Difference between revisions of "TMDL for Fecal Coliform for the Lower Salinas River Watershed, Monterey County, California"

From CCoWS Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(TMDL Development)
(TMDL Development)
Line 12: Line 12:
  
 
'''Fecal Coliform'''
 
'''Fecal Coliform'''
 +
 
Use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) tests have placed the Salinas Watershed on the Impaired list. These tests have many problems because not all fecal coliform is a pathogen. A separate test can identify presence of E. Coli in the water sample, however these tests have the same problem of only sampling an indicator, not a pathogen. Data used in this study was from as far back as February 1999.
 
Use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) tests have placed the Salinas Watershed on the Impaired list. These tests have many problems because not all fecal coliform is a pathogen. A separate test can identify presence of E. Coli in the water sample, however these tests have the same problem of only sampling an indicator, not a pathogen. Data used in this study was from as far back as February 1999.
  

Revision as of 15:46, 17 March 2010

An summary of the Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Coast Region report on Total Maximum Daily Load for Fecal Coliform for the Lower Salinas River Watershed, Monterey County, California [1] by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.

Summary

This report investigates the impairment of the Lower Salinas River and several of its tributaries as a result of increased fecal coliform concentrations in accordance with Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. The biological impairment of a river can result from microbial pathogens (viruses, protozoa's, and bacteria) that can be readily correlated with fecal coliforms. As a result, fecal coliforms are used as indicator species for water body contamination. The Lower Salinas watershed is used for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to: groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, industrial and agricultural supplies, commercial and recreational fishing and recreational activities. As a result, understanding water body impairment due to microbial pathogens is important for human health and safety as well as environmental sustainability and improvement.

Location

The area of concern for this TMDL is the lower 400 square miles of the Salinas Watershed, including the watershed draining to the Salinas Lagoon and the river between the Old Salinas River and the Salinas River crossing at Gonzales Road. The project area boundaries are the Gabilan Range to the east, the Sierra de Salinas range to the west, and the Monterey Bay to the north east.

TMDL Development

Fecal Coliform

Use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) tests have placed the Salinas Watershed on the Impaired list. These tests have many problems because not all fecal coliform is a pathogen. A separate test can identify presence of E. Coli in the water sample, however these tests have the same problem of only sampling an indicator, not a pathogen. Data used in this study was from as far back as February 1999.

Data sources for the TMDL came from:

  • TMDL Project data set
    • From TMDL Project and USDA
  • Central Coast Ambient Monitoring Program (CCAMP)
  • Entities regulated by the Central Coast Water Board (City of Salinas

Stormwater Program)

  • Central Coast Watershed Studies (CCoWS) Team (affiliated with the
  • Watershed Institute at California State University-Monterey Bay)
  • Snap Shot Day monitoring program (Monterey Bay National Marine

Sanctuary Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network)

...What pollutants are of concern? What are the indicators? How did they come up with the numbers?...

Implementation and Monitoring

...How are they enforcing/regulating this?

Stakeholders

...Who are the stakeholders in the watershed? e.g. agencies, non-profits, associations...

Laws and Policies

...What laws, policies are driving all of this?...

Tools

...What analytical (e.g. modeling) tools were or could be used?...

Future research

...What knowledge gaps remain?...

...Suggest a CWSP MS thesis topic that could contribute to the issue...

...Suggest a topic for a hypothetical study that had unlimited resources...

References

  1. Total Maximum Daily Load for Fecal Coliform for the Lower Salinas River Watershed, Monterey County, California

Links

Disclaimer

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