Instructor: Craig Benson, IECA 2023 Speaker of the Year
Faculty: Cal Poly Humboldt
Length: 90 minutes 1.5 PDHs
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 11:30 am–1:00 pm
Webinar Summary
This intermediate-level webinar is your opportunity to learn how to develop and implement total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for sediment and turbidity. The webinar will employ two contrasting case studies of TMDLs developed for salmon-bearing streams on California's North Coast.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the basic planning steps in developing a sediment and turbidity TMDL, with particular emphasis on conducting the sediment source analysis to determine natural background sediment from anthropogenic or management-related sediment.
- List tiers and categories of BMPs appropriate for sediment and turbidity TMDLs at the watershed scale for the State Water Resources Control Board and the site scale consistent with the CA CGP.
- Name several approaches to TMDL compliance monitoring and how to tailor the approach for a particular 303d water quality-impaired watershed.
Webinar Description: Watersheds make and are made by erosional processes on the land. Riverine systems derive multiple benefits from natural episodic sediment delivery, while chronic anthropogenic (management-related) sedimentation can negatively impact watershed health, aquatic species, and water quality. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) set a threshold for the amount of a particular pollutant, like sediment and turbidity, that can be delivered to a river system without impairing the "beneficial uses" of the waters.
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Participants in this webinar will learn about the TMDL process, from listing a watershed as impaired to performing a sediment source analysis to determine what can be considered natural "background" sediments and what are "management-related" sediments to developing BMPs for the land practices contributing sediment. This will include watershed-scale practices to move the entire watershed towards water quality recovery and site-scale BMPs meeting the requirements of the CA CGP.
The course will highlight two ground-breaking TMDL case studies in Northern California, including 1) the Mad River TMDL, which was set forth by the Federal EPA for the entire watershed, and the Mad River TMDL Compliance Plan, which was developed through a landowner-based process guided by a local non-profit agency; and 2) the Elk River TMDL and TMDL Compliance Plan, which were set forth by the CA Regional Water Quality Control Board for a partitioned reach of the watershed.
Can't Attend? We've got you covered. The webinar will be recorded, and registrants will receive the link after the event.