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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSS4 - Newport Bay & Water QualityITEM SS4 TO: Members of the Newport Beach City Council FROM: Dave Kiff, Assistant City Manager SUBJECT: Newport Bay and Water Quality -Almost All You Need to Know in Just One Hour RECOMMENDED None — verbal report only. ACTION: BACKGROUND: Newport Bay is Newport Beach's most treasured enviromnental asset. From the ecological reserve and parkland in the Upper Bay to the boating, residential, and visitor - serving uses in the Lower Bay, Newport Bay is home to six endangered species, the nation's largest small craft harbor, tour and charter boat operations, more than sixty different commercial ventures, rowing clubs, yacht races, millions of visitors annually, and more. With all of these uses, how is the Bay holding up? What kinds of things are going on regarding water quality and the Bay that the City Council and Newport Beach residents should know about? This Study Session item attempts to summarize a variety of issues, projects, and programs relating to water quality and Newport Bay. Readers will learn: Newport Beach's FOUR Goals for Water Quality and the Bay — Newport Bay's FOUR TMDLs (What IS a TMDL, anyway? And why do we need to know about them ?) — TWENTY -ONE Projects to Know About — SEVEN Going - Forward Major Challenges for Newport Beach ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A - Outline of Study Session Discussion Attachment B — Marine Studies Center schematic Attachment C - List of Water Quality Studies Newport Bay and Water Quality Almost All You Need to Know in just One Hour Newport Beach City Council Study Session Tuesday, April 24, 2001 Newport Beach, California lz I �% Newport Bay and Water Quality AlmostAll You Need to Know in Just One Hour I - The Big Picture -- What are Newport's Four Goals? O Clean Water. Clean the water & keep it clean (from trash, oils, toxics, soaps, bacteria, viruses). In some cases, reduce flows to natural (pre- development) levels to protect sensitive ocean habitat (the Buck Gully Project). A Sediment Management. Manage the sediment (put sand on beaches and on the shoreline, remove sediment from UNB, from beneath docks and from all navigational channels) © Habitat Protection. Preserve and promote good habitat like: - Eelgrass - Kelp - Upper Newport Bay marine life and waterfowl - Offshore marine life refuges (Newport's Area of Special Biological Significance) O Diversity of Uses. Preserve and protect marine heritage /uses in Lower Newport Bay (Harbor Commission / Element) Ci II - What's a TMDL? Why Should Everyone in Newport Beach Care about Four of Them? A TMDL ( "total maximum daily load ") is a daily limit on a specific water quality impairment that can enter an impaired water body. When a Regional Board establishes a TMDL, it then requires the City (and other watershed cities), under penalty of law, to spend time and resources developing a plan and implementing projects to keep impairments below the daily limit. California's waterways will ultimately need about 800 TMDLs. Nine TMDLs have been adopted in California today - three are in Newport Bay. Impaired Water Bodies in US EPA Region 9 California's water bodies alone have more than 1,400 impairments, subject to the development of about 800 TMDLs over the next 13 years. Newport Bay has three and will have one more. AJ Permd of 4naem wxem -1988 K� 16. 10A 3M 10.269E M> 25% TMDLs for Newport Bay Sediment. Adopted on October 9, 1998, the Sediment TMDL requires local partners (stakeholders in the watershed) to survey the Bay regularly and to reduce annual sediment coming into the Bay from 250,000 cubic yards to 125,000 cubic yards (a 50% reduction) by 2008. The TMDLs' goal is to reduce dredging frequency in the Bay to once every 20 to 30 years. WHAT DOES THE SEDIMENT TMDL MEAN FOR THE CITY? -- Less sediment means more water habitat. — City support for $31 million Upper Bay Dredging Project (US Army Corps) — City must help pay for monitoring + sediment basin maintenance upstream (about $51,000 /year) -- City works to keep upstream cities involved in the sediment management process (Watershed Executive Committee) Nitrogen and Phosphorous. Approved by US EPA on April 16, 1999, the Nutrient TMDL limits nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the Bay. The Nutrient TMDL attempts to reduce the annual loading of nitrogen by 50% -- from 1,400 pounds per day today to approximately 850 to 802 pounds per day at San Diego Creek - by 2012. Phosphorus loading must fall from 86,912 pounds per year in 2002 to 62,080 pounds by 2007. WHAT DOES THE NUTRIENT TMDL MEAN FOR THE CITY? — Less nutrients means less algae. '.. — City must help pay for monitoring + sediment basin maintenance upstream since less sediment can mean less nutrients (about $10,0001year) — City works to keep upstream cities involved in the watershed management process (Watershed Executive Committee) • Fecal Coliform. Approved in late 1999, the Fecal Coliform TMDL attempts to reduce the amount of fecal coliform inputs to the Bay enough to make the Bay meet water contact recreation (RECD standards (swimming, wading, surfing) by 