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

Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California. California Ocean Plan 2005. Sacramento, CA: State Water Resources Control Board, California Environmental Protection Agency

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2005) states that the single sample maximum for Enterococcus shall not exceed 104 MPN/100 mL.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

Data for this line of evidence for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) was collected at one AB411 monitoring site (Gaviota State Beach)

Temporal Representation:

Data was collected over the time period 1/5/2004 - 12/26/2006. This includes weekly AB411 monitoring between April 1 and October 31 of each year.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QA information not available

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129343, Enterococcus	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

56122

Pollutant:

Enterococcus

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

117

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

Not Specified

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Three of the 117 geomeans exceeded the enterococcus objective.

Data Reference:

Data for Region 3 Beach Watch.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2005) states that the geometric mean for Enterococcus shall not exceed 35 MPN/100 mL.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California. California Ocean Plan 2005. Sacramento, CA: State Water Resources Control Board, California Environmental Protection Agency

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at station Gaviota State Beach.

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected approximately once a week from January 2007 to August 2010.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

The samples were collected for the Beach Watch program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129343, Enterococcus	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

56389

Pollutant:

Enterococcus

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

134

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed Beach Watch Program data that is collected by each County's Environmental Health Department for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 7 of 134 samples exceed the criterion for Enterococci.

Data Reference:

Data for Region 3 Beach Watch.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2005) single sample maximum for enterococcus density shall not exceed 104 per 100 mL.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California. California Ocean Plan 2005. Sacramento, CA: State Water Resources Control Board, California Environmental Protection Agency

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

Data for this line of evidence for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) was collected at 1 monitoring site [ Gaviota State Beach]

Temporal Representation:

Data was collected over the time period 1/3/2007-8/30/2010.

Environmental Conditions:

Staff is not aware of any special conditions that might affect interpretation of the data.

QAPP Information:

Water Board staff assessed Beach Watch Program data that is collected by each County's Environmental Health Department. There is no QA Project Plan but instead each County follows their own Quality Assurance Procedures

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129343, Enterococcus	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

19183

Pollutant:

Enterococcus

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Central Coast Regional Board Staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 1 of 31 samples exceed the criterion for Enterococci.

Data Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California. California Ocean Plan 2005. Sacramento, CA: State Water Resources Control Board, California Environmental Protection Agency

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2005) states that the geometric mean for Enterococcus shall not exceed 35 MPN/100 mL.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

Data for this line of evidence for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) was collected at one AB411 monitoring site (Gaviota State Beach)

Temporal Representation:

Data was collected over the time period 1/5/2004 - 12/26/2006. This includes weekly AB411 monitoring between April 1 and October 31 of each year.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QA information not available

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129343, Enterococcus	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

218066

Pollutant:

Enterococcus

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 13 of the 99 samples exceeded the Statistical Threshold Value (STV) water quality threshold for Enterococcus. The STV is based on a 10% exceedance rate that is calculated monthly.

Data Reference:

Data file of Region 3 Beachwatch Data. Includes data from all coastal counties in Region 3 including: , Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Ventura, and San Mateo counties.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2019) states that the bacteria water quality objective to protect the REC-1 beneficial for all ocean waters for Enterococci is a statistical value threshold (STV) of 110 cfu/100 mL. The STV shall not be exceeded by more than 10 percent of the samples collected in a calendar month, calculated in a static manner.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

SWRCB. 2005. Water Quality Control Plan, Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan). California Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board. February 2, 2019

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): WP0000079

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the days of 2010-09-07 and 2019-06-10 .

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QAPP for 2020 Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

QAPP for Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129343, Enterococcus	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

218080

Pollutant:

Enterococcus

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

342

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 18 of the 342 samples exceeded the geomean water quality threshold for Enterococcus. This is a six week rolling geomean that is calculated weekly.

Data Reference:

Data file of Region 3 Beachwatch Data. Includes data from all coastal counties in Region 3 including: , Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Ventura, and San Mateo counties.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2019) states that the bacteria water quality objective to protect the REC-1 beneficial for all ocean waters for Enterococci is a geometric mean (GM) of 30 cfu/100 mL. The waterbody GM shall not be greater that the GM magnitude in any six-week interval, calculated weekly.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

SWRCB. 2005. Water Quality Control Plan, Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan). California Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board. February 2, 2019

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): WP0000079

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the days of 2010-09-07 and 2019-06-10 .

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QAPP for 2020 Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

QAPP for Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.


DECISION ID	129344	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

Pollutant:	Fecal Coliform
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)(2018)
Revision Status	Revised
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution:	Pollutant

Regional Board Conclusion:	This pollutant is being considered for placement on the CWA section 303(d) List under section 3.2 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.2 a single line of evidence is necessary to assess listing status. Four lines of evidence are available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. Zero of the 54 GM samples exceed the REC-1 fecal coliform water quality objective. 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 CWA section 303(d) List. 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. Zero of the 54 GM samples exceed the REC-1 fecal coliform water quality objective and this does not exceed the allowable frequency listed in Table 3.2 of the Listing Policy. 4. Pursuant to section 3.11 of the Listing Policy, no additional data and information are available indicating that standards are not met. The Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters (“Ocean Plan”) contains two bacteria water quality objectives applicable to the REC-1 beneficial use: a fecal coliform water quality objective and an enterococci water quality objective. This waterbody is being considered for placement on the CWA section 303(d) List under section 3.3 or 4.3 of the Listing Policy, as applicable, using the fecal coliform objective. In accordance with section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy, data should be representative of the critical timing that the pollutant is expected to impact the waterbody. Indicator bacteria (total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli, enterococci) populations may fluctuate substantially on a daily, seasonal, or yearly basis. Lacking constant inputs, they do not persist in the environment for a long period and effects are of relatively short duration. As a result, the historic levels of indicator bacteria in the waterbody may be a poor indicator of current risks to human health, particularly when more recent data are available to sufficiently assess the water quality standard. Additionally, water quality conditions in waterbodies may change as a result of management actions that have been implemented to address bacteria. Unrepresentative data may result in incorrectly placing or not placing a water body segment on the list, which could result in the unnecessary expenditure of public resources or missing a human health problem. Historic lines of evidence for data collected prior to 2010 were evaluated pursuant to these considerations and were not used to assess water quality standards attainment because they do not meet the temporal representation requirements of section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy. For fecal coliform data, Listing Policy sections 3.3 and 4.3 instructs to use the binomial distribution table in sections 3.2 and 4.2, as applicable. To use the binomial table that uses a four percent exceedance frequency, the data must be collected from coastal beaches from April 1 through October 31 only.

