Final California 2020 Integrated Report (303(d) List/305(b) Report)

Supporting Information

Regional Board 9 - San Diego Region

Water Body Name: Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
Water Body ID: CAC9063000020111027113842
Water Body Type: Coastal & Bay Shoreline
 
DECISION ID
127905
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
Pollutant: Indicator Bacteria
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)(2018)
Revision Status Revised
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution: Pollutant
 
Regional Board Conclusion: This pollutant is being considered for placement on the CWA section 303(d) List under section 3.3 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.3 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. Two of the 183 samples exceed the GM threshold for Enterococci.

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 CWA section 303(d) List.
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. Two of 183 samples exceeded the Enterococci water quality threshold for the protection of REC-1, and this does not exceed the allowable frequency 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.

The State Water Board’s Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (the “ISWEBE Plan”) contains two bacteria water quality objectives applicable to the REC-1 beneficial use, which were adopted on August 7, 2018. Because the salinity level of this waterbody is greater than 1 part per thousand more than 5 percent of the time, the enterococci bacteria objective applies. Therefore, this waterbody is being considered for placement on or removal from the CWA section 303(d) List under section 3.3 or 4.3 of the Listing Policy, as applicable, using the enterococci objective.

In accordance with section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy, data should be representative of the critical timing that the pollutant is expected to impact the waterbody. Indicator bacteria (total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli, enterococci) populations may fluctuate substantially on a daily, seasonal, or yearly basis. Lacking constant inputs, they do not persist in the environment for a long period and effects are of relatively short duration. As a result, the historic levels of indicator bacteria in the waterbody may be a poor indicator of current risks to human health, particularly when more recent data are available to sufficiently assess the water quality standard. Additionally, water quality conditions in waterbodies may change as a result of management actions that have been implemented to address bacteria. Unrepresentative data may result in incorrectly placing or not placing a water body segment on the list, which could result in the unnecessary expenditure of public resources or missing a human health problem. Historic lines of evidence for data collected prior to 2010 were evaluated pursuant to these considerations and were not used to assess water quality standards attainment because they do not meet the temporal representation requirements of section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy.

For enterococci data, Listing Policy sections 3.3 and 4.3 instructs to use the binomial distribution table in sections 3.2 and 4.2, as applicable. To use the binomial table that uses a four percent exceedance frequency, the data must be collected from coastal beaches or inland surface waters from April 1 through October 31 only, and where collected from inland waters from April 1 through October 31 only, bacterial measurements must be indicative of human fecal matter, and there is substantial human contact in the waterbody.

No fecal coliform data are used in this assessment because the fecal coliform water quality objective was superseded and is no longer used as the basis of any 303(d) List decision for water contact recreation.
 
Regional Board Decision 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.
 
State Board Review of Regional Board Conclusion and Recommendation: The State Water Board’s Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (the “ISWEBE Plan”) contains two bacteria water quality objectives applicable to the REC-1 beneficial use, which were adopted on August 7, 2018. Because the salinity level of this waterbody is greater than 1 part per thousand more than 5 percent of the time, the enterococci bacteria objective applies. Therefore, this waterbody is being considered for placement on or removal from the CWA section 303(d) List under section 3.3 or 4.3 of the Listing Policy, as applicable, using the enterococci objective.

In accordance with section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy, data should be representative of the critical timing that the pollutant is expected to impact the waterbody. Indicator bacteria (total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli, enterococci) populations may fluctuate substantially on a daily, seasonal, or yearly basis. Lacking constant inputs, they do not persist in the environment for a long period and effects are of relatively short duration. As a result, the historic levels of indicator bacteria in the waterbody may be a poor indicator of current risks to human health, particularly when more recent data are available to sufficiently assess the water quality standard. Additionally, water quality conditions in waterbodies may change as a result of management actions that have been implemented to address bacteria. Unrepresentative data may result in incorrectly placing or not placing a water body segment on the list, which could result in the unnecessary expenditure of public resources or missing a human health problem. Historic lines of evidence for data collected prior to 2010 were evaluated pursuant to these considerations and were not used to assess water quality standards attainment because they do not meet the temporal representation requirements of section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy.

