Dragon Tails

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Dragon Tails

• Or, how we learned to stop worrying about permit
  compliance and love SUSMPs a fairy tale?
• Greg Gearheart, PE
• Stormwater Program / SWRCB

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The Tail End

• Our mission is to preserve and enhance the
  quality of CAs water resources, and ensure their
  proper allocation and efficient use for the
  benefit of present and future generations.
• Who are the present and future generations?

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Millions of Californians

• 1980 23.7 million
• 2005 37 million
• 2030 48 million (projected)
• where?

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What are some examples of water resources we
should protect?

• Wetlands and streams, including
• Riparian areas
• Intermittent, ephemeral and headwater streams
• Isolated wetlands (e.g., vernal pools)
• Watershed functions and values
• Protect from what?

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Paradise Lost why are they special?

• California has lost 95 of our inland wetlands
  and streams since 1850's due to development
• They are a critical part of the watershed
• support BUs onsite
• maintain the "quality of the water" of watershed
• provide critical watershed functions like
  generating/moving/storing sediment, removing
  pollutants, retaining flood flows, and supporting
  habitat connectivity

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Why do they need special protection?

• Highly sensitive ecosystems
• Most threatened by landscape activities
  (urbanitis, development, industry, etc.)
• It is much more difficult to regulate landscape
  activities than it is to control point discharges
• It is very difficult to restore them once they
  are gone

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What human activities impact wetlands and streams?

• Bank hardening (rip rap, concrete, refrigerators,
  cars, etc.)
• Dams and diversions
• Development (stream/swale burial, realignment,
  concrete-lining, etc.)
• Agricultural activities (vineyard development,
  dairy waste, cattle, stream crossings, clear-cut
  erosion, etc.)

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CWA 401 regulatory actions at Water Boards for
2003

• 1094 401-related Projects Statewide
• 26 projects denied certification
• 12 project-related enforcement actions
• 1880 acres of fill to State waters (includes 1280
  acres temp. fill)
• 600 acres of permanently filled
  wetlands/streams/etc.
• 1082 acres of compensatory mitigation

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Water Boards nuts and bolts

• Our regulatory actions (e.g., CWA401 Certs, WDRs,
  enforcement, etc.) require discharges to be
  protective of our water quality (WQ) standards
• Water quality standard beneficial uses
  objectives
• Water Boards may choose to prevent any
  degradation
• Statewide General WDRs
• for dredge/fill and linear projects

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CWA - Water Quality Standards

• Water Quality Standards are made up of
• Beneficial Uses (designated to specific
  waterbodies), plus
• water quality criteria and
• an antidegradation policy.
• Beneficial Uses (BUs) are
• often not directly related to some key water
  resource uses valued by communities (it might
  take a suite of them to protect wetlands and
  streams, for example)

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Beneficial Uses Used to Protect California
Wetlands Streams

• AGR Agricultural Supply
• FLD Flood Peak Attenuation/Flood Water Storage
• FRSH Freshwater Replenishment
• GWR Groundwater Recharge
• MAR Marine Habitat
• MUN Municipal and Domestic Supply
• RARE Preservation of Rare and Endangered Species

• REC-1 Water Contact Recreation
• REC-2 Non-Water Contact Recreation
• SHELL Shellfish Harvesting
• SPAWN Fish Spawning
• WARM Warm Freshwater Habitat
• WILD Wildlife Habitat
• WQE Water Quality Enhancement

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Beneficial uses (BUs) and wetlands / streams

• BUs are
• designated in the Basin Plans to a specific
  waterbody at a specific location
• are not easily translated to some key
  wetland/stream functions and values
• frequently it takes a suite of BUs to cover
  wetland functions and values (often includes
  gaps and overlaps)

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Functional FrameworkRegulatory Tools

• Landscape / watershed tool(s)
• Storm water permits
• CEQA ?
• Waterbody tool(s)
• CWA 401 Certifications
• Waste Discharge Requirements
• Waivers
• Laparoscopic techniques

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CWA Permits

• Section 402 Point Sources
• The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
  System (NPDES) applies to all point sources of
  pollutants
• Stormwater outfalls are considered point
  sources and these regulations apply to
• Industrial Sources (including Construction
  Activities)
• Municipal Sources (large and small communities)

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CWS - NPDES Permits (cont.)

