SANDY RIVER BASIN TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD ( TMDL ) March 2005 Prepared by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality For more information contact: Greg Geist, Natural Resources Specialist Department of Environmental Quality 2020 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 400 Portland, OR 97201-4987 (503) 229-6991 [email protected] OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY II SANDY RIVER BASIN TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION 1 TMDL SUMMARIES 3 TMDL IMPLEMENTATION 4 CHAPTER 2 – DESCRIPTION OF THE SANDY RIVER BASIN 7 2.1 GEOLOGY 8 2.2 CLIMATE 9 2.3 LAND USE AND OWNERSHIP 10 2.4 STREAM FLOW CHARACTERISTICS 12 2.4.1 Water Rights and Use 15 2.4.2 PGE Bull Run Hydroelectric Project 16 2.4.3 City of Portland Drinking Water and Hydroelectric Facilities 19 CHAPTER 3 – TMDL FOR STREAM TEMPERATURE 21 3.1 WATER QUALITY STANDARD AND TARGET IDENTIFICATION - CWA §303(D)(1) 23 3.2 TEMPERATURE POLLUTANT IDENTIFICATION 25 3.3 DEVIATION FROM WATER QUALITY STANDARD 26 3.4 SEASONAL VARIATION – CWA §303(D)(1) 28 3.5 EXISTING HEAT SOURCES - CWA §303(D)(1) 31 3.6 RIPARIAN VEGETATION ANALYSIS 35 3.7 HEAT SOURCE AND THERMAL INFRARED RADIOMETRY 45 3.7.1 Sandy River Basin Thermal Response Simulations 53 3.8 LOADING CAPACITY AND ALLOCATION STRATEGIES – 40 CFR 130.2(F) 58 3.8.1 Nonpoint Sources 59 3.8.2 Point Source Methodology 62 3.8.3 NPDES Permits 64 3.8.4 Portland General Electric Bull Run Hydroelectric Project 69 3.8.5 City of Portland Bull Run Facilities 71 3.8.6 City of Portland Load Allocation – Little Sandy Surrogate 74 3.9 SUMMARY OF LOAD AND WASTE LOAD ALLOCATIONS – 40 CFR 130.2(G) AND 40 CFR 130.2(H) 78 3.10 EXCESS LOAD 80 3.11 SURROGATE MEASURES – 40 CFR 130.2(I) 80 3.11.1 Site Specific Effective Shade Surrogate Measures 81 3.11.2 Effective Shade Curves 85 OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY III 3.12 MARGIN OF SAFETY AND RESERVE CAPACITY – CWA §303(D)(1) 88 3.12 WATER QUALITY STANDARD ATTAINMENT ANALYSIS – CWA §303(D)(1) 89 CHAPTER 4 – BACTERIA TMDL 93 4.1 OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND 93 4.2. ANALYTICAL APPROACH – LOAD DURATION CURVE 97 4.3 TARGET AND SENSITIVE BENEFICIAL USE IDENTIFICATION - CWA §303(D)(1) 101 4.3.1 Water Quality Standard and Target Identification 102 4.3.2 Pollutant Identification 103 4.3.3 Deviation from Water Quality Standards 103 4.4 SEASONAL AND SPATIAL VARIATION 106 4.5 BACTERIA SOURCES 108 4.6 LOADING CAPACITY – 40 CFR 130.2(F) 110 4.7 ALLOCATIONS AND RESERVE CAPACITY– 40 CFR 130.2(G) AND (H) 112 4.8 WATER QUALITY STANDARD ATTAINMENT ANALYSIS – CWA §303(D)(1) 113 4.9 MARGINS OF SAFETY 114 CHAPTER 5 – DISSOLVED OXYGEN DISCUSSION 115 CHAPTER 6 – WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN 123 6.1 INTRODUCTION 123 6.1.1 TMDL Water Quality Management Plan Guidance 124 6.2 CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND PROBLEM DESCRIPTION – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(A) 124 6.3 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(B) 124 6.4 IDENTIFICATION OF RESPONSIBLE PARTICIPANTS – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(G) 125 6.5 PROPOSED MANAGEMENT MEASURES – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(C) 128 6.5.1 Bacteria Source Tracking 130 6.5.2 Sewage Treatment Plants and Sandy River Hatchery 131 6.5.3 General NPDES Permitted Sources 131 6.5.4 Section 401 Certification 131 6.5.5 Other Sources and Voluntary Programs 131 6.6 TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(D), (F) AND (I) 132 6.7 REASONABLE ASSURANCE – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(J) 133 6.7.1 NPDES Permit Program 133 6.7.2 Portland General Electric (PGE) 134 6.7.3 City of Portland Drinking Water and Hydroelectric Facilities 135 6.7.4 Nonpoint Sources 135 6.7.5 State Forest Practices 136 OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IV 6.7.6 Agriculture 141 6.7.7 Transportation 142 6.7.8 Federal Forest Lands 146 6.7.9 Federal Bureau of Land Management 149 6.7.10 Urban and Rural Sources 150 6.7.11 The Oregon Plan 151 6.8 MONITORING AND EVALUATION – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(K) 152 6.9 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(L) 154 6.10 ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(M) 155 6.11 COSTS AND FUNDING – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(N) 157 6.12 CITATION TO LEGAL AUTHORITIES – OAR 340- 42- 0040(4)(1)(O) 158 6.12.1 Clean Water Act Section 303(d) 158 6.12.2 Oregon Revised Statute 158 6.12.3 NPDES and WPCF Permit Programs 158 6.12.4 Section 401 Certification Program 158 6.12.5 Oregon Forest Practices Act 159 6.12.6 Senate Bill 1010 159 6.12.7 Local Ordinances 159 REFERENCES 161 OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY V OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY VI CHAPTER 1 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION The quality of Oregon’s streams, lakes, estuaries and groundwater is monitored by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) and other agencies. This information is used to determine whether water quality standards are being violated and, consequently, whether the beneficial uses of the waters are impaired. Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that a list be developed of all impaired or threatened waters within each state. This list is called the 303(d)1 list after the section of the CWA that requires it. ODEQ is responsible for assessing data, compiling the 303(d) list and submitting the 303(d) list to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for federal approval. Section 303(d) also requires that the state establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for any waterbody designated as water quality limited (with a few exceptions, such as in cases where violations are due to natural causes or pollutants cannot be defined). TMDLs are written plans with analysis that determine the total amount of a pollutant (from all sources) that can be present in a specific waterbody and still meet water quality standards. The total permissible pollutant load is allocated to point, nonpoint, background and future sources of pollution. Waste load allocations are portions of the total load that are allotted to point sources of pollution, such as sewage treatment plants or industries. The Waste load allocations are used to establish effluent limits in discharge permits. Load allocations are portions of the Total Maximum Daily Load that are attributed to either natural background sources or from nonpoint sources, such as urban, agriculture or forestry activities or from dams. Allocations can also be set aside in reserve for future uses. Simply stated, allocations are quantified measures designed to achieve water quality standard compliance. The TMDL is the integration of all these developed waste load and load allocations. Water quality monitoring data reviewed by ODEQ indicated that portions of the Sandy River and tributaries failed to meet temperature, bacteria and dissolved oxygen water quality standards and several stream segments were included on the 2002 303d list (Figure 1.1). ODEQ is proposing to address temperature and bacteria limitations through TMDL development and is proposing to remove the lower Sandy River from the 303d list for dissolved oxygen. 1 The 303(d) list is a list of stream segments that do not meet water quality standards. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 1 Table 1.1 303(d) Listed Stream Segments in the Sandy River Basin Waterbody Listed Reaches Parameter Season TMDL? Sandy River Mouth to Marmot Dam (RM 30) Temperature Summer YES Dissolved Sep 15 – Jun Sandy River Mouth to Marmot Dam (RM 30) NO Oxygen 30 Salmon River Mouth to Boulder Cr. (RM 1) Temperature Summer YES Bull Run Mouth to Dam #2 (RM 5) Temperature Summer YES River Gordon Creek Mouth to Headwaters (RM 11) Temperature Summer YES Cedar Creek Mouth to RM 4 Bacteria Summer YES Unnamed Tributary to Mouth to Headwaters (RM 3) Bacteria Summer YES Cedar Creek Beaver Creek Mouth to Headwaters (RM 8) Bacteria Summer YES Kelly Creek Mouth to Headwaters (RM 5) Bacteria Summer YES Figure 1.1. 303d Listed Stream Segments in the Sandy Basin OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2 TMDL SUMMARIES Temperature Four stream segments (approximately 48 miles) in the Sandy River basin were included on the 2002 303(d) list for exceeding numeric temperature criteria (Figure 1.1). Listed segments include the Salmon River from the mouth to Boulder Creek, the Bull Run River from the mouth to Bull Run Dam #2, Gordon Creek from the mouth to headwaters and the Sandy River from the mouth to Marmot Dam. Since stream temperature results from cumulative interactions between upstream and local sources, the TMDL considers all surface waters that affect the temperatures of 303(d) listed waterbodies. To address the stream segments identified above, the Sandy River and all tributaries are included in the TMDL analysis and TMDL targets. Waste load allocations were developed for 6 point sources (3 sewage treatment plants and three other NPDES-permitted facilities) in the Sandy River basin. ODEQ allocated point source loads according to the temperature and flow of the river receiving the discharge and the temperature and flow of the discharge. Point source allocations are contained in Section 3.8. Load allocations were developed for anthropogenic and background nonpoint sources of heat, as well as for the City of Portland drinking water and hydroelectric facilities and the Portland General Electric Bull Run Hydroelectric Project.