Regional Board Decision Recommendation:	After review of the available data and information, RWQCB staff concludes that the water body-pollutant combination should not be placed on the section 303(d) list because applicable water quality standards are not being exceeded.

State Board Review of Regional Board Conclusion and Recommendation:	The Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters (“Ocean Plan”) contains two bacteria water quality objectives applicable to the REC-1 beneficial use: a fecal coliform water quality objective and an enterococci water quality objective. This waterbody is being considered for placement on the CWA section 303(d) List under section 3.3 or 4.3 of the Listing Policy, as applicable, using the fecal coliform objective. In accordance with section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy, data should be representative of the critical timing that the pollutant is expected to impact the waterbody. Indicator bacteria (total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli, enterococci) populations may fluctuate substantially on a daily, seasonal, or yearly basis. Lacking constant inputs, they do not persist in the environment for a long period and effects are of relatively short duration. As a result, the historic levels of indicator bacteria in the waterbody may be a poor indicator of current risks to human health, particularly when more recent data are available to sufficiently assess the water quality standard. Additionally, water quality conditions in waterbodies may change as a result of management actions that have been implemented to address bacteria. Unrepresentative data may result in incorrectly placing or not placing a water body segment on the list, which could result in the unnecessary expenditure of public resources or missing a human health problem. Historic lines of evidence for data collected prior to 2010 were evaluated pursuant to these considerations and were not used to assess water quality standards attainment because they do not meet the temporal representation requirements of section 6.1.5.3 of the Listing Policy. For fecal coliform data, Listing Policy sections 3.3 and 4.3 instructs to use the binomial distribution table in sections 3.2 and 4.2, as applicable. To use the binomial table that uses a four percent exceedance frequency, the data must be collected from coastal beaches from April 1 through October 31 only.

State Board Decision Recommendation:	After review of the available data and information, SWRCB staff concludes that the water body-pollutant combination should not be placed on the section 303(d) list because applicable water quality standards for the pollutant are not exceeded.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129344, Fecal Coliform	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

218092

Pollutant:

Fecal Coliform

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 0 of the 54 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Coliform, Fecal. The water quality threshold is based on a 30-Day rolling geomean.

Data Reference:

Data file of Region 3 Beachwatch Data. Includes data from all coastal counties in Region 3 including: , Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Ventura, and San Mateo counties.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2019) states that the 30 day geometric mean of fecal coliform density not exceed 200 per 100 mL, calculated based on the five most recent samples from each site.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

SWRCB. 2005. Water Quality Control Plan, Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan). California Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board. February 2, 2019

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): WP0000079

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the days of 2015-09-15 and 2019-06-10 .

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QAPP for 2020 Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

QAPP for Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129344, Fecal Coliform	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

218075

Pollutant:

Fecal Coliform

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

178

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 1 of the 178 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Coliform, Fecal. The water quality threshold is based on a Single Sample Maximum (SSM) value that is calculated daily.

Data Reference:

Data file of Region 3 Beachwatch Data. Includes data from all coastal counties in Region 3 including: , Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Ventura, and San Mateo counties.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2019) states that the Single Sample Maximum fecal coliform density not exceed 400 per 100 mL.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

SWRCB. 2005. Water Quality Control Plan, Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan). California Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board. February 2, 2019

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): WP0000079

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the days of 2015-09-15 and 2019-06-10 .

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QAPP for 2020 Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

QAPP for Santa Barbara County Beachwatch data for the 2020 Integrated Report.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129344, Fecal Coliform	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

19616

Pollutant:

Fecal Coliform

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

131

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Central Coast Regional Board Staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 4 of 131 samples exceed the criterion for Coliform, Fecal.

Data Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan Ocean Waters of California. California Ocean Plan 2005. Sacramento, CA: State Water Resources Control Board, California Environmental Protection Agency

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

California Ocean Plan (SWRCB 2005) states that the single sample maximum for fecal coliform shall not exceed 400 MPN/100 mL.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

Data for this line of evidence for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) was collected at one AB411 monitoring site (Gaviota State Beach)

Temporal Representation:

Data was collected over the time period 1/5/2004 - 12/26/2006. This includes weekly AB411 monitoring between April 1 and October 31 of each year.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QA information not available

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 129344, Fecal Coliform	Region 3
Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County)

LOE ID:

19615

Pollutant:

Fecal Coliform

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Water Contact Recreation

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PATHOGEN MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Central Coast Regional Board Staff assessed data for Pacific Ocean at Gaviota Beach (mouth of Canada de la Gaviota Creek, Santa Barbara County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 0 of 31 samples exceed the criterion for Coliform, Fecal.

Data Reference: