Draft California 2020 Integrated Report (303(d) List/305(b) Report)

Supporting Information

Regional Board 1 - North Coast Region

Water Body Name:	Mendocino Coast HU, Ten Mile River HSA, coastal tributaries
Water Body ID:	CAR1131304319990616115648
Water Body Type:	River & Stream


DECISION ID	68667	Region 1
Mendocino Coast HU, Ten Mile River HSA, coastal tributaries

Pollutant:	Temperature, water
Final Listing Decision:	Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision:	Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)(2016)
Revision Status	Original
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution:	Pollutant

Regional Board Conclusion:	This pollutant is being considered for placement on the section 303(d) list under section 3.2 of the Listing Policy. Under this section a single line of evidence is necessary to assess listing status. One line of evidence is available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. It should be noted that data from a second LOE from the 2006 Integrated Report (LOE 1687) were re-assessed during this listing cycle in LOE 31626. Based on the readily available data and information, the weight of evidence indicates that there is sufficient justification against placing this water segment-pollutant combination on the section 303(d) list in the Water Quality Limited Segments category. This conclusion is based on the staff findings that: (1) The data used satisfies the data quality requirements of section 6.1.4 of the Policy. (2) The data used satisfies the data quantity requirements of section 6.1.5 of the Policy. (3) Two of eight samples exceeded the evaluation guideline utilized to interpret the narrative temperature objective and this sample size is insufficient to determine with the power and confidence of the Listing Policy if standards are not met. A minimum of either (a) 26 samples, or (b) greater than or equal 5 exceedances of the COLD criteria with less than 26 samples is needed for application of Table 3.2. (4) Pursuant to section 3.11 of the Listing Policy, no additional data and information are available indicating that standards are not met.

Regional Board Decision Recommendation:	This region was not assessed this cycle. All decisions have been carried over from the previous cycle and remain the same.

State Board Review of Regional Board Conclusion and Recommendation:

State Board Decision Recommendation:	After review of this Regional Board decision, SWRCB staff recommend the decision be approved by the State Board.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 68667, Temperature, water	Region 1
Mendocino Coast HU, Ten Mile River HSA, coastal tributaries

LOE ID:

1687

Pollutant:

Temperature, water

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

Total

Beneficial Use:

Cold Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

1040

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

When the data was compared to the 14.8°C coho threshold, there were 10 exceedances in 1997 out of 1,040 total samples taken over all the sampling years at this location. When compared to the 17.0°C steelhead threshold there were no exceedances found for any of the data. (Hawthorne Timber Co., 2003)

Data Reference:

Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

Basin Plan: Temperature objectives for COLD interstate waters, WARM interstate waters, and Enclosed Bays and Estuaries are as specified in the "Water Quality Control Plan for Control of Temperature in the Coastal and Interstate Waters and Enclosed Bays of California" including any revisions thereto. A copy of this plan is included verbatim in the Appendix Section of this Plan. In addition, the following temperature objectives apply to surface waters: The natural receiving water temperature of intrastate waters shall not be altered unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Regional Water Board that such alteration in temperature does not adversely affect beneficial uses. At no time or place shall the temperature of any COLD water be increased by more than 5 F above natural receiving water temperature. At no time or place shall the temperature of WARM intrastate waters be increased more than 5 F above natural receiving water temperature.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)

Evaluation Guideline:

The guideline used was from Sullivan et al. (2000) Published Temperature Thresholds-Peer Reviewed Literature which includes reviewed sub-lethal and acute temperature thresholds from a wide range of studies, incorporating information from laboratory-based research, field observations, and risk assessment approaches. This report calculated the 7-day Mean (maximum value of the 7-day moving average of the daily mean temperature) upper threshold criterion for coho salmon as 14.8°C and for steelhead trout as 17.0°C. The risk assessment approach used by Sullivan et al. (2000) suggests that an upper threshold for the for the 7-day average of 14.8°C for coho and 17.0°C for steelhead will reduce average growth 10% from optimum.

Guideline Reference:

Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)

Spatial Representation:

Data was collected from multiple tributaries of the Ten Mile River: Little North Fork of the Ten Mile River, Buckhorn Creek, Bald Hill Creek, Patsy Creek, Bearhaven Creek, Little Bearhaven Creek, Booth Gulch, Mill Creek, Smith Creek, Campbell Creek, Churchman Creek, and Redwood Creek. Hobo-Temps were placed in the pools near the bottom and towards the deepest portion to record the in-stream temperatures. In stream and riparian measurements were taken at all monitoring locations.

