Draft California 2024 Integrated Report (303(d) List/305(b) Report)

Supporting Information

Regional Board 8 - Santa Ana Region

Water Body Name:	Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)
Water Body ID:	CAR8012700019991013174139
Water Body Type:	River & Stream


DECISION ID	153833	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

Pollutant:	Benthic Community Effects
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:	Benthic Community Effects are being considered for placement on the CWA section 303(d) List under sections 3.9 of the Listing Policy. Under section 3.9, additional lines of evidence (LOEs) associating the Benthic Community Effects decision with a water or sediment concentration of pollutants other than benthic-macroinvertebrate bioassessment or habitat assessment LOEs are necessary to place a water body on the 303(d) List for Benthic Community Effects. Two line(s) of evidence evaluating benthic-macroinvertebrate bioassessment data is/are available in the administrative record to assess this indicator. One of two benthic-macroinvertebrate samples exceed the California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) impairment threshold. However, a minimum of two benthic-macroinvertebrate samples are needed to assess listing status. Based on the readily available data and information, the weight of evidence indicates that there is sufficient justification against placing Benthic Community Effects in this waterbody segment 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. One of two benthic-macroinvertebrate bioassessment samples had CSCI scores below 0.79. The available information is insufficient to determine whether the waterbody/pollutant combination should be placed on the 303(d) List of impaired waters at this time. 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 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 153833, Benthic Community Effects	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

314394

Pollutant:

Benthic-Macroinvertebrate Bioassessments

LOE Subgroup:

Population/Community Degradation

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Cold Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed data for SMC00957 to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 1 of 1 samples exceeded the threshold. CSCI scores were from 0.77882858 to 0.77882858.

Data Reference:

California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) Scores for the 2024 Integrated Report for Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

Inland surface water communities and populations, including vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant species, shall not be degraded as a result of the discharge of waste. Degradation is damage to an aquatic community or population with the result that balanced community no longer exists. The concentrations of toxic pollutants in the water column, sediments or biota shall not adversely affect beneficial uses.

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana River Basin

Evaluation Guideline:

The California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) is a biological scoring tool that helps aquatic resource managers translate complex data about benthic macroinvertebrates found living in a stream into an overall measure of stream health. The CSCI score is calculated by comparing the expected condition with actual (observed) results (Rehn, A.C. et al., 2015). CSCI scores range from 0 (highly degraded) to greater than 1 (equivalent to reference). CSCI scoring of biological condition are as follows (per the scientific paper supporting the development of the CSCI scoring tool): greater than or equal to 0.92 = likely intact condition, 0.91 to 0.80 = possibly altered condition, 0.79 to 0.63 = likely altered condition, less than or equal to 0.62 = very likely altered condition. Sites with scores below 0.79 are considered to have exceeded the water quality objective for the aquatic life beneficial use.

Guideline Reference:

Bioassessment in complex environments: designing an index for consistent meaning in different settings

Spatial Representation:

Samples were collected from station SMC00957.

Temporal Representation:

Samples were collected from 6/21/2010 to 6/21/2010.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

Data collected following SWAMP QA protocols.

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 153833, Benthic Community Effects	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

314251

Pollutant:

Benthic-Macroinvertebrate Bioassessments

LOE Subgroup:

Population/Community Degradation

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Cold Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed data for 801M16932 to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 0 of 1 samples exceeded the threshold. CSCI scores were from 0.84373566 to 0.84373566.

Data Reference:

California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) Scores for the 2024 Integrated Report for Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana River Basin

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Bioassessment in complex environments: designing an index for consistent meaning in different settings

Spatial Representation:

Samples were collected from station 801M16932.

Temporal Representation:

Samples were collected from 5/31/2017 to 5/31/2017.

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

Data collected following SWAMP QA protocols.

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	149181	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

Pollutant:	Indicator Bacteria
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 149181, Indicator Bacteria	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

300894

Pollutant:

Escherichia coli (E. coli)

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

STV

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 Middle Santa Ana River TMDL Monitoring Project data for Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 3 of the 3 samples exceeded the Statistical Threshold Value (STV) water quality threshold for E. coli. The STV is based on a 10% exceedance rate that is calculated monthly.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, WQ data from the California Environmental Data Exchange Network assembled for the 2024 Integrated Report in Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The bacteria water quality objective to protect the REC-1 beneficial use where the salinity is less than 1 parts per thousand 95 percent or more of the time applies a statistical threshold value to E. coli of 320 cfu/100 mL, not to be exceeded by more than 10 percent of samples within a calendar month (ISWEBE 2018).

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries Plan. Part 1: Trash Provisions; Part 2: Tribal Subsistence Beneficial Uses and Mercury Provisions; Part 3: Bacteria Provisions and Variance Policy

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): T1-BXSP (BXSP).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the days of 2019-07-31 and 2019-09-04 .

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

CDM Smith. 2019. Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 149181, Indicator Bacteria	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

300887

Pollutant:

Escherichia coli (E. coli)

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

GeoMean

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 Middle Santa Ana River TMDL Monitoring Project data for Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek) to determine beneficial use support and the results are as follows: 2 of the 2 samples exceeded the geomean water quality threshold for E. coli. This is a six week rolling geomean that is calculated weekly.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, WQ data from the California Environmental Data Exchange Network assembled for the 2024 Integrated Report in Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The bacteria water quality objective to protect the REC-1 beneficial use for waters where the salinity is equal to or less than 1 part per thousand 95 percent or more of the time applies a rolling six-week geometric mean of E. coli, not to exceed 100 cfu/100 mL (ISWEBE 2018).

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries Plan. Part 1: Trash Provisions; Part 2: Tribal Subsistence Beneficial Uses and Mercury Provisions; Part 3: Bacteria Provisions and Variance Policy

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site(s), station(s): T1-BXSP (BXSP).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the days of 2019-07-31 and 2019-09-04 .

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

CDM Smith. 2019. Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program


DECISION ID	132911	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

Pollutant:	Oxygen, Dissolved
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:	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 it cannot be determined if applicable water quality standards are not being exceeded.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132911, Oxygen, Dissolved	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

237013

Pollutant:

Oxygen, Dissolved

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

Not Recorded

Beneficial Use:

Warm Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed Middle Santa Ana River TMDL Monitoring Project data for Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 1 of 6 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Oxygen, Dissolved.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, WQ data from the California Environmental Data Exchange Network assembled for the 2024 Integrated Report in Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The dissolved oxygen content of surface waters shall not be depressed below 5 mg/L for waters designated WARM as a result of controllable water quality factors (Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana Basin, Chapter 4 Water Quality Objectives, Inland Surface Waters).

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana River Basin

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site: T1-BXSP (BXSP).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2019-07-31 and 2019-09-04

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

CDM Smith. 2019. Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132911, Oxygen, Dissolved	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

237110

Pollutant:

Oxygen, Dissolved

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

Total

Beneficial Use:

Warm Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed Middle Santa Ana River TMDL Monitoring Project data for Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 0 of 5 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Oxygen, Dissolved.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, WQ data from the California Environmental Data Exchange Network assembled for the 2024 Integrated Report in Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana River Basin

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site: T1-BXSP (BXSP).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2011-04-19 and 2011-05-19

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

CDM Smith. 2019. Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program


DECISION ID	132913	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

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:	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 it cannot be determined if applicable water quality standards are not being exceeded.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 132913, Temperature, water	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

238094

Pollutant:

Temperature, water

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

Not Recorded

Beneficial Use:

Warm Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed Middle Santa Ana River TMDL Monitoring Project data for Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 0 of 7 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Temperature.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, WQ data from the California Environmental Data Exchange Network assembled for the 2024 Integrated Report in Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The temperature of waters designated WARM shall not be raised above 90 degrees F June through October or above 78 degrees F during the rest of the year as a result of controllable water quality factors (Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana Basin, Chapter 4 Water Quality Objectives, Inland Surface Waters).

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana River Basin

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site: T1-BXSP (BXSP).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2011-04-19 and 2019-09-04

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

CDM Smith. 2019. Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program


DECISION ID	132912	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

Pollutant:	pH
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 132912, pH	Region 8
Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek)

LOE ID:

237393

Pollutant:

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Warm Freshwater Habitat

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed Middle Santa Ana River TMDL Monitoring Project data for Tequesquite Arroyo (Sycamore Creek) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 1 of 7 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for pH.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, WQ data from the California Environmental Data Exchange Network assembled for the 2024 Integrated Report in Region 8.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The pH of inland surface waters shall not be raised above 8.5 or depressed below 6.5 as a result of controllable water quality factors (The Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana Basin, Chapter 4 Water Quality Objectives, Inland Surface Waters).

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Water Quality Control Plan, Santa Ana River Basin

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site: T1-BXSP (BXSP).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2011-04-19 and 2019-09-04

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

CDM Smith. 2019. Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Santa Ana River Watershed Bacteria Monitoring Program