For enterococci data, Listing Policy sections 3.3 and 4.3 instructs to use the binomial distribution table in sections 3.2 and 4.2, as applicable. To use the binomial table that uses a four percent exceedance frequency, the data must be collected from coastal beaches or inland surface waters from April 1 through October 31 only, and where collected from inland waters from April 1 through October 31 only, bacterial measurements must be indicative of human fecal matter, and there is substantial human contact in the waterbody.

No fecal coliform data are used in this assessment because the fecal coliform water quality objective was superseded and is no longer used as the basis of any 303(d) List decision for water contact recreation.
 
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 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 74384
 
Pollutant: Fecal Coliform
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 35
Number of Exceedances: 0
 
Data and Information Type: Not Specified
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Zero of the 35 geomeans exceeded the objective. The samples were collected during dry weather from April through October only. According to the listing Policy section 3.3 a four percent exceedance frequency should be used.
Data Reference: Data for Region 9 Beach Watch.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The standard for fecal coliform states that the coliform density shall not exceed 200 per 100 mL. Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters 2009.
Objective/Criterion Reference: California Ocean Plan Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California 2009
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: Samples were collected at the Crown Point site.
Temporal Representation: Samples were collected approximately once a week from June 2009 to August 2010.
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: The samples were collected for the beach watch program.
QAPP Information Reference(s):
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 220237
 
Pollutant: Total Coliform
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Shellfish Harvesting
 
Number of Samples: 241
Number of Exceedances: 11
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed data for Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 11 of the 241 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Coliform, Total. The water quality threshold is based on a 10% exceedance rate that is calculated for a 30-Day peroid.
Data Reference: Coastal Counties in Region 9 including: Orange, San Diego, and Los Angeles counties.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The San Diego Basin Plan states that not more than 10 percent of the total coliform samples shall exceed 230 per 100 mL where the shellfish beneficial use applies.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the San Diego Basin
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): MB-100
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the days of 2010-08-31 and 2019-06-11 .
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data
QAPP Information Reference(s): QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 220268
 
Pollutant: Total Coliform
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Shellfish Harvesting
 
Number of Samples: 241
Number of Exceedances: 1
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed data for Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 1 of the 241 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Coliform, Total. The water quality threshold for shellfish is based on the median concentration of Total Coliform at each station, and is calculated as a 30-day rolling median.
Data Reference: Coastal Counties in Region 9 including: Orange, San Diego, and Los Angeles counties.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The San Diego Region Basin Plan states that the median total coliform density shall not exceed 70 per 100 mL where the shellfish beneficial use applies.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the San Diego Basin
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): MB-100
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the days of 2010-08-31 and 2019-06-11 .
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data
QAPP Information Reference(s): QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 219973
 
Pollutant: Enterococcus
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 65
Number of Exceedances: 7
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed data for Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 7 of the 65 samples exceeded the Statistical Threshold Value (STV) water quality threshold for Enterococcus. The STV is based on a 10% exceedance rate that is calculated monthly.
Data Reference: Coastal Counties in Region 9 including: Orange, San Diego, and Los Angeles counties.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The bacteria water quality objective to protect the REC-1 beneficial for all saline waters, is a Statistical Threshold Value (STV) of Enterococci of 110 cfu/100 mL. The applicable STV shall not be exceeded by more than 10 percent of the samples collected in a calendar month, calculated in a static manner (ISWEBE 2018).
Objective/Criterion Reference: Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries Plan. Part 1: Trash Provisions; Part 2: Tribal Subsistence Beneficial Uses and Mercury Provisions; Part 3: Bacteria Provisions and Variance Policy
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): MB-100
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the days of 2010-08-31 and 2019-06-11 .
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data
QAPP Information Reference(s): QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 219996
 
