Urban stormwater management in the City of Capitola

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Capitola

The village of Capitola became the third incorporated city in Santa Cruz County in January 1949. As such, the city of Capitola is required to have a Storm Water Management Program (SWMP) for pollutants, sediment, and toxins from urban discharges. The County of Santa Cruz and the City of Capitola are collaborating to address the new statewide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit [1] requirements for agencies designated by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).

Summary

The City of Capitola relies on Santa Cruz County to provide major storm drain services through the Santa Cruz County Flood Control & Water Conservation District Zone 5 [2]. Existing infrastructure used to manage floods and storm water drainage includes: above ground drainage ditches and water courses; pump stations, catch basins and outfalls. Five main storm drain outfalls discharge storm water into Soquel Creek. Three outfalls flow directly to the Capitola Beach and four outfalls discharge storm water onto the coastal cliffs near Grand Avenue and Cliff Drive. In 2002, the City of Capitola received a grant from the SWRCB for $100,000 to create a master plan for the storm drains in the Village area. The master plan identifies key water quality components and outlines the design and building specifics for dry weather diversions. In 2004, Capitola also constructed the "Lawn Way" pump station in order to alleviate localized flooding. In recent years, The City of Capitola has experienced major flooding in the Village. The storm drain failures and culvert blockages were corrected through the installation of new infrastructure and increased monitoring and maintenance.

Watersheds

  • Soquel Creek
  • Nobel Gulch
  • Arana-Rodeo Gulch

Stakeholders

  • Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County(RCDSCC).
    • (RCDSCC) addresses local natural resource issues through a local partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Resource Conservation District currently has two programs that address habitat restoration: the Healthy Watersheds Restoration Program (HWRP) focuses on smaller-scale restoration projects, while the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program (IWRP) focuses on larger-scale restoration projects.

Regulatory Background

Many laws and policies have been implemented and enforced over the last few decades to reduce pollutants and contaminants being discharged into the Soquel Creek, and upper Arana-Rodeo Culch Watershed.

Federal

  • Clean Water Act[1](CWA) regulates urban runoff and other "non-point source" discharges.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES): This program regulates storm water discharges from municipal storm sewer systems (MS4s), construction areas, and industrial activities. The program focuses on point sources, and operators of point sources are required to receive an NPDES permit before they can discharge. The program aims to prevent and reduce storm water runoff containing harmful pollutants from entering local water bodies.

    • Storm Water Discharges From Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) NPDES Permit Program Basics
      • Phase I Issued in 1990 and requires "medium" and "large" cities or certain counties with populations of 100,000 or more to obtain NPDES permit coverage for their storm water discharges MS4s Overview.
      • Phase II Issued in 1999 and requires regulated small MS4s in urbanized areas and small MS4s outside the urbanized areas that are designated by the permitting authority, to obtain NPDES permit coverage for their storm water discharges.Storm Water Phase II Final Rule

State

Regional

Local

Timeline

Resources at Stake

Management Strategies

  • 'Slow it, Spread it, Sink it' A Homeowner’s Guide to Greening Storm Water Runoff
  • Capitola Storm Water Treatment Wetland: designed by Kestrel Consultingand funded in part by the California State Water Resources Control Board. The man-made wetland treats water from Soquel Creek and two storm drains prior to discharge to the Soquel Lagoon. The Coastal Watershed Council provides ongoing water quality monitoring.

References

  1. CONSTRUCTION STORM WATER PROGRAM
  2. City of Capitola General Plan Update, 2011

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.