Draft California 2026 Integrated Report (303(d) List/305(b) Report)

Supporting Information

Regional Board 5 - Central Valley Region

Water Body Name:	TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County)
Water Body ID:	CAR5355000020191220041664
Water Body Type:	River & Stream


DECISION ID	165524	Region 5
TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County)

Pollutant:	Specific Conductivity
Final Listing Decision:	Delist from 303(d) list (TMDL required list)
Last Listing Cycle's Final Listing Decision:	List on 303(d) list (TMDL required list)(2020)
Revision Status	Revised
Reason for Delisting:	Flaws in original listing
Impairment from Pollutant or Pollution:	Pollutant

Regional Board Conclusion:	Previous Listings Now a Do Not List (Delist) - This water body was incorrectly placed on the 303(d) list of impaired water during a previous cycle. LOEs for this waterbody-pollutant combination from previous cycles were reassessed according to a new assessment method. 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. Two lines of evidence are available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. Zero of the nine samples exceed the upper limit of the objective range for MUN. One of the nine samples fall within the objective range for MUN. Eight of the nine samples are below the objective range for MUN. 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 nine samples exceed the upper limit of the objective range for MUN. One of the nine samples fall within the objective range for MUN. Eight of the nine samples are below the objective range for MUN. 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.

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:

State Board Decision Recommendation:

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 165524, Specific Conductivity	Region 5
TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County)

LOE ID:

346350

Pollutant:

Specific Conductivity

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Municipal & Domestic Supply

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition data for TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 0 of 4 samples exceeded the upper limit of the range for SpecificConductivity. Additionally, 0 of the 4 samples fall within the range, and 4 of 4 samples fall below the threshold.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, Sediment, Toxicity, Water data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 5.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The California Secondary MCL that is incorporated by reference into the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins specifies a range for specific conductance of 900-1600 uS/cm assessed as an annual average.

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:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site: 535LSAFHR (Lower Stevinson @ Faith Home Rd).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2013-12-10 and 2016-10-29

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

Michael L. Johnson LLC. 2015. Quality Assurance Project Plan for Monitoring by the East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Quality Assurance Project Plan for Monitoring by the East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 165524, Specific Conductivity	Region 5
TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County)

LOE ID:

332721

Pollutant:

Specific Conductivity

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

None

Beneficial Use:

Municipal & Domestic Supply

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition data for TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 0 of 5 samples exceeded the upper limit of the range for SpecificConductivity. Additionally, 1 of the 5 samples fall within the range, and 4 of 5 samples fall below the threshold.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, Toxicity, WQ from the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program for the 2026 Integrated Report in Region 5

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site: 535LSAFHR (Lower Stevinson @ Faith Home Rd).

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2017-10-10 and 2021-08-10

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

QAPP Reference for Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program

QAPP Information Reference(s):

QAPP Reference for Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program


DECISION ID	120872	Region 5
TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County)

Pollutant:	Nitrate/Nitrite (Nitrite + Nitrate as N)
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
TMDL Priority:	Low
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. 1 line of evidence is available in the administrative record to assess this pollutant. 3 of the 7 samples exceed the criteria/objective for the Municipal and Domestic Supply beneficial use. 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. 3 of the 7 samples exceed the criteria/objective for the Municipal and Domestic Supply beneficial use, 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:	This decision was made by SWRCB staff.

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 be placed on the section 303(d) list because applicable water quality standards are exceeded and a pollutant contributes to or causes the problem.

Line of Evidence (LOE) for Decision ID 120872, Nitrate/Nitrite (Nitrite + Nitrate as N)	Region 5
TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County)

LOE ID:

192025

Pollutant:

Nitrate/Nitrite (Nitrite + Nitrate as N)

LOE Subgroup:

Pollutant-Water

Matrix:

Water

Fraction:

Total

Beneficial Use:

Municipal & Domestic Supply

Number of Samples:

Number of Exceedances:

Data and Information Type:

PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL MONITORING

Data Used to Assess Water Quality:

Water Board staff assessed East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition data for TID Lower Stevinson Canal (Merced County) to determine beneficial use support and results are as follows: 3 of 7 samples exceeded the water quality threshold for Nitrate + Nitrite as N.

Data Reference:

Field, Habitat, Sediment, Toxicity, Water data for the 2020/2022 integrated report in Region 5.

SWAMP Data:

Non-SWAMP

Water Quality Objective/Criterion:

The California Maximum Contaminant Level for nitrate + nitrite (as N) incorporated by reference in the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins is 10 mg/L (California Code of Regulations, Title 22).

Objective/Criterion Reference:

Evaluation Guideline:

Guideline Reference:

Spatial Representation:

The samples were collected at 1 monitoring site (535LSAFHR)

Temporal Representation:

The samples were collected between the dates of 2016-10-18 and 2017-07-11

Environmental Conditions:

QAPP Information:

Michael L. Johnson LLC. 2015. Quality Assurance Project Plan for Monitoring by the East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition.

QAPP Information Reference(s):

Quality Assurance Project Plan for Monitoring by the East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition