California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | May 15th, 2009
Summary
The State of California’s bioassessment, monitoring and assessment (M&A), and water quality standards (WQS) programs were reviewed in January 2008 using the
The State of California’s bioassessment, monitoring and assessment (M&A), and water quality standards (WQS) programs were reviewed in January 2008 using the U.S. EPA’s Critical Technical Elements and Programmatic Review process (Barbour and Yoder 2008; Quasney and Yoder 2008), which evaluates key components of these state programs and existing and planned capacities. The review process results in technical, policy, and management recommendations for building, refining and maintaining functional and effective bioassessment and M&A tools that support the full spectrum of WQS and management programs. This review was conducted by a two-person review team with national expertise at evaluating, building, and implementing state and tribal programs.
Bioassessment, the use of resident aquatic biota as direct indicators of the biological integrity of water bodies, is a powerful tool for water resource regulatory programs. The need for state water quality agencies to develop and maintain robust bioassessment programs is underscored by the National Research Council’s critical review of state TMDL, M&A, and WQS programs (National Research Council 2001). The NRC’s review makes clear that all states need better biological endpoints, adequate M&A, and tiered aquatic life uses (TALU) in order to develop and refine appropriate and effective WQS that result in more accurate and appropriate protection for biological resources.
While the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) has long required states to protect and restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters, the California Water Boards have only recently begun to develop the tools, expertise and capacity that they will need in order to implement modernized WQS that protect biological integrity. However, because of the substantial investment in the development of bioassessment tools made since the mid-1990s by the state’s Department of Fish and Game, California is now positioned to initiate the process of integrating bioassessments into its WQS and monitoring and assessment programs via the development and implementation of narrative and numeric biocriteria.