Pollutant: Enterococcus
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 183
Number of Exceedances: 2
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed data for Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 2 of the 183 samples exceeded the geomean water quality threshold for Enterococcus. This is a six week rolling geomean that is calculated weekly.
Data Reference: Coastal Counties in Region 9 including: Orange, San Diego, and Los Angeles counties.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The bacteria water quality objective to protect the REC-1 beneficial for all saline waters, is a geometric mean (GM) of Enterococci not to exceed 30 cfu/100 mL. The waterbody GM shall not be greater than the applicable GM magnitude in any six-week interval, calculated weekly (ISWEBE 2018).
Objective/Criterion Reference: Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries Plan. Part 1: Trash Provisions; Part 2: Tribal Subsistence Beneficial Uses and Mercury Provisions; Part 3: Bacteria Provisions and Variance Policy
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): MB-100
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the days of 2010-08-31 and 2019-06-11 .
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data
QAPP Information Reference(s): QAPP for San Diego County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 74386
 
Pollutant: Total Coliform
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 35
Number of Exceedances: 0
 
Data and Information Type: Not Specified
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Zero of the 35 geomeans exceeded the objective. The samples were collected during dry weather from April through October only. According to the listing Policy section 3.3 a four percent exceedance frequency should be used.
Data Reference: Data for Region 9 Beach Watch.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The geometric mean standard for total coliform states that the coliform density shall not exceed 1000 per 100 mL. Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters 2009.
Objective/Criterion Reference: California Ocean Plan Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California 2009
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: Samples were collected at the Crown Point site.
Temporal Representation: Samples were collected approximately once a week from June 2009 to August 2010.
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: The samples were collected for the Beach Watch program.
QAPP Information Reference(s):
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 77616
 
Pollutant: Total Coliform
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Shellfish Harvesting
 
Number of Samples: 35
Number of Exceedances: 3
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Three of the 35 samples exceeded the objective of 70 mpn/100ml applied as a rolling 30 day geomean.
Data Reference: Data for Region 9 Beach Watch.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The Water Quality Control Plan for the San Diego Basin states that at all areas where shellfish may be harvested for human consumption, the median total coliform concentration throughout the water column for any 30-day period shall not exceed 70 per 100 mL. Staff applied the objective as a rolling 30 day geometric mean consistent with other state bacteria objectives and with guidance from the National Shellfish Sanitation Program from which the objectives were taken.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the San Diego Basin
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores.
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected from June 2009 to August 2010.
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: The samples were collected for the beach watch program.
QAPP Information Reference(s):
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 74385
 
Pollutant: Total Coliform
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Shellfish Harvesting
 
Number of Samples: 41
Number of Exceedances: 2
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed BW data for Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 2 of 41 samples exceed the criterion for Coliform, Total.
Data Reference: Data for Region 9 Beach Watch.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan 2011)states the following: At all areas where shellfish may be harvested for human consumption, ten percent of the samples collected during any 30-day period shall not exceed 230 MPN/100mL.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the San Diego Basin
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: Data for this line of evidence for Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores was collected at 1 monitoring site [ Crown Point drain]
Temporal Representation: Data was collected over the time period 6/23/2009-8/24/2010.
Environmental Conditions: Staff is not aware of any special conditions that might affect interpretation of the data.
QAPP Information: The samples were collected for the Beach Watch program.
QAPP Information Reference(s):
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 127905, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Mission Bay Shoreline, La Cima Drive at Crown Point Shores
 
LOE ID: 74383
 
Pollutant: Enterococcus
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 35
Number of Exceedances: 4
 
Data and Information Type: Not Specified
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Four of the 35 geomeans exceeded the objective. The samples were collected during dry weather from April through October only. According to the listing Policy section 3.3 a four percent exceedance frequency should be used.
Data Reference: Data for Region 9 Beach Watch.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The geometric mean standard for entercoccus states that the entercoccus density shall not exceed 35 per 100 mL. Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters 2009.
Objective/Criterion Reference: California Ocean Plan Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California 2009
 
Evaluation Guideline:
Guideline Reference:
 
Spatial Representation: Samples were collected at the Crown Point site.
Temporal Representation: Samples were collected approximately once a week from June 2009 to August 2010.
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: The samples were collected for the Beach Watch program.
QAPP Information Reference(s):