2014 and shellfish harvesting (SHEL) standards (where waters support shellfish acceptable for human consumption) by 2020. WHAT DOES THE FECAL COLIFORM TMDL MEAN FOR THE CITY? — Less fecal coliform in the water means fewer beach postings. — City has more than 200 storm drain outlets that drain into the Bay. Over 2,200 catch basins take urban runoff into these 200 storm drains. Can we keep each one dean (below state standards for fecal coliform)? — If any TMDL has the capacity to break the City's bank, it's this one. 0 • • TMDLs for Newport Bay (cont'd) More on the Fecal Coliform TMDL Does this look like a chronic bacteria problem area to you? The waters around Newport Island routinely are "posted" as exceeding state standards for bacteria. West Newport Antimicrobial Resistance Analysis (ARA) program in Summer 2001 should help us determine the causes of the high bacteria. Closure versus Posting KEEP OUT WARNING! S iAVISO! SEWAGE CONTAMINATED WATER zv.xm a.raueux.� u�.. g m.°Eauioaua What's the difference between a "posting" and a "closure ?" The sign (closure) on the left means there's been a sewage spill that may have reached the water. Swimmers or surfers are prohibited from entering the water. The sign on the right (posting) means that waters have exceeded state bacteria standards (for an often unknown reason). Swimmers are advised not to enter the water, but are not prohibited from doing SO. • Toxics. Planned for development in 2002, the Toxics TMDL will address Bay inputs like heavy metals (chromium, copper, lead, cadmium, zinc) and priority organics like (endosulfan, DDT, Chlordane, PCBs, Toxaphene, diazinon, chlorpyriphos, more). It will lead to the reduction or elimination of pesticide use by residents, businesses, and municipal services in watershed. Some controls will be placed on heavy metals. The Toxics TMDL will also address existing toxic deposits in sediments in Rhine Channel and other areas in the Lower Bay. WHAT DOES THE TOXICS TMDL MEAN FOR THE CITY? — we're not really sure yet! — Potential costs to remediate existing toxicity (Rhine Channel) are significant — experts will disagree as to whether it's best to leave the toxic sediment there (entomb it) or pick it up and dispose of it in a hazardous materials dumpsite. III - Twenty -One (21!) Projects You Need to Know Something About -- EDUCATION -- El -- Partnership for Clean Water - HQAC's NMUSD 5t" Grade Education Program. This all- donation program is in its first year. More than 1,500 511' Grade students from all Newport -Mesa elementary schools work on a Surfrider - sponsored curriculum about water quality, then take a visit to the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum where they learn about the Harbor and its history and visit with an underwater diver. Then they return to school with a water test kit and test a local tributary for water quality impairments. Finally, they take a web -based test about what they've learned. Sponsored by Pacific Life, Surfrider, OC CoastKeeper, NMUSD, Fletcher -Jones Motorcars, the Balboa Bay Club, and Robinsons -May. E2 -- Marine Studies Center at Shellmaker Island. A proposal to combine the County's water quality lab with the offices and educational lab of the Department of Fish and Game with the UCI Crew facility to create an educational center for K- 14 students to learn about the water and water quality. May replace tidepool visits for some groups. See Attachment B for a graphic of the MSC. Officially released to the media and public on Earth Day, April 21, 2001. E3 — Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center at Upper Newport Bay. The "jewel" of the County park system, the Muth Interpretive Center at the corner of University and Irvine Avenue opened in October 2000. It has classrooms, a library, offices for County parks staff, and a theater for audio - visual shows about the Upper Newport Bay wildlife and resident species. -- WATER QUALITY TESTING -- Tl — Pathogen Testing & More. As a part of the City's duties under the Fecal Coliform TMDL, the City applied for and received a $175,000 grant to answers to the following questions via the following tests in and around Newport Bay (see Attachment C for a summary of these studies): — Is human waste entering the Bay? (Human Enteric Virus and Coliphage Study, July - October 2000, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project [SCCWRP], the County of Orange Health Care Agency, Regents of the University of California). This Study tested nine and later six tributaries and storm drains to the Bay for the presence of enteric viruses, coliphage, and AB -- WATER QUALITY TESTING (conrd) -- 411 indicator bacteria. The Study determined an absence of human enteric virus at all but one location - the Santa Ana /Delhi Channel. -- To what extent is the Harbor's "no- discharge" requirement being adhered to by boaters? (Vessel Waste Discharge Study, planned for Summer 2001, Orange County Health Care Agency, UC Regents). This Study will attempt to examine the extent to which boaters illegally discharge their holding tanks into the Bay. -- To what extent do swimmers contribute pathogens to the Bay? (Swimmer Contribution Study, planned for Summer 