California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | September 28th, 2010
Summary
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) adopted this state policy for water quality control on May 4, 2010. This policy is also known as the
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) adopted this state policy for water quality control on May 4, 2010. This policy is also known as the North Coast Instream Flow Policy. It applies to applications to appropriate water, small domestic use and livestock stockpond registrations, and water right petitions.
Water Code section 1259.4, which was added by Assembly Bill 2121 (Stats. 2004, ch. 943, § 3), requires the State Water Board to adopt principles and guidelines for maintaining instream flows in northern California coastal streams as part of state policy for water quality control, for the purposes of water right administration. This policy implements Water Code section 1259.4. The geographic scope of this policy, referred to as the policy area, extends to five counties—Marin, Sonoma, and portions of Napa, Mendocino, and Humboldt counties— and encompasses (1) coastal streams from the Mattole River (originating in Humboldt County) to San Francisco, and (2) coastal streams entering northern San Pablo Bay.
This policy focuses on measures that protect native fish populations, with a particular focus on anadromous salmonids (e.g., steelhead trout, coho salmon, and chinook salmon) and their habitat. Beginning in 1996, the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) listed steelhead trout, coho salmon, and chinook salmon as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), respectively. In 2005, the coho salmon’s status was upgraded from threatened to “endangered” on both the ESA and the CESA lists.
This policy establishes principles and guidelines for maintaining instream flows for the protection of fishery resources. It does not specify the terms and conditions that will be incorporated into water right permits, licenses, and registrations. It prescribes protective measures regarding the season of diversion, minimum bypass flow, and maximum cumulative diversion.
Applicants may choose to implement the policy principles through the regionally protective criteria or site-specific studies. Site-specific studies may be conducted to develop alternative site-specific protective criteria.
The policy also limits construction of new onstream dams and contains measures to ensure that approval of new onstream dams does not adversely affect instream flows needed for fishery resources. The policy provides for a watershed-based approach to evaluate the effects of multiple diversions on instream flows within a watershed as an alternative to evaluating water diversion projects on an individual basis.
Enforcement requirements contained in this policy include a framework for compliance assurance, prioritization of enforcement cases, and descriptions of enforcement actions. The policy contains guidelines for evaluating whether a proposed water diversion, in combination with existing diversions in a watershed, may affect instream flows needed for the protection of fishery resources.