Appendix N. San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Planning Project Report

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Appendix N. San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Planning Project Report Appendix N. San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Planning Project Report San Luis Obispo County Watersheds Management Plan Phase I – Vision, Framework & Methodology Development July 2014 Prepared By: of San Luis Obispo County (This page intentionally left blank) Prepared By: Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District The Coastal San Luis RCD developed all materials related to the South County sub‐region, Morro Bay watershed and the San Luis Obispo County Instream Flow Assessment. Board of Directors Participating Staff Neil Havlik, President Nicole Smith, Conservation Programs Manager Jean‐Pierre Wolff, Vice‐President Lorraine Clark, Project Coordinator Linda Chipping James Tomac, Intern Robert Rutherford Cheryl Lenhardt Kathie Matsuyama David Alford Upper Salinas ‐ Las Tablas Resource Conservation District The Upper Salinas ‐ Las Tablas RCD developed all materials related to the North Coast and North County sub‐regions and the SLOWatershedProject.org website. Board of Directors Participating Staff Michael Broadhurst – President Devin Best, Executive Director Susan Cochrane – VP Laura Edwards, Program Director Tom Mora – Secretary Kelly Gleason, Ag & Natural Resources Planner Robert Hartzell – Treasurer Jillian Cole, Engineer, Mapping John De Rosier Jacob Hernandez, Intern, Research Randy Heinzen Amy Smart, Conservation Technician Mike Bonnheim Erin White, Administrative Coordinator Chuck Pritchard San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Plan Phase 1 Page i Public Committees Technical Advisory Committee Watershed Working Group Daniel Bohlman, Land Conservancy of SLO Daniel Bohlman Ethan Bell, Stillwater Sciences Dorothy Jennings Freddy Otte, City of San Luis Obispo Ethan Bell George Kendall, retired geologist and farmer Freddy Otte Mark Hutchinson, County of San Luis Obispo George Kendall Stephanie Wald, Central Coast Salmon Greg O'Sullivan Enhancement Gwen Pelfrey Jacqueline Tilligkeit Lisa McCann Marc Lea Mark Hutchinson Michael Conger Stephanie Wald San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Plan Phase 1 Page ii Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 2. DEVELOPMENT OF SLO COUNTY WATERSHEDS PROJECT ............................................................. 3 2.1. DETERMINING WATERSHED SCALE ...................................................................................................... 4 2.2. COMMUNITY COMMITTEES / PEER REVIEW .......................................................................................... 5 2.3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION...................................................................................................................... 6 2.4. INTERACTIVE GIS WEBSITE AND INFORMATION REPOSITORY ................................................................... 6 3. WATERSHED SNAPSHOTS ............................................................................................................ 8 3.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 8 3.3 DATA LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS ................................................................................................... 12 4. DATA GAP ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................ 13 4.1 DATA GAP METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 DATA GAP SUMMARY OF FINDINGS .......................................................................................................... 13 4.3 LINKS TO PRIMARY RESOURCE ISSUES ....................................................................................................... 17 4.5 FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................................. 21 4.6 STUDIES TO FILL DATA GAPS ................................................................................................................... 22 5. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 25 5.1 NEXT STEPS – BUILDING RESILIENT WATERSHEDS .................................................................................... 25 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................... 33 San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Plan Phase 1 Page ii Figures FIGURE 1. TYPICAL WATERSHED PLANNING PROCESS .............................................................................................. 4 FIGURE 2. MAP OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY WATERSHED AREAS ........................................................................... 9 FIGURE 3. WATERSHED AREAS BY SUB‐REGION .................................................................................................... 11 FIGURE 4. MAP OF WATERSHEDS WITH MANAGEMENT PLANS ............................................................................... 14 FIGURE 5. WATERSHEDS BY SUB‐REGION WITH A WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN .................................................. 14 FIGURE 6. WATERSHEDS BY SUB‐REGION WITHOUT A WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN ............................................ 15 FIGURE 7. DATA GAP RANKING BY LINKAGE TO SUB‐REGIONAL PRIMARY ISSUES ........................................................ 18 FIGURE 8. DATA GAPS RANKING BY LINKAGE TO COUNTY‐WIDE PRIMARY ISSUES ....................................................... 19 FIGURE 9. LEVEL OF PRIORITY FOR COUNTYWIDE DATA GAPS TO FILL IN NEAR TERM .................................................. 20 FIGURE 10. MAP OF INSTREAM FLOW ANALYSIS POINTS AND STREAM FLOW GAGES ................................................. 23 FIGURE 11. ITERATIVE PLAN PROCESS ................................................................................................................. 26 FIGURE 12. CA WATERSHED ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK SHOWING ESSENTIAL WATERSHED ATTRIBUTES ...................... 28 FIGURE 13. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................. 29 FIGURE 14. STEPS TO FINAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................. 30 FIGURE 15. WATERSHED TOOLBOX. ................................................................................................................... 31 Appendices Appendix A – Map of County Watershed Areas Appendix B – Outcomes of Public Participation Appendix C – Watershed Snapshots C.1 – North Coast Sub‐region C.2 – South County Sub‐region C.3 – North County Sub‐region Appendix D – Charts Linking Data Gaps to Primary Issues Appendix E – San Luis Obispo County Instream Flow Assessment Appendix F – (placeholder for Groundwater Percolation Study) Appendix G – Response to Public Comment San Luis Obispo County Watershed Management Plan Phase 1 Page iii 1. Introduction Communities depend on the natural resources in their area to survive and prosper. In California and the County of San Luis Obispo (County) water is a resource that is increasingly stressed. Reductions in local water supplies have been linked to significant periods of drought and increasing expansion of residential and agricultural development. Residents, and visitors alike, enjoy the County’s natural environment as well as depend on it for water supply, flood control, recreation, agriculture, and commerce among other services. These products, goods and services are a focal point for land managers, policy makers, resource professionals and the community. As such, it is essential all community members have access to the most current data to better understand the interactions between natural and anthropogenic components of the local environment and the subsequent outcomes of management decisions. It is also essential to highlight and quantify the goods and services provided by the natural environment for improved management and enhancement. The Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) of San Luis Obispo County interact with individuals, municipalities, conservation organizations and other community members. The RCDs guide, partner, interpret, and educate regarding natural resource issues. The complexity of issues, compounded by the conflicting resource demands, makes decision making difficult. Due to the nature of the resource issues and the community needs, no single individual or entity makes all the decisions. With a lack of detailed watershed data accessible to the public – and in one convenient location – the RCDs identified an opportunity to raise awareness about watersheds and the essential resources contained within. The purpose of the SLO County Watershed Management Plan was to grow the knowledge and value of watersheds and their related services in the community and to strengthen documentation of issues and needs in an effort to encourage faster implementation of appropriate watershed restoration projects. The outcomes of this project are meant to initiate countywide discussions and encourage public engagement. This project was a team effort between the San Luis Obispo County RCDs through a grant provided by the
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