# Presentation: 442329

##  A Regional Approach to Research/Monitoring in Southern CaliforniaChris Crompton County of OrangeNational Monitoring ConferenceMay 10, 2006

## Presentation Outline

- Formation of the southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC)
- Identification of research / monitoring needs
- Project progress over initial 5 years
- Future direction for the next 5 years

## SMC Formation

- SMC was formed in February 2001 as a result of:
-  Increased regulatory focus on stormwater
-  Lack of scientific knowledge and tools
-  Common issues facing multiple jurisdictions
- Stormwater regulators, dischargers and SCCWRP formed the SMC as a collaborative program
*Goal - to develop the technical information necessary to better understand stormwater mechanisms and impacts, and then develop the tools that will effectively and efficiently improve stormwater decision making*

## SMC Participants 

- County of Orange
- County of Los Angeles
- County of San Diego
- Ventura County Watershed Protection District
- Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
- San Bernardino County Flood Control District
- City of Long Beach
- Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region
- Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region
- Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region
- Southern California Coastal Waters Research Project (SCCWRP)

## SMC Cooperative Agreement 

- Multi-party agreement underpins SMC
- 5 year initial time frame
- Defined and funded initial project – assessment of research/monitoring needs
- Subsequent projects overseen by a Steering Committee of SMC members

## Identification of Research / Monitoring Needs

## Approach

- Creation of a white paper outlining the technical issues and management questions of interest
- Conducted a workshop of experts to identify needs and develop an agenda of research/monitoring projects based on the white paper

## Results

- 50 project ideas were distilled to 15 potential research projects
- Each of the 15 projects fell into 3 distinct categories:
- Standardize or maintain comparability among programs in Southern California
- Mining existing data
- Sampling and analysis
- Data management and sharing
- Testing BMPs

- Improving fundamental understanding of  stormwater mechanisms
- Creating a conceptual model of processes through an evaluation of
- Reference conditions
- Beneficial uses
- Relative contribution of different sources
- Developing tools for assessing conditions
- Bioassessments
- Toxicity testing
- Rapid microbial testing
- Microbial source methods
- Peak flow impacts

## Final Report

## Project Progress to Date The First 5 Years

## Project Selection

- SMC meets 4 times/year to discuss projects and progress
- Projects selected by consensus
- Not all SMC members have to participate in all projects
- Outside agencies may participate in projects
- Agreements are executed to fund each project
- A lead agency is identified to manage the project
- Over $1 million of projects funded to date from SMC and other sources

## Projects #1 - Standardized Sampling and Analysis 

- Project conducted in conjunction with SB 72:
- Define monitoring questions of interest
- Assess current monitoring programs
- Creat an optimum design
- Conduct initial lab intercalibration exercise

## Project #2 - Microbial Source Tracking 

- Evaluation of new MST methodologies – human vs. non human and sources (e.g. dog, cow):
-   Ribotyping
-   Antibiotic resistance
-   Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
-   Polymerase chain reaction
-   Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism
- No method was perfect – host specific PCR was best for human vs. non human

## Projects #3 - Peak Flow Impacts

**Goal:**
**  **Create stream classification system
-   Evaluate resiliency of each stream type
-   Develop a conceptual model to predict stream channel       	response to changes in runoff
- Basis for numeric modeling
- Guidance for management decisions
- A workshop was held to present the results

**Results:**
- Developed sites were all unstable
- 3% - 26% impervious cover
- Control sites were stable, but still exhibited low background rate of change
- 0.25% - 1.25% impervious cover
- All stream channels are dynamic
- Apparent threshold of response ~ 3%

## Increased Sensitivity of S. California Streams

**East Coast Response**

**West Coast Response**

## Project #4 – Freshwater Bioassessments

**Goal **
- To build a regionally consistent bioassessment monitoring program:
**  **Methods standardization
-   Calibrating and validating a regional assessment tool
-   Designing and implementing an integrated, coordinated 	regional monitoring program

**Training is integral to the project**

## Project #5 – Laboratory Intercalibration

**Goal **
- To build an ongoing intercalibration program:
**  **Repeat prior intercalibration for inorganic constituents
-   Develop new intercalibration for organic constituents
-   Develop model contract bid language to require 	participation in intercalibration exercises

## Future Direction The Next 5 Years

## Future Direction

- SMC is planning to extend the cooperative agreement for 5 more years
- 5 new organizations have agreed to join the SMC:
- City of Los Angeles
- CalTrans
- State Water Resources Control Board
- EPA Region 9
- EPA Office of Research and Development

## Future Direction

- Projects in development
- Follow-up on peak flow study
- Low impact development BMP assessment and guidance manual
- Toxicity component to the intercalibration program
- Development of a prototype web-based watershed information management system – CalSWIM
- Others

## Questionschris.crompton@rdmd.ocgov.com