2001, Orange County Health Care Agency, Regional Board, UC Regents). This Study will attempt to measure what contribution, if any, swimmers make to the fecal coliform levels in local Bay swimming areas. -- What is the likely source of high bacteria in the water around Newport Island? (West Newport Antimicrobial Resistance Analysis [ARAI, Spring - Summer 2001, Orange County Health Care Agency, UC Regents). This Study will attempt to "source" the bacteria in and around Newport Island that causes the Island's beaches to be routinely "posted" as exceeding state standards for bacteria. -- How long does a human pathogen stay viable (make a person sick) if it enters the Bay at San Diego Creek and then travels oceanward towards popular Bay swimming areas? (Health Risk Assessment, ongoing, State Water Resources Control Board, IRWD, EOA, Watershed Executive Committee members, City). Refined a valuable "model" that shows transport in the Bay; attempts to measure the path and life of a human pathogen as it enters the bay from major tributaries; and attempts to measure the relative health risk of a swimmer from various inputs to the Bay (including storm drains in Newport, vessel waste discharge, and more). T2 — Resolution of General Dredging Permit Issues. When the California Coastal Commission placed four areas of the Bay "off limits" for dredging under the Regional General Permit, the City developed a plan to re -test these four areas to determine their safety from toxicity. These areas include the South sides of Lido Isle and Balboa Island, the area around Linda Isle, and a portion of the Upper Bay just inland of the PCH /Dover Bridge. -- WATER QUALITY TESTING (cont'd) -- T3 - Routine Water Quality Testing. The County of Orange's Health Care Agency (OCHCA) tests Newport Bay and the shoreline in more than 35 locations within City limits to determine if the Bay and ocean beaches exceed State bacteria standards set in AB 411 (Wayne, 1997) for fecal coliform, total coliform, and enterococcus. The Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) also tests portions of the county's shoreline, mostly in the Huntington Beach area. Much of this testing has occurred for more than 35 years. -- WATER QUALITY PROTECTION STRUCTURES -- S1- Dunes Diversion. This $60,000 project (in place today) diverts dry weather urban runoff from the Hyatt Newporter area (including the Newport Beach Country Club) into the Orange County Sanitation District's sanitary sewer. This is the City's first diversion project, funded in large part from an OCSD supplemental environmental project ( "SEP" - a penalty) and from County grant funds. Other locations for diversions include sites along PCH near Tustin and Riverside. S2 - Catch Basin Filters. The project developer near the Cannery Restaurant installed the city's first ever storm drain filters that retain trash, sediment, and some oils before they enter the storm drain system. Other cities (Dana Point, for example) have fully retrofitted all storm drain catch basins with filtering devices. These devices may work well for trash and oils, but less well for bacteria. -- HABITAT PROTECTION/RESTORATION -- H1 -- Upper Newport Bay Ecological Restoration Feasibility Study. This is the "Big Dredge" now set for the latter part of 2003. Will be about three times as large as the last dredging project, with funds coming from Proposition 12 (2000) and from the federal government. This $31 million project, now in "plans and specs" phase, is cost - shared 65 % -35% between the federal government and state /local partners. H2 -- Newport Bay /San Diego Creek Watershed Feasibility Study. This Study looks at ways to reduce sediment and nutrient deposits in the Upper Bay by keeping the sediment at its source. Also identifies locations in the San Diego Creek watershed to preserve and restore habitat. -- HABITAT PROTECTION/RESTORATION (cont'd) -- H3 — Kelp Reforestation. Orange County CoastKeeper has a program in place whereby they grow kelp in tanks (sometimes in school classrooms) and then plant the kelp off of Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove. H4 -- Caluerpa Mapping. Caluerpa toxifolia (aka "killer algae') has been found in Huntington Harbor and in San Diego County. Once established, this aquarium plant dominates the underwater environment, limiting biodiversity. OC CoastKeeper has worked with the Regional Board (and soon the City) to do mapping of the Lower Bay to look for caluerpa so that it can be eradicated as soon as it's found. H5 -- Eelgrass Restoration. The Corps, the City and the County will soon plant eelgrass in non - navigable waters in the Bay to increase the gross area of eelgrass in the Lower Bay. Eelgrass is not endangered, but is indicative of a healthy and diverse bio- environment. H6 -- SedimenVNutrient TMDL compliance (sediment basins, SJ Marsh, monitoring). City helps fund ongoing monitoring and maintenance of upstream environments to meet our watershed's obligations under the Nutrient and Sediment TMDLs. H7 - IRWD's Water Quality Wetlands Proposal. Newport Beach readers of the Daily Pilot were surprised to read about AB 810 (Campbell) and an apparent plan by