SR-01-08-2013-3KStmm
City of City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: January 8, 2013
Agenda Item: 3 -K
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Dean Kubani, Director, Office of Sustainability and the Environment
Subject: Monitoring plans for the Ballona Creek Watershed Bacterial, Metals and
Toxics Total Maximum Daily Loads
Recommended Action
Staff recommends City Council:
1) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute two Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs) with the City of Los Angeles to implement cost -share
monitoring plans to comply with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality
Control Board's Bacterial, and Metals & Toxics Total Maximum Daily Loads
requirements for the Ballona Creek Watershed.
Executive Summary
The City is obligated, as a municipal agency within the boundaries of the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit system of Los Angeles County, to
comply with requirements of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to reduce pollution
from urban runoff into the Santa Monica Bay. TMDLs require monitoring plans to collect
data on water quality prior to and after TMDLs are implemented to demonstrate
compliance with water quality objectives. As a member of the jurisdiction that drains
into Ballona Creek watershed, the City is obligated to share in the costs of implementing
monitoring and implementation plans for the two TMDLs that have been established for
this watershed.
Background
The Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the California Regional Water Quality
Control Board, Los Angeles Region (Board), to develop water quality standards that
identify beneficial uses, and criteria to protect beneficial uses, for each water body
found within its region. Beneficial uses include swimming, fishing, drinking water,
navigability, and wildlife habitats and reproduction. Section 303(d) of the CWA requires
states to prepare a list of water bodies that do not meet water quality standards and
establish for each of these water bodies pollutant load allocations known as total
maximum daily loads (TMDLs) which will ensure attainment of water quality standards.
A TMDL represents an amount of pollution that can be released by anthropogenic and
natural sources of a watershed into a specific water body without causing a decline in
water quality and beneficial uses.
The Ballona Creek watershed is listed on California's 2006 Section 303(d) list, due to
impairments from bacteria, heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals, and is subject to
beach postings and closures due to elevated concentrations of these pollutants. The
Board adopted individual TMDLs for toxics, bacteria, and metals for the Ballona Creek
watershed that went into effect in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively. These TMDLs
regulate discharges of runoff from the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, Inglewood, Los
Angeles, Santa Monica and West Hollywood, the County of Los Angeles, and Caltrans,
all of which own land within the Ballona Creek Watershed.
Discussion
To implement these TMDLs, the eight agencies within the watershed have been
working together since 2009 to coordinate all monitoring requirements for compliance
with the TMDLs. The largest landowner by area for this watershed, the City of Los
Angeles, is the primary representative for the jurisdiction. Santa Monica's share of the
total land area in this watershed is 0.32 %. This area is used to calculate the City's
share of costs incurred by the monitoring plans. The City Council authorized the City
Manager to execute two MOUs (one for the Bacterial TMDL and one for the Metals and
Toxics TMDLs) on July 14, 2009. The City of Los Angeles submitted a Coordinated
Monitoring Plan (CMP) for compliance with the three TMDLs to the Board on January
29, 2009 on behalf of the agencies within the watershed. The CMP contains details for
a three -year monitoring plan.
The CMP and the MOUs have now expired and need to be renewed to maintain the
City's compliance with the three TMDLs for Ballona Creek watershed.
N
Under the terms of the two new MOUs, which extend the terms of the agreement for
three additional years, the City of Santa Monica would not be responsible for any
monitoring activities along the Ballona Creek watershed; the City of Los Angeles would
continue to be responsible for all monitoring and reporting activities to the Board. Santa
Monica would be required to provide funding in an amount not to exceed $7,500 to the
City of Los Angeles to offset their costs for monitoring and reporting. The MOUs are
currently being reviewed by the agencies within the jurisdiction and are anticipated to be
finalized by early 2013.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The estimated costs for the two MOUs are not to exceed $7,500 over the three -year
monitoring period ending FY 2014 -15. Executing the MOU requires a payment of
$2,500 to the City of Los Angeles for FY 2012 -13. Funds are available in the FY 2012-
13 budget in division 06402. The payment will be charged to account 06402.555170.
Funding for remaining years will be included in the division's proposed budget and is
contingent on Council approval.
Prepared by: Neal Shapiro, Senior Environmental Analyst
Approved:. Forwarded to Council:
Dean Kubani Rod Gould
Director, Office of Sustainability & City Manager
the Environment
3
Reference Contract Nos.
9680 (CCS) and 9681
(CCS).