Introduction
The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is proposing to develop a new water quality permit that will apply to landowners with rural roads in the Gualala River Watershed.
The permit, also referred to as “order” or “project” in this Initial Study, will require landowners to maintain their roads to reduce erosion and sediment discharges to watercourses. Landowners above a certain size threshold and those with roads that pose a high risk to water quality will be required to take additional action, such as inventorying, assessing, prioritizing, and treating sediment sources on their roads within a given period.
The permit is necessary to 1) address excess sediment and elevated water temperatures in the watershed that are negatively affecting water quality conditions for native salmon and trout populations, such as coho and steelhead, among other beneficial uses of water, and 2) comply with state water quality statutes and regulations to prevent and minimize sediment pollution and improve watershed conditions…