California Code of Regulations › Title 23 - Waters › Division 4 - Regional Water Quality Control Boards › Chapter 1 - Water Quality Control Plans, Policies, and Guidelines › Article 8 - Santa Ana Region › Section 3979.11

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
On August 4, 2017, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality
					 Control Board (Santa Ana Water Board) adopted Resolution No. R8-2017-0014,
					 amending the Water Quality Control Plan for the Santa Ana River Basin to
					 incorporate Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for selenium in freshwater,
					 Newport Bay watershed, Orange County, California (Basin Plan amendment). The
					 State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) approved the Basin Plan
					 amendment under Resolution No. 2018-0041 on September 20, 2018.
Resolution No. R8-2017-0014 establishes TMDLs for Selenium
					 in three freshwater drainage systems in the Newport Bay watershed: Santa
					 Ana-Delhi, San Diego Creek, and Big Canyon Wash subwatersheds. The TMDLs
					 address exceedance of the California Toxics Rule (CTR) chronic water quality
					 criterion for selenium and potential impairments to fish and birds via
					 bioaccumulation in the freshwater portions of the watershed. Tissue-based
					 targets for the protection of aquatic life (fish) and aquatic dependent
					 wildlife (birds) are included in the TMDLs, as well as CTR-based water column
					 targets. The objective of this amendment is to reduce levels of selenium in the
					 watershed to protect water quality and potentially impaired beneficial
					 uses.
The TMDL allocations are assigned to urban runoff,
					 groundwater cleanup and dewatering dischargers and other National Pollutant
					 Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permittees, agriculture, open space, and
					 rising groundwater. The allocations apply only during dry weather conditions
					 (year-round) and are expressed as semiannual arithmetic means (April 1 through
					 September 30 and October 1 through March 31).
The TMDLs provide compliance options, including best
					 management practices (BMP) - based compliance, to be incorporated into relevant
					 NPDES permits. The compliance options are included as part of the assumptions
					 and requirements of these selenium TMDLs. Compliance schedules are included
					 that reflect the phased TMDL structure, the individual requirements for each
					 Regulated Party, and the adaptive management process, including periodic
					 reevaluations of the selenium TMDLs (e.g., TMDL re-openers). Final compliance
					 with the TMDLs is to be achieved as soon as possible but no later than thirty
					 years from the Reconsidered TMDL effective date. This timeframe considers the
					 existing challenges and lack of available reasonably feasible treatment
					 technologies/BMPs for selenium and therefore provides adequate but reasonable
					 time to identify, design, and implement approaches in the future.
1. New
					 section summarizing amendments to basin plan filed 4-19-2019; amendments
					 approved by State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 2018-0041 on
					 9-20-2018; amendments approved by OAL pursuant to Government Code section
					 11353 on
					 4-19-2019 (Register 2019, No. 16).