TMDL for Fecal Coliform for the Lower Salinas River Watershed, Monterey County, California

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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.

Source Analysis

Sources of fecal coliform in the Lower Salinas Watershed were identified to arise from various sources. These included:

  • Point Sources
    • Storm drain discharges to storm sewer systems
    • Spills and leaks from sanitary sewer collection and treatment systems
    • concentrated animal feeding operations and dairies
  • NonPoint Sources
    • Domestic animal discharges in areas that do not drain to a storm water sewer system
    • Onsite waste disposal systems
    • Illegal Dumping
    • Homeless Encampments
    • Sediment Sources
    • Irrigated Agriculture
    • Non-controllable natural sources

TMDL Development

Water Samples Use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) tests have placed the Salinas Watershed on the Impaired list. FIB tests identify indicator bacteria for pathogens resulting from fecal coliform. 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)

Problems with water sample tests

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.

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

Implementation and Monitoring

The goal of implementation and monitoring is to reduce pathogen loads and achieve the stated TMDLs for the Salinas River Watershed. Potential pathgoen sources include: municipal storm drain discharges, domestic animal/livestock discharges, illegal dumping, discharges from homeless persons/encampments, sanitary sewer collection system spills and leaks, wildlife, and sediment bedoad resuspension. Because of the complexity involved with coordinating all these various sources for patholgoical pollutants the report lays out an implementation and monitoring road map to identify key aspects, and make sure progress is recorded and results obtained.

Implementation

  • Implementation Actions
  • Evaluation of Implementation Progress
  • Timeline and Milestones
  • Economic Considerations

Monitoring

  • Monitoring Sites
    • Frequency
    • Responsible Parties

Stakeholders

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

Laws and Policies

The law which creates the TMDL process is the Clean Water Act(CWA). The CWA defines a TMDL as "a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources."Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
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