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

Supporting Information

Regional Board 5 - Central Valley Region

Water Body Name: Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
Water Body ID: CAR5231003020211020033244
Water Body Type: River & Stream
 
DECISION ID
132151
Region 5     
Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
 
Pollutant: Temperature, water
Final Listing Decision: Do Not List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision: New Decision
Revision Status Revised
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution: Pollutant
 
Regional Board Conclusion: Insufficient information is available to determine beneficial use support for this waterbody-pollutant combination with the statistical power and confidence required by the Listing Policy. Beneficial use support will be reassessed in a future cycle, if more data are available.
 
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. The readily available data and information is insufficient to determine, with the power and confidence of the Listing Policy, the applicable beneficial use support rating.
 
State Board Review of Regional Board Conclusion and Recommendation:
 
State Board Decision Recommendation:
 
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132151, Temperature, water
Region 5     
Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
 
LOE ID: 234147
 
Pollutant: Temperature, water
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: Not Recorded
 
Beneficial Use: Fish Migration
 
Number of Samples: 10
Number of Exceedances: 1
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed STORET data for Thomes Creek (Tehama County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 1 of 10 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Temperature.
Data Reference: WQX data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 5.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: 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 (Sacramento-San Juoaquin River Basin Plans).
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Valley Region, Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins; Fifth Edition. Revised May 2018 (with approved amendments)
 
Evaluation Guideline: Inland Fishes of California (Moyle 1976) states that for rainbow trout the optimum range for growth and completion of most life stages is 13-21 degrees C (page 129).
Guideline Reference: Inland Fishes of California
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site (CALWR_WQX-A0321800)
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the dates of 2010-11-02 and 2015-02-10
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: STORET
QAPP Information Reference(s): This is a placeholder reference for data that was collected after QAPP requirements were developed, but exempt from the requirements.
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132151, Temperature, water
Region 5     
Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
 
LOE ID: 234148
 
Pollutant: Temperature, water
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: Not Recorded
 
Beneficial Use: Cold Freshwater Habitat
 
Number of Samples: 10
Number of Exceedances: 1
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed STORET data for Thomes Creek (Tehama County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 1 of 10 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Temperature.
Data Reference: WQX data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 5.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: 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 (Sacramento-San Juoaquin River Basin Plans).
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Valley Region, Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins; Fifth Edition. Revised May 2018 (with approved amendments)
 
Evaluation Guideline: Inland Fishes of California (Moyle 1976) states that for rainbow trout the optimum range for growth and completion of most life stages is 13-21 degrees C (page 129).
Guideline Reference: Inland Fishes of California
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site (CALWR_WQX-A0321800)
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the dates of 2010-11-02 and 2015-02-10
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: STORET
QAPP Information Reference(s): This is a placeholder reference for data that was collected after QAPP requirements were developed, but exempt from the requirements.
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132151, Temperature, water
Region 5     
Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
 
LOE ID: 234150
 
Pollutant: Temperature, water
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: Not Recorded
 
Beneficial Use: Fish Spawning
 
Number of Samples: 10
Number of Exceedances: 1
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed STORET data for Thomes Creek (Tehama County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 1 of 10 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Temperature.
Data Reference: WQX data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 5.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: 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 (Sacramento-San Juoaquin River Basin Plans).
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Valley Region, Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins; Fifth Edition. Revised May 2018 (with approved amendments)
 
Evaluation Guideline: Inland Fishes of California (Moyle 1976) states that for rainbow trout the optimum range for growth and completion of most life stages is 13-21 degrees C (page 129).
Guideline Reference: Inland Fishes of California
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site (CALWR_WQX-A0321800)
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the dates of 2010-11-02 and 2015-02-10
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: STORET
QAPP Information Reference(s): This is a placeholder reference for data that was collected after QAPP requirements were developed, but exempt from the requirements.
 
 
DECISION ID
132152
Region 5     
Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
 
Pollutant: Aluminum
Final Listing Decision: List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision: New Decision
Revision Status Revised
Sources: A Source Unknown
Expected TMDL Completion Date: 2035
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 3.1 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.1 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. Six of 10 samples exceed the criteria for COLD.

Based on the readily available data and information, the weight of evidence indicates that there is sufficient justification in favor of 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. Six of 10 samples exceed the criteria for COLD and this exceeds the allowable frequency listed in Table 3.1 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.
 
Regional Board Decision Recommendation: After review of the available data and information, RWQCB staff concludes that the water body-pollutant combination should be placed on the section 303(d) list because applicable water quality standards are exceeded and a pollutant contributes to or causes the problem.
 
State Board Review of Regional Board Conclusion and Recommendation:
 
State Board Decision Recommendation:
 
 
Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132152, Aluminum
Region 5     
Thomes Creek (Tahema County)
 
LOE ID: 234149
 
Pollutant: Aluminum
LOE Subgroup: Pollutant-Water
Matrix: Water
Fraction: Total
 
Beneficial Use: Cold Freshwater Habitat
 
Number of Samples: 10
Number of Exceedances: 6
 
Data and Information Type: PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING
Data Used to Assess Water Quality: Water Board staff assessed STORET data for Thomes Creek (Tehama County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 6 of 10 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Aluminum.
Data Reference: WQX data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 5.
 
SWAMP Data: Non-SWAMP
 
Water Quality Objective/Criterion: Waters shall not contain chemical constituents in concentrations that adversely affect beneficial uses.
Objective/Criterion Reference: Water Quality Control Plan for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Valley Region, Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins; Fifth Edition. Revised May 2018 (with approved amendments)
 
Evaluation Guideline: Aluminum levels were assessed for the protection of freshwater aquatic life by comparison to the Evaluation Guideline value of 87 ug/L (4 day average) (National Recommended Water Quality Criteria, 2009).
Guideline Reference: National Recommended Water Quality Criteria. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Water. Office of Science and Technology
 
Spatial Representation: The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site (CALWR_WQX-A0321800)
Temporal Representation: The samples were collected between the dates of 2010-11-02 and 2015-02-10
Environmental Conditions:
QAPP Information: STORET
QAPP Information Reference(s): This is a placeholder reference for data that was collected after QAPP requirements were developed, but exempt from the requirements.