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URBAN RUNOFF MONITORING PROGRAM
The objectives of the Urban Runoff Monitoring Program are the following:
- Identify those receiving waters, which, without additional action to control pollution
from urban runoff, cannot reasonably be expected to achieve or maintain applicable
water quality standards required to sustain the beneficial uses, the goals, and
the objectives of the Basin Plans for each respective watershed.
- Identify significant water quality problems related to discharges of urban runoff
within each permit area.
- Analyze and interpret the collected data to determine the impact of urban runoff
and/or validate applicable water quality models.
- Characterize pollutants associated with urban runoff and assess the influence of
urban land uses on receiving water quality and the beneficial uses of receiving
waters.
- Define water quality status, trends, and pollutants of concern associated with urban
discharges and their impact on the beneficial uses of the receiving waters.
- Identify other sources of pollutants in storm water runoff to the maximum extent
practicable (MEP), including, but not limited to, atmospheric deposition, contaminated
sediments, other non-point sources, etc.
- Identify, prohibit, and control illicit connections and illegal discharges.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the following region-specific management plans, including
an estimate of pollutant reductions achieved by the structural and nonstructural
BMPs implemented by the Permittees:
- Santa Ana Region - Drainage Area Management Plan (DAMP) and Water Quality Management
Plans (WQMPs)
- Santa Margarita Region – Individual Jurisdictional Runoff Management Plan (JRMP)
and Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP)
- Whitewater River Region – Storm Water Management Plan (SWMP) and Water Quality Management
Plan (WQMP)
- Conduct monitoring for pollutants known or expected to cause impairments to local
water bodies. Regional monitoring efforts are conducted in cooperation with Permittee
special interest groups (i.e., SAWPA and LESJWA), the Southern California Stormwater
Monitoring Coalition, and with the County of San Bernardino.
Consolidated Monitoring Program
The Consolidated Monitoring Program (CMP) contains a description of monitoring methods
for each type of monitoring conducted by the District on behalf of the Permittees.
For more information you may contact
Rebekah Guill
at (951) 955-1200
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The Consolidated Monitoring Program (CMP) was created to incorporate monitoring
requirements for all applicable monitoring programs covered under the three separate
NPDES permits. Three distinct watersheds are present within Riverside County: the
Santa Margarita River Watershed, the Santa Ana River Watershed, and the Whitewater
River Watershed. The areas of Riverside County under Permittee jurisdiction within
each of the respective watersheds are known as the Santa Margarita Region (SMR),
the Santa Ana Region (SAR), and the Whitewater River Region (WWR). Each watershed
is governed by a separate Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) and
separate NPDES permits for which the District is listed as Principal (or Co-Principal)
Permittee. The Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (District),
as the Principal Permittee, administers the CMP on behalf of the Permittees named
in the three NPDES permits in Riverside County.
HISTORY OF THE CMP:
The goal of the NPDES MS4 regulatory program is to manage the quality of urban runoff
to prevent impacts to receiving waters within the Permittees’ respective jurisdictions.
The original CMP was drafted in March 1994 and was accepted as part of the applications
for MS4 permit renewal by the San Diego, Santa Ana, and the Colorado Water Boards
in 1995. Subsequently, the Water Boards directed the Riverside County Permittees
to implement the CMP in the “second round” MS4 permits. The CMP was updated in 2004
and 2008 to address the monitoring program objectives and the requirements of the
third-round MS4 permits issued by the San Diego (2002), Santa Ana (2004) and Colorado
(2008) Water Boards. The current CMP updates more effectively address the monitoring
program objectives and the requirements of the fourth-round MS4 permits issued by
the Santa Ana (2010) and the Colorado (2013) Regional Boards, as well as the fifth-round
Regional Permit issued by the San Diego (2015) Regional Board. The CMP is intended
to be a living document and will be updated as necessary to ensure its ongoing efficacy.
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Structure and Contents of the CMP
The CMP is divided into six volumes: Table of Contents & the Introduction,
the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), the SMR Monitoring Plan,
the SAR Monitoring Plan, the WWR Monitoring Plan, and the Glossary
of commonly used terms. The QAPP, located in Volume II, covers common elements
of all three programs including general QA/QC, standard operating procedures, and
general program information. The SMR Monitoring Plan*, and the SAR Monitoring Plan,
the WWR Monitoring Plan, located in Volumes III through V, cover monitoring programs
and information specific to the respective watershed. Volume VI includes a glossary
of commonly used terms used throughout the CMP. Together, these six volumes are
the CMP.
Note*
Prior to the issuance of the San Diego Regional Permit, Volume III was the sole
basis for the SMR Monitoring Plan; however this Volume now refers to the Monitoring
and Assessment Plan contained within the approved SMR Water Quality Improvement
Plan (WQIP) as required by the permit. The SMR’s WQIP also makes reference to the
QAPP (Volume II) as appropriate to maintain the linkage of the monitoring plan to
appropriate monitoring protocols. Moving forward, the WQIP will be updated, if needed,
to reflect changes or modifications to the SMR Monitoring and Assessment Plan.
In general contents of the CMP include guidance and methods for monitoring, including
but not limited to:
- Identification of Key Staff and Roles
- Sampling and inspection procedures for the following monitoring activities:
- Dry Weather Monitoring
- Wet Weather Monitoring
- Illicit Connections/Illegal Discharges
- Field Measurements
- Bioassessment/Stream Assessment
- Toxicity Sampling
- Monitoring Frequencies (program specific by region)
- Monitoring Equipment and Supplies
- Mobilization Criteria
- Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures
- Laboratory Analytical Methods including the method detection limits (MDLs) and Reporting Limits (RLs)
- Data Collection and Analysis
Model Monitoring Program for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems in Southern
California (MMP).
The goal of the MS4 Urban Runoff Monitoring Program is to manage the quality of
urban runoff to prevent impacts to receiving waters within the Permittees respective
jurisdictions.
The District anticipates significant growth will occur within its Monitoring Program;
thus, the CMP will continue to be updated, and progress will be reported in subsequent
Monitoring Annual Reports.
Regional Monitoring Efforts
The Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC) was formed in 2001
by cooperative agreement of the Phase I municipal stormwater NPDES lead permittees,
the NPDES regulatory agencies in southern California and the Southern California
Coastal Water Research Project. Each of the NPDES MS4 permits with Riverside County
require some level of participation in the SMC’s regional monitoring efforts. Refer
to the watershed-specific monitoring plans or the corresponding annual reports for
more details. Also refer to the SMC webpage to learn more.
Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition
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