• Traditional Point Sources still need attention
  in sustainable growth context
• Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Collection Systems
• Factories and mills
• E.g., the City of Petaluma building a new
  sustainable system to handle both domestic
  wastewater and stormwater

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CWA Dredge and Fill Discharges

• Section 404/401 regulate the direct discharges
  of dredge and fill material to US Waters
• US Army Corps issues 404 permit, which triggers
  the State's 401 Certification (that the project
  complies with our standards)
• 401 Certifications are one-time compliance
  tools that apply to many new developments in
  California, due in part to our abundance of
  ephemeral and intermittent streams
• CWC jurisdiction covers isolated waters of the
  State

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401 Certification - One-time compliance
measurement

• CWA 401 certification process give the Water
  Boards one shot at evaluating compliance with our
  standards
• If we get our permitting wrong, the waterbodies
  and their designated beneficial uses could be
  lost forever
• Could be a de-facto Basin Plan amendment
• Interesting question does this process
  adequately comply with our Basin Plan amendment
  requirements?

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CWA Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

• If the beneficial uses are impaired, the State
  must adopt a TMDL
• Result in pollutant Waste Loads Allocations
  WLAs applied to all sources in watershed
• TMDLs take decades to implement

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CWA TMDLs

• They are watershed-based, but they are also
  pollutant (or impairment cause) specific, so they
  may or may not lead communities towards more
  sustainable approaches to Water Resource planning
• Resulting WLAs are implemented via permits

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Sustainability and Water Resources

• Sustainability has many definitions and
  applications (some very specialized)
• In our communities there are three main test /
  elements (each of which is undergoing a paradigm
  shift today).

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Sustainability Tests

• Resource protection to enhancement and reuse
  (runoff is a resource)
• Technical complex, technological standard-based
  to simple, natural, performance-based solutions
• Institutional centralized, subsidized
  approaches to decentralized, self-supporting
  approaches
• Community healthy individual, societal cost
  driven equations to healthy community, community
  opportunity equations

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NPDES Stormwater Permits help or hindrance?

• Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), in
  both large and small communities, are required to
  comply with MS4 requirements
• Much of the permit requirements focus on
  traditional BMPs and general, indirect municipal
  efforts (like general planning,
  outreach/education etc.)
• In 2002, Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation
  Plans (SUSMPs but they are called performance
  standards in some parts of the State) became
  mandatory for all MS4 permits

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SUSMPs HMMPs Performance Standards, oh my!

• SUSMPs - Standardized Urban Stormwater Mitigation
  Plans
• HMMPs - Hydrograph Modification Management Plans
• WQMPs
• Performance Standards specifically for new and
  redevelop activities in MS4s

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SUSMP History (brief)

• 1996 - NPDES Permit for LA County MS4s first
  suggested SUSMPs (R4-1996-054)
• 1999 - NPDES Permit for LA County Required
  improved SUSMPs (R4-1999-060)
• 2000 - SB upheld RB4-99-060 with WQ-2000-11
• Precedent - all new MS4 permits after WQ-2000-11
  must comply with general principles of
  R4-1999-060 SUSMP lang.

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SUSMPs and Sustainability

• SUSMPs and other performance standards in MS4
  permits require new developments and, in some
  cases, significant redevelopments to apply
  rigorous measures to mitigate the effects of
  urbanization.
• The technical approaches and science behind some
  of the issues are still being debated in the
  State.
• Q Does Low Impact Development SUSMPs and HMP
  compliance?

