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

Supporting Information

Regional Board 9 - San Diego Region

Water Body Name: Unnamed tributary to Los Coches Creek (East)
Water Body ID: CAR9071400020200207049628
Water Body Type: River & Stream
 
DECISION ID
128042
Region 9     
Unnamed tributary to Los Coches Creek (East)
 
Pollutant: Indicator Bacteria
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
 
Regional Board Conclusion: Insufficient information is available to determine beneficial use support for this waterbody-pollutant combination with the statistical power and confidence required by the Listing Policy. Beneficial use support will be reassessed in a future cycle, if more data are available.

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 equal to or less than 1 part per thousand 95 percent or more of the time, the E. coli 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 E. coli 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 E. coli 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. The readily available data and information is insufficient to determine, with the power and confidence of the Listing Policy, the applicable beneficial use support rating.
 
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 equal to or less than 1 part per thousand 95 percent or more of the time, the E. coli 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 E. coli 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 E. coli 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:
 
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 128042, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Unnamed tributary to Los Coches Creek (East)
 
LOE ID: 220666
 
Pollutant: Escherichia coli (E. coli)
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 1
Number of Exceedances: 0
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed data for Unnamed tributary to Los Coches Creek (East) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 0 of the 1 samples exceeded the Statistical Threshold Value (STV) water quality threshold for E. coli. The STV is based on a 10% exceedance rate that is calculated monthly.
Data Reference: Field, Habitat, Sediment, Toxicity, Water data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 9.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The bacteria water quality objective applicable to all non-saline waters, is a Statistical Threshold Value (STV) of 320 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): CT_SDR-782
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the days of 2017-08-10 and 2017-08-10 .
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: County of San Diego - Dept of Public Works. 2008. Quality Assurance Project Plan from Southern California Bight. ., Weston Solutions, Inc.. 2014. Quality Assurance Project Plan for the County of San Diego's Inland Surface Water Monitoring Program., Wood. 2019. Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency Los Penasquitos Watershed Management Area Sediment Load Total Maximum Daily Load., Weston Solutions, Inc.. 2019. Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency for NPDES Receiving Water Monitoring.
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan from Southern California Bight.
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency for NPDES Receiving Water Monitoring
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan for the County of San Diego's Inland Surface Water Monitoring Program
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency Los Penasquitos Watershed Management Area Sediment Load Total Maximum Daily Load
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 128042, Indicator Bacteria
Region 9     
Unnamed tributary to Los Coches Creek (East)
 
LOE ID: 220695
 
Pollutant: Escherichia coli (E. coli)
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: None
 
Beneficial Use: Water Contact Recreation
 
Number of Samples: 4
Number of Exceedances: 1
 
Data and Information Type: PATHOGEN MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed data for Unnamed tributary to Los Coches Creek (East) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 1 of the 4 samples exceeded the Statistical Threshold Value (STV) water quality threshold for E. coli. The STV is based on a 10% exceedance rate that is calculated monthly.
Data Reference: Field, Habitat, Sediment, Toxicity, Water data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 9.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: The bacteria water quality objective applicable to all non-saline waters, is a Statistical Threshold Value (STV) of 320 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): CT_SDR-780
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the days of 2017-08-09 and 2018-07-26 .
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: County of San Diego - Dept of Public Works. 2008. Quality Assurance Project Plan from Southern California Bight. ., Weston Solutions, Inc.. 2014. Quality Assurance Project Plan for the County of San Diego's Inland Surface Water Monitoring Program., Wood. 2019. Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency Los Penasquitos Watershed Management Area Sediment Load Total Maximum Daily Load., Weston Solutions, Inc.. 2019. Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency for NPDES Receiving Water Monitoring.
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan from Southern California Bight.
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency for NPDES Receiving Water Monitoring
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan for the County of San Diego's Inland Surface Water Monitoring Program
QAPP Information Reference(s): Quality Assurance Project Plan Equivalency Los Penasquitos Watershed Management Area Sediment Load Total Maximum Daily Load