Difference between revisions of "Urban stormwater management in Santa Cruz County"

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(Incorporated Cities)
(Incorporated Cities)
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**Population: 11,764  
 
**Population: 11,764  
 
***Square miles:  4.6
 
***Square miles:  4.6
*[http://ecoviz.csumb.edu/wiki/index.php/Urban_storm_water_management_in_the_City_of_Santa_Cruz City of Santa Cruz]
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*[[Urban stormwater management in the City of Santa Cruz|City of Santa Cruz]]
 
**Population: 58,982
 
**Population: 58,982
 
***Square miles: 12  
 
***Square miles: 12  
*[http://ecoviz.csumb.edu/wiki/index.php/Urban_storm_water_management_in_the_City_of_Capitola City of Capitola]
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*[[Urban stormwater management in the City of Capitola|City of Capitola]]
 
**Population: 10,073
 
**Population: 10,073
 
***Square miles: 1.6
 
***Square miles: 1.6
*[http://ecoviz.csumb.edu/wiki/index.php/Urban_storm_water_management_in_the_City_of_Watsonville City of Watsonville]
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*[[Urban stormwater management in the City of Watsonville|City of Watsonville]
 
**Population: 51,882   
 
**Population: 51,882   
 
***Square miles: 5.9
 
***Square miles: 5.9

Revision as of 13:23, 9 April 2013

A watershed-related issue examined by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.



Overview of Santa Cruz County

The County of Santa Cruz is located on California's Central Coast just over 70 miles south of San Francisco; 30 miles southwest of San Jose; and 43 miles north of Monterey. It is bordered by the San Mateo County to the north, Santa Clara County to the east, Monterey County to the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. The peak of the Santa Cruz Mountain Range is over 2,600 feet. The climate is generally Mediterranean but has low humidity. The mean annual precipitation is 31 inches, occurring predominantly between November and April [1]. All urban runoff eventually flows to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), a federally protected marine area of biological and economical importance along the Central Coast of California (see Urban stormwater management in the Monterey Bay region).


Santa Cruz County has four incorporated cities including Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Wastonville, with a combined population of nearly 223,000 inhabitants [2]. The incorporated areas of the county, with a combined total population of approximately 136,000, include Aptos, Ben Lomond, Bonny Doon, Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Corralitos, Davenport, Felton, Freedom, La Selva Beach, Rio Del Mar, Soquel and Zayante, also contribute to runoff issues in the region [3].


The details for each municipality's SWMP can be found using the links under the Incorporated Cities section. The County of Santa Cruz works with the City of Capitola for all their SWMP development.

Incorporated Cities

Countymapweb.jpg
SCwatersheds.jpg
  • City of Scotts Valley
    • Population: 11,764
      • Square miles: 4.6
  • City of Santa Cruz
    • Population: 58,982
      • Square miles: 12
  • City of Capitola
    • Population: 10,073
      • Square miles: 1.6
  • [[Urban stormwater management in the City of Watsonville|City of Watsonville]
    • Population: 51,882
      • Square miles: 5.9

[4]

Regulatory Background

Legislation has been developed by multiple regulatory agencies to reduce the level of pollutants and contaminants entering the Monterey Bay and bodies of water within the San Lorenzo River watershed.

Federal

Clean Water Act, Section 402: National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) - The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to manage a permit system regulating point sources of water pollution. This system requires industrial and municipal agencies to obtain an NPDES permit before discharging point source pollution into local bodies of water. In addition to regulating pollutant discharge, the permit requires municipal separate storm water systems (MS4s) to develop a Storm Water Management Plan (SWMP) for their region [5].

  • Phase I (1990) requires cities and certain counties with populations of 100,000 or more to acquire NPDES permits for their storm water discharges. Phase I MS4s are covered by individual permits [6].
  • Phase II (1999) requires regulated MS4s for cities and certain counties with populations under 100,000 to acquire NPDES permits for their storm water discharges. Phase II MS4s are covered by a general permit [7].

Endangered Species Act (ESA) - The ESA prohibits the impairment of habitats that contain endangered or threatened species [8]. The San Lorenzo River maintains a population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), which is listed as threatened under the ESA [9].

State

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)

  • CalTrans Program
    • The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) is the governing agency responsible for the management, maintenance, construction, and design of the State highway system, including freeways, bridges, tunnels, CalTrans' facilities, and associated properties. CalTrans is subject to the permitting requirements defined by the Clean Water Act, Section 402(p) NPDES program. Though storm water discharges were originally regulated by individual permits, the State Water Board issued a State-wide permit (CalTrans MS4 Permit Order No. 99-06-DWQ) which regulated all discharges from Caltrans MS4s, construction activities, and maintenance facilities [10].
  • Construction Storm Water Program
    • This program requires all construction projects greater than or equal to one acre, as well as projects under one acre that are connected to a larger construction plan, to obtain a General Permit for Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (Construction General Permit Order 2009-0009-DWQ). This permit requires the development and implementation of a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), which applies BMPs for runoff associated with the construction project, a visual monitoring program for pollutants (or "non-visual" chemical monitoring program if there are failures of BMPs), and a site map(s) illustrating the construction site perimeter, storm water collection and discharge points, existing and proposed buildings, lots, roadways, general topography both before and after construction, and drainage patterns across the project [11].
  • Industrial Storm Water Program
    • This program requires certain industrial facilities to obtain a General Permit for discharges associated with the facilities industrial activities (Industrial Storm Water General Permit Order 97-03-DWQ). The facilities under jurisdiction of this permit include: manufacturing facilities; oil and gas/mining facilities; hazardous waste, treatment, storage, or disposal facilities; landfills, land application sites, and open dumps; recycling facilities; steam electric power generating facilities; transportation facilities; sewage or wastewater treatment works; manufacturing facilities where industrial materials, equipment, or activities are exposed to storm water; and facilities subject to storm water effluent limitations guidelines, new source performance standards, or toxic pollutant effluent standards [12]. This permit requires management measures that will achieve best available technology (BAT) that is economically achievable and best conventional pollutant control technology (BCT). This permit also requires the development and implementation of a SWPPP [13].
  • Municipal Storm Water Program
    • This program regulates storm water discharge from MS4s, which convey untreated runoff containing pollutants from urbanized areas and areas with impervious surface cover to local bodies of water. MS4 permits are issued in two phases (Phase I and Phase II), depending on the size of the MS4 (see Federal Regulations section above). The EPA works with State and Regional water management agencies to administer the NPDES permitting program for municipalities. Some of the requirements of the NPDES permits include the creation of a SWMP, BMPs, and measures to reduce pollutants entering waterways to the maximum extent practicable (MEP) [14].

Regional

Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB)

  • The Central Coast RWQCB works in conjunction with the EPA to administer the NPDES permitting program.

References

  1. Climate Data
  2. Population Statistics for Incorporated Cities of Santa Cruz County
  3. Population Statistics for Incorporated Cities of Santa Cruz County
  4. Population Statistics for Incorporated Cities of Santa Cruz County
  5. Environmental Protection Agency. Clean Water Act Section 402
  6. Stormwater Discharges From Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s)
  7. Stormwater Discharges From Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s)
  8. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Endangered Species Program
  9. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Species Profile
  10. State Water Resources Control Board, CalTrans Program
  11. State Water Resources Control Board, Construction Storm Water Program
  12. State Water Resources Control Board, Industrial Storm Water General Permit Order 97-03-DWQ
  13. State Water Resources Control Board, Industrial Storm Water Plan
  14. State Water Resources Control Board, Municipal Storm Water Program

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.