The North Coast Regional Water
Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) has released its Draft Staff Report on proposed Scott
River TMDLs to the local Technical Advisory
Group (TAG) for review. http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/programs/tmdl/scott/Draft_Staff_Report.html
A revised draft is expected to be released for review and comment to the public on
September 16, with a public meeting in Siskiyou County on October 5, and in Santa Rosa on
October 11. The public comment period will close on November 1, and then there will be a
Regional Board Hearing in Yreka on December 7.
(A TMDL “is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant
that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of
that amount to the pollutant's sources.” It has also been described as a budget for
pollutants. The Scott River system is listed as impaired for high temperatures and
sediment, both “pollutants” to cold water fisheries such as salmon.)
I have read the draft and I
am absolutely appalled with the recommendations for implementation in Chapter 5. The
County is given two options for Scott Valley: (1) either pass a grading ordinance, or; (2) the NCRWQCB will implement individual Waste
Discharge Requirements - WDRs, (permits) and may require Erosion Control Plans.
Staff also recommends that a
three year study be conducted to ascertain any possible pollution from suction dredge
mining, with potential WDRs.
The removal of riparian
vegetation (including grazing and farming) is to be prohibited. (It is not clear how wide
a strip of land is considered “riparian.”) Ranchers
will be required to fence out their livestock and may be required to have Grazing Riparian
Management Plans and Ranch Water Quantity-Quality Conservation Plans. In addition,
apparently, a new region-wide policy is currently being developed called the "Wetland
and Riparian Protection Policy.”
The most alarming recommendation concerns water use rights in the Scott River
system. Staff analysis concludes that groundwater pumping and surface diversion have
increased temperatures in the river. The
report suggests that the NCRWQCB request that the Department of Water Resources (DWR)
study the relationship between surface and groundwater, as well as their impacts on
fishery resources and riparian vegetation. Staff indicates that "Research should consider groundwater that
extends beyond 1000 feet of the river bank and the appropriateness of existing water
rights."
The recommendation further states that DWR should "take
findings of the research into consideration and act accordingly to protect and restore the
instream beneficial uses of the Scott River and its tributaries, with particular focus on
those beneficial uses associated with the cold water fishery. Depending on the findings of
the research, it may be appropriate for the State Water Board to ensure changes be made in
how water is used in the Scott River watershed." The recommendation discusses
authority by the State Water Board (SWB) to seek modifications to the Scott River
Adjudication and cites duties to consider Public Trust values, prohibitions in the
California Constitution and Water Code against waste and unreasonable use in allowing
water users to continue to hold water use rights.
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