Monterey Coastkeeper

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Summary

The Monterey Coastkeeper (MCK) is a part of the California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA), and serves Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, as well as portions of Santa Clara, San Benito, and San Mateo Counties[1][2]. The MCK aims to protect water quality within this region of Central California, and works in the following arenas: agricultural pollution, urban stormwater, and watershed function[3][4][5]. MCK is managed by The Otter Project, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization working to assist recovery of the California sea otter[6][7].

MCK - Water Quality Areas of Focus

Agricultural Pollution

One area of water quality advocacy that MCK is actively working within, is in agricultural related water quality and pollution[3]. The MCK is concerned with water quality degradation associated with pesticide and nutrient runoff from farms, and its impact on the environment. Management of these pollutants in Central California is managed by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (CCRWQCB) under the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP), known as the 'ag waiver'[8]. The Otter Project, and MCK, believe in the farmer's right to use water for agricultural purposes, yet also believes that that does not include the right to discharge pollution[3].


Water Quality Topics of Interest

Food Safety

Many of the food safety practices intended to control the spread of pathogens recommend limiting non-crop vegetation adjacent to fields. Poison bait stations line leafy green croplands to kill rodents and anything eating the bait. Through bioaccumulation, the poison makes its way up the food chain to top predators. Poison stations have been seen within the field sprinkler line, the poisoned water running back into the crop. Monterey Coastkeeper's mission is to ensure that food safety interests are balanced with environmental protection and that all management practices are scientifically valid. Growers are under pressure from food safety professionals to change on-farm management practices in ways that not only unproven in terms of food safety benefits, but also have serious environmental consequences [9]


Stormwater Management

The Monterey Coastkeeper is an active player in establishing the correlation between water quality and ocean health. For this reason, The Monterey Coastkeeper has taken a proactive role in advocating for affective stormwater management along the Central Coast. Working alongside groups such as The Ocean Conservancy and The Natural Resources Defense Council, The Coastkeeper's umbrella organization The Otter Project played a key role in bringing environmental interests to the table in the creation of the Monterey Regional Stormwater Plan. The resulting document has since been held up as a model for the rest of the state.

Following the creation of The Monterey Coastkeeper, The Otter Project advocated for the improvement of the Salinas Stormwater Management Plan. Although Salinas is not a coastal city, it discharges pollutants into watersheds that flow directly into the Monterey Bay. Participating in public comment periods, writing letters, attending public meetings and working with other stakeholders in stakeholder committees, The Monterey Coastkeeper championed for the improvement of the Salinas Stormwater Management Plan, leading the RWQCB to raise the standard on required improvements of the plan.

Currently, the Regional Water Quality Control Board is planning to undergo a process of rapidly assessing and approving over a hundred stormwater management plans in the next two years. The Monterey Coastkeeper, a project of The Otter Project, is gearing up to participate in the process to ensure that stormwater management throughout the state lives up to the high standard set by Monterey. The resulting management programs established by these policies will have significant ramifications for sea otters and everyone else who relies on clean, healthy water.

Agricultural Runoff

Encouraging good farm practices and enforcing against egregious bad practices are the goals of the Conditional Agricultural Waiver Program, overseen by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Until recently farm discharges were exempt from water quality standards. Now, California farms must have a permit to discharge wastewater. The “conditional waiver” is a group program designed to allow farms to avoid the cost and paperwork of obtaining an individual permit if they meet a set of prescribed conditions.

The Agricultural Waiver Program aims to educate farmers on good practices, thereby encouraging pollution prevention. The Monterey Coastkeeper has been working to support the Water Board both in the management of the current program, and in the development of a future waiver.

Following good agricultural practices to prevent water pollution and erosion provide an easy solution that is neither onerous nor cost prohibitive! Good practices include minimizing chemical application and limiting irrigation to use only what is absolutely necessary. Both of these actions provide not only environmental benefits, but savings to growers.

The Agricultural Waiver might seem unrelated to sea otters—but in fact the connection epitomizes the kind of multi-faceted management we must engage in if we truly wish to affect sea otter population stagnation. Conservation is increasingly moving towards ecosystem based management, and this includes identifying and controlling outside threats to the ecosystem—such as agricultural runoff. Preventing chemical poisons from weakening an iconic keystone species like sea otters is a pretty good place to start.

Litigation

On 21 October 2010, the Monterey Coastkeeper filed a suit against the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) alleging that the MCWRA is polluting the waters of the Central Coast and United States. The suit claimed that the MCWRA illegally discharged polluted waters that contained pesticides and nitrates in excess of protective standards. The suit also claimed that the MCWRA did not file a report of waste water discharge, as well as a failure in protecting public resources, and lastly created a public nuisance. The suit did not seek monetary damages but the suit did ask for the discharge of pollutants to stop. The Monterey Coastkeeper is represented by Stanford Law Clinic. “Agriculture needs to step up and clean up their mess; regulatory agencies need to regulate; and water agencies simply must protect precious resources for everyone,” said Shimek. Monterey Coastkeeper spent the past two years attempting to work with growers and grower associations on new water quality regulations. Earlier this year Monterey Coastkeeper, together with San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, appealed a decision by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to extend an old and ineffective set of water quality regulations. “I’m not going to let up until our water is drinkable, swimmable, and fishable, the basic rights promised by America’s Clean Water Act and California’s Clean Drinking Water Act,” said Shimek.

References

  1. MCK, Facebook Page
  2. California Coastkeeper Alliance
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 MCK, Agricultural Pollution
  4. MCK, Urban Stormwater
  5. MCK, Watershed Function
  6. The Otter Project, Programs
  7. The Otter Project, What We Do
  8. CCRWQCB, ILRP
  9. SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE:CO-MANAGING FOR FOOD SAFETY AND ECOLOGICAL HEALTH IN CALIFORNIA’S CENTRAL COAST REGION http://www.pewhealth.org/uploadedFiles/PHG/Content_Level_Pages/Issue_Briefs/PSP_wildlife.pdf

Disclaimer

This page may contain students's work completed as part of assigned coursework. It may not be accurate. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of CSUMB, its staff, or students.