Temporal Representation:

Data was recorded for 1994,1995,1997,1998, 2000,2001,2002,and 2003. Water temperature data were recorded at 90-minute intervals, generally from June to Mid-October. Stream temperatures were measured continuously with temperature data loggers (Onset Computer Corp. model HOBO-Temp and OST temperature loggers) in Class 1 streams throughout the property from 1994 to 2003. Hobo-temps allowed uninterrupted data collection to occur throughout the critical summer period.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QA/QC Information Summary was submitted. Installation of the temperature data logger (Onset Computer Corp. model HOBO-Temp and OST temperature loggers in Class 1 streams throughout the property devices occurred one day before the first day logged on the continuous temperature monitoring figures. This was done to allow the data loggers to reach equilibrium with the instream temperature regimes and to capture complete daily cycles. No information on equipment calibration, standard operating procedures or data protocols were included with the submittal.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 68667, Temperature, water	Region 1
Mendocino Coast HU, Ten Mile River HSA, coastal tributaries

LOE ID:

31626

Pollutant:

Temperature, water

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

Total

Beneficial Use:

Cold Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Two of 8 MWMT values calculated from temperature samples collected in Abalobadiah Creek exceed the evaluation guideline for the protection of core-rearing. MWMT values ranged from 13.0 to 17.4 degrees C. This LOE re-assesses some of the data from LOE 1687 from the 2006 Listing Cycle. In LOE 1687 the raw temperature data was incorrectly compared to the MWAT evaluation guideline, when in fact MWAT values should have been calculated from the raw data and compared to the MWAT evaluation guideline. For this listing cycle we are utilizing an MWMT evaluation guideline, instead of an MWAT, as it better captures temperature extremes. Additionally, LOE 1687 incorrectly included data from water bodies that are not coastal tributaries. Those data are now being assessed in the Mendocino Coast HU, Rockport HA, Ten Mile HSA water body.

Data Reference:

Instream temperature monitoring information: Usal Creek, Ten Mile River (north and south forks), Big River, Salmon Creek. Arcata, CA: Campbell Timberland Management

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

Water Quality Control Plan, North Coast Region (NCRWQCB 2011): Natural receiving water temperature of intrastate waters shall not be altered unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Regional Water Board that such alteration in temperature does not adversely affect beneficial uses. At no time or place shall the temperature of any COLD water be increased more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit (F) above natural receiving water temperature.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan) for the North Coast Region

Evaluation Guideline:

If the natural receiving water temperature has been altered, or if alternation is unknown, the evaluation guideline to determine adverse affect on the most sensitive beneficial use (in this case, salmonids) is as follows. Per "U.S. EPA Region 10 Guidance for Pacific Northwest State and Tribal Temperature Water Quality Standards" (USEPA 2003), the U.S. EPA recommends a criterion for the protection of moderate to high density summertime salmon and trout juvenile rearing (i.e., core juvenile rearing) of a maximum weekly maximum temperature (MWMT) of 16 degrees C. The MWMT is also known as the maximum 7-day average of daily maximums (7DADM). The 16 degrees C MWMT criterion is recommended to (1) safely protect juvenile salmon and trout from lethal temperatures; (2) provide upper optimal conditions for juvenile growth under limited food during the period of summer maximum temperatures and optimal temperatures for other times of the growth season; (3) avoid temperatures where juvenile salmon and trout are at a competitive disadvantage with other fish; (4) protect against temperature induced elevated disease rates; and (5) provide temperatures that studies show juvenile salmon and trout prefer and are found in high densities.

Guideline Reference:

EPA Region 10 Guidance for Pacific Northwest State and Tribal Temperature Water Quality Standards. EPA 910-B-03-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 Office of Water, Seattle, WA.

Spatial Representation:

Continuous temperature data were collected in Abalobadiah Creek at site ABA 1.

Temporal Representation:

Continuous temperature data were collected in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2000-2003.

Environmental Conditions:

There are no known environmental conditions (e.g., seasonality, land use practices, fire events, storms, etc.) that are related to the temperature data.

QAPP Information:

QA/QC information from 2006 was not available for this LOE update. The following language is copied from the original 2006 LOE 1687 QA/QC field. QA/QC Information Summary was submitted. Installation of the temperature data logger (Onset Computer Corp. model HOBO-Temp and OST temperature loggers in Class 1 streams throughout the property devices occurred one day before the first day logged on the continuous temperature monitoring figures. This was done to allow the data loggers to reach equilibrium with the instream temperature regimes and to capture complete daily cycles. No information on equipment calibration, standard operating procedures or data protocols were included with the submittal.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Placeholder reference 2006 303(d)