the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) to "control" more of San Diego Creek's flows (the major tributary to the Bay). IRWD has since described a plan to install and maintain a series of water quality wetlands in the District's service area to reduce fecal coliform counts, sediment, and nutrients in the Creek prior to the water entering the Bay. -- LOWER BAY -- Ll — Harbor Element - a proposal to adopt guidelines within the City's General Plan that would describe the City's goals relating to on- harbor uses, habitat protection, and more. Had its first public meeting on April 11, 2001 - more than 75 interested residents attended. L2 — Pumpout Upgrades (new site @ Fernando Street). The City's Harbor Resources Division has solicited and received grant funding from the State Department of Boating and Waterways to update and replace a portion of the Bay's 18 pump -a- heads. Fully functioning pumpouts should reduce illegal vessel waste discharges into the Lower Bay and reduce spills from pumpout stations. L3 - Sand Replenishment. Ocean Beaches -- New development, channelization of river beds, groins, and sea walls have limited the supply of sand for Orange County's beaches. Newport Beach participates in a long -term sand replenishment project (called Surfside- Sunset) that delivers sand to Sunset Beach, thereby providing a source of sand to Newport Beach's ocean beaches (except for Corona Del Mar and Little Corona). This is a cost - shared project with the federal and state government (65% feds, 35% state /local). Bay Beaches - The City participates in small beach replenishment projects in the Lower Bay ($60,000 annually) to protect sea walls and recreational uses. The City received $40,000 in grant funding this year (AB 64, Ducheny, 2000) for additional studies relating to in -Bay sand replenishment. -- REGULATION -- R1 -- NPDES Compliance. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requires the State Water Resources Control Board and its nine Regional Boards to direct local agencies' compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. Compliance is achieved via a 5 -year permit ( "NPDES Permit ") that directs the County of Orange and all 34 cities (as "co- permittees ") to adopt a uniform water quality ordinance, to enforce the ordinance itself, to adopt and use "best management practices" that reduce urban runoff (street sweeping with citations, for instance), to educate the population as to water quality, and to further minimize any water quality impacts. The new 5 -year permit (the old one expired in March 2001) is due out at any time. It is anticipated to be much more detailed than the previous permit. The City pays about $50,000 to the County to administer the NPDES program, an amount expected to increase in FY 2001 -02. R2 - CMOM - Capacity, Management, Operations, and Maintenance Plan for sanitary sewer operators. Recently- adopted US EPA rules regarding the operation of sanitary sewers. You'll be hearing more about this. Requires sewer operators to: - Properly manage, operate, and maintain at all times the collection system; - Provide adequate capacity to convey all flows; - Take all feasible steps to stop, and mitigate the impacts of, sewage spills; - Notify all parties in the event of a spill; - Summarize the CMOM program, audit it, and make it available to the public. R3 — Grease Reduction Program (GRIP). Grease being a major cause of sewer line blockages in the city, the Harbor Quality Committee has a proposal for consideration at its May 2001 meeting that would encourage Newport's 400 restaurants to install grease interceptors. If restaurants could not install the interceptors, the GRIP program envisions a cost -of- service fee to pay for increased maintenance and cleaning along the feeder lines from these restaurants. IV - Going Forward -- What are Our Seven Major Challenges? A Get the Big Dredging Job done (2003 -04) and totally, completely secure the $$ necessary to complete it. ® Reduce / eliminate urban runoff - diversions, filters, source elimination to: - Meet the Fecal Coliform TMDL. - Protect ocean and Newport's Area of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) ® Educate the residential and business community and upstream cities O Improve City's municipal NPDES activities (new 5 -year permit) ® Stop long -term postings O End sewage spills to avoid closures -- CMOM O Ensure a mix of uses in LNB (Harbor Element, Harbor Commission) I II1 �J f • HABITA RE$TORAT�ON ZDNNEE �Ls� (.MUM MID SALT MARSH MOM UCI CREW OW.TIO MODE 1„�t WPARNINGSPACES Yt, \q qq qq�t�FF��'Ij SEVENT sNELL ID _��8�6`�`y.��.� 'PICNIC" SETUP ZONE ZONE it ^C r EMM _ T Master Site Plan forthe MARINE STUDIES CENTER >f' l Shellmaker Island, Newport Beach, Ca State of California Department of Fish and Game In Cooperation with: California Coastal Commission California Wildlife Foundation City of Newport Beach Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends Orange County Board of Supervisors Orange County Harbors Beaches and Parks - PRFD Orange County Health Care Agency University of California, Irvine LOW SALT MARSH CONSERVATION ZONE 1 �el�erc4 An hua niv av w RON YEO. 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