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Yes, LID SUSMPs

• In theory, a well designed and executed LID
  project would fully comply with MS4 permit
  requirements (and probably avoid 404/401 permits,
  too).
• Translators are needed to help communities
  demonstrate compliance with MS4 requirements

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LID and SUSMPs (cont.)

• Clearly SUSMPLID works best for new development
  and significant redevelopment
• But strategic LID projects could also be used to
  retrofit urban landscapes to address other
  watershed problems
• State Board staff are working on developing
  translator tools for municipal officials who must
  comply with SUSMPs and wish to use LID-like
  approaches

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SUSMPs in the Regions

• As expected, most RBs took the liberty to
  improve on the SUSMP language in R4-1999-060
• Some RBs have evolved at least one generation
  since the original SUSMP approach

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Los Angeles Region

• SUSMP Architects
• Multiple generations new draft coming for
  Ventura County in June 2006
• Numerical Hydromodification Criteria based on
  Stream Bank Erosion Potential
• Limiting Directly Connected Impervious Area to no
  more than 5 pecent of Total Construction Project
  Area

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LA Region (cont.)

• Ventura updates (cont.)
• Low Impact Development Technical Document to
  comply with SUSMPs and Hydromod Criteria
• Post Construction BMP Inspection Program
• Stream Bank Restoration Planning based on
  Southern CA Integrated Biological Index

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S.F. Bay RegionOne Permit Approach

• Phase I for 4 urbanized counties
• Consistent requirements
• Consistent deadlines (with a few exceptions)
• Detail formerly in Stormwater Management Plans
  now in the Permit

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SF Bay Super Permit (cont.)

• BMPs, Level of Implementation and Reporting
  specified for all Performance Standards
• Major improvements in Monitoring and TMDL
  implementation
• Only minor changes to New Development Measures,
  Inspections, Public Information and Municipal
  Maintenance

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San Diego RegionWatershed Approach

• Tackle priority stormwater problems in each
  watershed, in addition to Baseline BMPs
• Adding HMP requirements similar to S.F. Bay Area
  approach
• Setting minimum inspection requirement

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Other Regions Approaches within CA

• Santa Ana Region like RB4
• Lahontan Region no SUSMP requirements
• North Coast Region like RB2 (2 year, 24 hour
  storm event, hydrograph modification management
  plan, etc.)
• Central Coast Region not sure
• Phase II
• Caltrans

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Other States

• MD Recharge / LID credits
• PA Recharge
• DE Recharge / LID
• NJ Recharge / LID
• Handout available

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Sustainable Projects Present Real Community
Opportunities

• If done right, more sustainable projects will
  deliver
• NPDES compliance
• Clean Water Act promises
• Low Lifetime Costs to operate, maintain,
  decommission, etc.
• Community buy-in and support through meeting
  multiple objectives, etc.
• Unpredictable community economic opportunities
  (e.g., tourism and other ancillary benefits to
  the community)

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Evidence of Shift

• Performance measures that would SHOW we are
  moving in the right direction.
• NPDES permits for MS4s contain LID-type
  requirements for New Development
• Increased judicial support

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Shift (cont.)

• Planning departments and land use agencies are
  excited about natural systems (we see this now)
• Natural Systems (low tech, natural function-based
  technologies) are embraced as cornerstones of
  sustainable development
• A number of disciplines integrated into
  stormwater management.

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What can WE do to help implement / enforce the
CWA?

• Appropriate designation, development and
  enforcement of appropriate Beneficial Uses would
  encourage smarter growth.
• We also need to develop effective criteria for
  protecting uses from pollutants and/or habitat
  disturbance associated with urbanization impacts.
• Apply all our tools to encourage avoidance and
  minimization of impacts through better siting and
  management practices.
• Get out of the way of good practices

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Greg Gearheart 916-341-5892 ggearheart_at_waterboards
.ca.gov