1 - North Coast Region

Water Body Name: Mendocino Coast HU, Rockport HA, Usal Creek HSA
Water Body ID: CAR1131101119990618083138
Water Body Type: River & Stream
 
DECISION ID
68158
Region 1     
Mendocino Coast HU, Rockport HA, Usal Creek HSA
 
Pollutant: Temperature, water
Final Listing Decision: Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision: Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)(2016)
Revision Status Original
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution: Pollutant
 
Regional Board Conclusion: Regional Water Board Conclusion:

This pollutant was considered for placement on the section 303(d) List in a previous Integrated Report cycle.

No new information was reviewed for this current Integrated Report cycle. Therefore, the previous conclusion remains unchanged, and is as follows:

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 temperature consistent with Listing Policy section 6.1.5.9. When compared to the 14.8 °C coho threshold, there were 240 exceedances out of 4,473 total samples taken over all the sampling years at this location. When compared to the 17°C steelhead threshold there were no exceedances found for any of the data.

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. There were 240 of 4,473 samples that exceeded the 14.8 °C temperature evaluation guideline and this does not exceed the allowable frequency calculated from equation 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.
 
Regional Board Decision Recommendation: This region was not assessed this cycle. All decisions have been carried over from the previous cycle and remain the same.
 
State Board Review of Regional Board Conclusion and Recommendation:
 
State Board Decision Recommendation: After review of this Regional Board decision, SWRCB staff recommend the decision be approved by the State Board.
 
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 68158, Temperature, water
Region 1     
Mendocino Coast HU, Rockport HA, Usal Creek HSA
 
LOE ID: 1684
 
Pollutant: Temperature, water
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: Total
 
Beneficial Use: Cold Freshwater Habitat
 
Number of Samples: 4473
Number of Exceedances: 240
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: When the data was compared to the 14.8 °C coho threshold, there were 240 exceedances out of 4,473 total samples taken over all the sampling years at this location. When compared to the 17°C steelhead threshold there were no exceedances found for any of the data. (Hawthorne Timber Co., 2003)
Data Reference: Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: Basin Plan: Temperature objectives for COLD interstate waters, WARM interstate waters, and Enclosed Bays and Estuaries are as specified in the "Water Quality Control Plan for Control of Temperature in the Coastal and Interstate Waters and Enclosed Bays of California" including any revisions thereto. A copy of this plan is included verbatim in the Appendix Section of this Plan. In addition, the following temperature objectives apply to surface waters: The natural receiving water temperature of intrastate waters 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. At no time or place shall the temperature of WARM intrastate waters be increased more than 5 F above natural receiving water temperature.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)
 
Evaluation Guideline: The guideline used was from Sullivan et al. (2000) Published Temperature Thresholds-Peer Reviewed Literature which includes reviewed sub-lethal and acute temperature thresholds from a wide range of studies, incorporating information from laboratory-based research, field observations, and risk assessment approaches. This report calculated the 7-day Mean (maximum value of the 7-day moving average of the daily mean temperature) upper threshold criterion for coho salmon as 14.8°C and for steelhead trout as 17.0°C. The risk assessment approach used by Sullivan et al. (2000) suggests that an upper threshold for the for the 7-day average of 14.8°C for coho and 17.0°C for steelhead will reduce average growth 10% from optimum, and that thresholds for the 7-day average of 19.0°C for both coho and steelhead will reduce average growth 20% from optimum.
Guideline Reference: Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)
 
Spatial Representation: There were 6 sampling locations: along the mainstem of Usal Creek and the South Fork of Usal Creek; and on its tributaries: Julias Creek, Soldier Creek, Little Bear Creek and Bear Creek. Hobo-Temps were placed in the pools near the bottom and towards the deepest portion to record the in-stream temperatures. Instream and riparian measurements were taken at all monitoring locations.
Temporal Representation: Data was recorded for 9 years between 1994 and 1999 and also from 2001 through 2003. Water temperature data were recorded at ninety-minute intervals, generally from June until Mid-October. Stream temperatures were measured continuously with temperature data loggers (Onset Computer Corp. model HOBO-Temp and OST temperature loggers) in Class 1 streams throughout the property from 1994 to 2003. Hobo-temps allowed uninterrupted data collection to occur throughout the critical summer period.
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: QA/QC Information Summary was submitted. Installation of the temperature data logger (Onset Computer Corp. model HOBO-Temp and OST temperature loggers in Class 1 streams throughout the property devices occurred one day before the first day logged on the continuous temperature monitoring figures. This was done to allow the data loggers to reach equilibrium with the instream temperature regimes and to capture complete daily cycles. No information on equipment calibration, standard operating procedures or data protocols were included with the submittal.
QAPP Information Reference(s):