Watershed Action Plan Santa Ana Region - Riverside County

Riverside County | January 18th, 2017

The Watershed Action Plan (WAP) for the Santa Ana Watershed Region of Riverside County (SAR) and its Permittees is a requirement of the Riverside County Municipal Separat

The Watershed Action Plan (WAP) for the Santa Ana Watershed Region of Riverside County (SAR) and its Permittees is a requirement of the Riverside County Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), Permit Order No. R8-2010-0033 as adopted by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) in January 29, 2010 (2010 MS4 Permit). The purpose of this requirement is to coordinate existing watershed approaches to address water quality and hydromodification impacts resulting from urbanization within the SAR. This requirement is to be achieved by evaluating existing programs relating to the integration of water quality, stream protection, stormwater management, and re-use strategies with land planning policies, ordinances, and plans within each jurisdiction to the maximum extent practicable (MEP). Throughout implementation of the 2010 MS4 Permit along with the development of this plan, the Regional Board has emphasized that the plans for each jurisdiction should address cumulative impacts of development on vulnerable streams; preserve or restore, consistent with the MEP standard, the structure and function of streams; and protect surface water and groundwater quality.

Watershed Condition, Turbidity, and Implications for Anadromous Salmonids in North Coastal California Streams

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | May 21st, 2008

It is widely acknowledged that historically intensive human disturbances increased erosion and sediment delivery rates to extreme levels in the 1950s through the 1970s ac

It is widely acknowledged that historically intensive human disturbances increased erosion and sediment delivery rates to extreme levels in the 1950s through the 1970s across the north coast, and are likely continuing to affect turbidity durations to some degree. A more controversial question is to what extent contemporary land use is affecting present-day erosion, sediment delivery and turbidity. Using turbidity exceedence levels to indicate watershed disturbance, we approached this question from several perspectives. Part A of this report follows up and expands on an earlier analysis (Klein, 2003) for which turbidity data sets from only eight sites were available. In the present study, annual turbidity data sets were assembled from up to 28 continuous turbidity and stage recording stations located on small streams in the northcoast region from Del Norte County in the north to Mendocino County in the south. Data spanning three water years (WY2003-2005) were processed to calculate lengths of time turbidity was higher than several thresholds. Turbidity thresholds ranged from 25 (frequently cited in the salmonid literature as causing ill effects when exceeded) to 1000 FNU. Turbidity exceedence analyses, similar to conventional flow exceedence analyses, were also performed, allowing comparison of turbidity levels at various exceedence probabilities. Part B of this report uses turbidity relationships to harvest rate to model potential effects on anadromous salmonids within a cumulative watershed effects (CWE) framework. To evaluate CWEs on anadromous salmonids and the stream ecosystem, annual turbidigraphs were produced from WY1991 through WY2005 at annual average harvest rates of 0% to 6% for an 8 mi2 old second-growth watershed in North Coastal California. The turbidigraphs were very conservative in that they used the ‘Lower Bound Lines’ to estimate turbidity from discharge, rather than a line of best fit. Turbidity thresholds established at 10, 25, and 50 FNU were applied to assess chronic background, moderate, and severe stress to stream ecosystems in each water year. A simple model of smolt growth and survival-to-adult-return (SAR), as influenced by the annual turbidigraph, indicated the minimum supportable adult steelhead population size could be more than halved at the 2% average annual timber harvest rate compared to that supported by an old second-growth watershed.

Watershed Management (Resource Management Strategy)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 29th, 2016

Watershed management is the process of creating and implementing plans, programs, projects, and activities to restore, sustain, and enhance watershed functions. These fun

Watershed management is the process of creating and implementing plans, programs, projects, and activities to restore, sustain, and enhance watershed functions. These functions provide the goods, services, and values desired by the human community that are affected by conditions within a watershed. The practice of community-based watershed management, which is practiced in hundreds of watersheds throughout the state, has evolved as an effective approach to natural resource management. These community-based efforts are carried out with the active support, assistance, and participation of several State agencies and programs. Managing at a watershed level has proven to be an appropriate organizing landscape unit for the coordination and integrated management of the numerous physical, chemical, and biological processes that make up a river basin ecosystem (Box 1). A watershed serves well as a common reference unit for the many different policies, actions, and processes that affect the system, and it also provides a basis for greater integration and collaboration among those policies and actions.

