San Vicente Creek and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Fecal Indicator Bacteria Project

San Vicente Creek and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve are listed on the Clean Water Act 303(d) list of impaired water bodies due to high fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) levels (e.g., total coliform, fecal coliform, enterococcus, and E. coli). High FIB levels indicate presence of pathogenic organisms that are found in warm-blooded animal (e.g., horse, dog, human) waste. Pathogens pose potential health risks to people who recreate (e.g., swim, surf, bathe, beach comb) in contaminated waters. The San Vicente Creek and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve FIB remediation project was initiated to address the impairment of recreational beneficial uses in these water bodies. After the project was initiated, further data analysis found that Fitzgerald Marine Reserve was no longer impaired by FIB. As such, the project scope has been changed to: (1) approve a revision to the Clean Water Act 303(d) list of impaired waters in the Region to remove (delist) Fitzgerald Marine Reserve from it, and (2) develop a Water Quality Improvement Plan for resolving FIB impairment and achieving water quality standards in San Vicente Creek. We are pursuing a non-TMDL alternative approach to resolve FIB impairment in San Vicente Creek because some parties have already begun voluntary implementation efforts and the Water Board has the existing regulatory authorities to require data collection and implantation actions included in the Water Quality Improvement Plan.