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EPA ANNOUNCES FINAL STATE WATER LIST

Release Date: 5/18/1999
Contact Information: Leo Kay, U.S. EPA, (415)744-2201

     SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today finalized its decision to add 37 rivers and 12 additional pollutants to the state of California's 1998 list of impaired waters in need of pollution control plans.  
               
     The state's list includes particular pollutants of concern for each waterway, and the state's priority (high, medium, or low) for creating control plans for each pollutant on each waterway.  The biennial listing, required under the federal Clean Water Act,  is used by federal, state, and local agencies to set these priorities.  

     "This decision will focus federal and state attention on a series of pollutants that have been compromising California waterways for too long," said Felicia Marcus, EPA regional administrator.  "The state deserves a lot of credit for putting together a inclusive list that addresses most of the state's major water issues.  The EPA's decision to add a few more waters and pollutants addresses a few gaps in the state's list.  Now we can work together to devise plans to restore the state's ailing waterways."

     California's Water Resources Control Board submitted its list of waters needing pollution control plans to the EPA in June.  In November, the EPA approved the state's listing of 472 waters and identified 37 additional waterways, and 12 additional pollutants that needed to be addressed.

     The list guides the state's development of water pollution control plans called "total maximum daily loads" (TMDLs) for each water body and pollutant of concern.  TMDLs are assessments of pollution sources in a given watershed, together with estimates of the maximum amount of each pollutant that a water body can absorb while still meeting local needs for clean water.

     TMDLs guide the implementation of regulatory and voluntary efforts to clean up polluted waterways.  The EPA is working with California's State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards to develop TMDLs.  More than 20 TMDLs are already being developed in California.

     Once the TMDLs are developed, they are implemented through regulatory pollution control programs administered by government agencies and voluntary efforts of watershed stakeholders and landowners.  Regulatory programs control discharges from wastewater treatment plants, industrial facilities, urban stormwater systems and other discharge sources.  Voluntary approaches are also often used to address polluted runoff from nonpoint sources such as agricultural and livestock management.

     The EPA is working with California's regional water quality control boards to develop TMDLs for all of the impaired waterways.  Devising the TMDLs will require substantial effort to conduct additional monitoring, characterize sources including air sources, and identify control strategies.  Several TMDL efforts are already underway throughout California.  

     Once the TMDLs are developed, they are implemented through regulatory pollution control programs administered by government agencies and voluntary efforts of watershed stakeholders and landowners.  Regulatory programs control discharges from wastewater treatment plants, industrial facilities, urban stormwater systems and other discharge sources.  Voluntary approaches are also often used to address polluted runoff from nonpoint sources such as agricultural and livestock management.

     The EPA set a high priority for plans to control dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs in San Francisco Bay.  These compounds include seven types of dioxin, 10 types of furans, and 12 types of PCBs.   The state had already listed PCBs, but the EPA is setting a higher priority ranking for dioxin-like PCBs because they pose an unacceptably high health risk to people who eat fish from the Bay.
     
     "We hope to continue working with the state and others to educate people on the health threats posed by eating certain fish caught in San Francisco Bay," Marcus said.  "At the same time, we should begin devising a comprehensive strategy to rid the Bay of dioxins, furans, PCBs, and other critical pollutants.  The long term health of the Bay -- one of our country's most treasured water bodies -- depends on it."

     The EPA made its final decision after reviewing nearly 200 comments that were received during a public comment period that ended in December.  The full list, including the EPA's additions, is available on the Internet at: https://www.epa.gov/region09/water/tmdl.  

                                                                           
North Coast Regional Board: Stemple Creek, Estero de San Antonio
Pollutant:  nutrients
Priority:  low

San  Francisco Bay Regional Board:
San Francisco Bay (all segments): Central S.F. Bay, Lower S.F. Bay, South S.F. Bay, Carquinez Strait, Richardson Bay, San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, Sacramento San Joaquin Delta
Pollutant: dioxins, furans
Priority: high (EPA also set a high priority for dioxin-like PCBs)
Pollutants:  DDT,  dieldrin, chlordane
Priority: low

Lake Merritt:
Pollutants: dissolved oxygen,floating material
Priority: low

Creeks:  Mt. Diablo Creek, Pine Creek, Pinole Creek, Rodeo Creek, San Pablo Creek, Walnut Creek, Wildcat Creek, Laurel Creek, Ledgewood Creek, Suisun Slough, Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio, Corte Madera Creek, Coyote Creek (Marin County), Gallinas Creek, Miller Creek, Novato Creek, San Antonio Creek, San Rafael Creek, San Mateo Creek, Calabazas Creek, Coyote Creek (Santa Clara County), Guadalupe River, Los Gatos Creek, Matadero Creek, Permanente Creek, San Felipe Creek, San Francisquito Ck., Saratoga Creek, Stevens Creek, Alameda Creek, Arroyo de la Laguna, Arroyo Del Valle, Arroyo Hondo, San Leandro Creek, San Lorenzo Creek
Pollutant:  diazinon
Priority:  low

Los Angeles Regional Board: Santa Clara River, Reaches 7 and 8
Pollutant:  chlorides
Priority:  medium

Central Valley Regional Board: Stockton Deep Water Channel
Pollutants: dioxins, furans, PCBs
Priority:  medium