Western and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in ecocultural restoration

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | October 1st, 2018

 The Delta Plan (DSC 2013) calls for “protecting and enhancing the unique cultural values” of California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, a 2,800-km2 (1,100 mi2)

 The Delta Plan (DSC 2013) calls for “protecting and enhancing the unique cultural values” of California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, a 2,800-km2 (1,100 mi2) region that was occupied by indigenous peoples for ~5,000 years. The legacies of Native Californians need to be included in the Delta Plan, especially Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of ways to gather, hunt, and fish for food; build shelters; prepare medicines; and perform ceremonies — along with ways to make tools, clothing, baskets, and shelters. Plants were not just collected but also tended, which involved planned burning, digging, planting, weeding, harvesting, and seed dispersal. Populations of plants that have cultural significance and unique values should be enhanced under the Delta Plan. While Western Ecological Knowledge (WEK) offers a strong foundation for restoration of species assemblages and ecosystems, TEK adds culturally-significant species to restoration targets and traditional management practices to achieve ecological resilience. We compare 11 attributes of WEK and TEK that aid ecological restoration; all are complementary or shared by these two ways of knowing. Both WEK and TEK emphasize adaptive approaches for managing natural resources, as mandated in the Delta Plan. We suggest that WEK–TEK restoration sites throughout the Delta can be linked (virtually) to honor cultural integrity and nurture a “Sense of Place” for Native Californians and others. At the same time, such a network could foster ways to achieve sustainability through the TEK ethic of reciprocity, which WEK lacks. A network of WEK–TEK sites could enhance unique cultural values while supporting passive recreation and attracting ecotourists. 

Wetland geomorphology and tidal hydrodynamics drive fine‑scale fish community composition and abundance

Environmental Biology of Fishes (Springer) | January 19th, 2024

What If California’s Drought Continues?

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | August 20th, 2015

California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so

California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in California’s wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the state’s iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continued—and likely increasingly difficult—adaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.

When the River Meets the Sea

Pacific Institute | June 7th, 2019

Where the Wild Things Aren't: Making the Delta a Better Place for Native Species

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | April 5th, 2012

This report proposes a reconciliation approach for addressing 160 years of accumulated problems and for managing the Delta’s ecosystem in the future. Reconciliation eco

This report proposes a reconciliation approach for addressing 160 years of accumulated problems and for managing the Delta’s ecosystem in the future. Reconciliation ecology seeks to improve conditions for native species while recognizing that most ecosystems have been altered irrevocably by human use and will continue to be used to support human goals. Improving ecosystem conditions for native species must, therefore, happen in a context of continuing use of land and water by humans and continuing physical and biological change.

Wildfire Impacts on Snowpack Phenology in a Changing Climate Within the Western U.S.

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | July 8th, 2022

Snowpack accumulation and melt are critical for water supply in the western United States. As the number and size of wildfires have increased, it is important to understa

Snowpack accumulation and melt are critical for water supply in the western United States. As the number and size of wildfires have increased, it is important to understand how these events impact the seasonal snowpack. Using data from the Snow Telemetery monitoring network, we quantify the impacts of wildfires on snowpack for various regions across the western U.S. and Alaska. The results indicate that decreases in snowpack tend to occur following fires. Also, the snowmelt period usually begins and finishes earlier in the spring due to the conditions in the burned forests. In regions of the western U.S. that are already experiencing earlier snowmelt due to climate changes, wildfires are further shifting the melt earlier, which could have substantial consequences for water supply and flood risks.

Willingness to Pay to Protect Wetlands and Reduce Wildlife Contamination from Agricultural Drainage

Springer | December 2nd, 1991

This chapter presents the results of a survey of the general population in California regarding their willingness to pay for alternative programs to protect and expand we

This chapter presents the results of a survey of the general population in California regarding their willingness to pay for alternative programs to protect and expand wetlands as well as reduce wildlife contamination in the San Joaquin Valley (Valley). The results of 803 completed interviews from 1,573 successfully contacted households indicate that Californians would pay $154 each year in higher taxes to purchase water to prevent a decrease in wetland acreage from 85,000 acres to 27,000 acres. This value rose to $254 to provide foran increase in wetland acreage to 125,000 acres with an associated 40 percent increase of bird populations. California households would pay $313 each year in additional taxes to implement agricultural drainage programs that would reduce waterbirds exposure to contamination from 70 percent to 20 percent exposure. The water management implication of these results is that Californians value clean water supplies for refuges at over $3 billion a year.