Kern River Watershed Coalition Authority Surface Water Monitoring Plan Kern County, California • February 2015 Prepared for: Prepared by: Kern River Watershed Coalition Authority Surface Water Monitoring Plan Revision 1 Kern County, California Initial Submittal: August 4, 2014 Resubmittal: February 2, 2015 Prepared for: Kern River Watershed Coalition Authority Kern County, California Prepared by: Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group Bakersfield, California COPYRIGHT 2015 by PROVOST & PRITCHARD CONSULTING GROUP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group expressly reserves its common law copyright and other applicable property rights to this document. 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Certifications This Surface Water Monitoring Plan is signed by the following certified professionals: Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group Project Team This Surface Water Monitoring Plan was prepared by the following project team members: Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group • Matthew Klinchuch, PE • John Schaap, PE • Debora De La Torre, EIT • Gavin O’Leary Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... ES-1 Third-Party Area Description ............................................................................................................... ES-1 Land Use and Management Practices ................................................................................................. ES-1 Potential Discharges, Pollutants, and Water Quality Problems .......................................................... ES-2 Surface Water Monitoring Plan Overview ........................................................................................... ES-2 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... ES-3 1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................1-1 1.1 Kern River Watershed Coalition Authority Background ........................................................... 1-1 1.1.1 Member Districts .................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Description of Coalition Group Area ........................................................................................ 1-2 1.2.1 Kern River ............................................................................................................................. 1-2 1.2.2 Friant-Kern Canal .................................................................................................................. 1-4 1.2.3 State Water Project .............................................................................................................. 1-5 1.2.4 Groundwater Banking Facilities ........................................................................................... 1-5 1.2.5 Minor Creeks and Streams ................................................................................................... 1-5 1.2.6 Water Conveyance Facilities ................................................................................................ 1-8 1.2.7 Soils ...................................................................................................................................... 1-9 1.2.8 Climate & Hydrology ............................................................................................................ 1-9 1.2.9 Beneficial Uses ................................................................................................................... 1-10 2 Surface Water Quality Status ..................................................................................................2-1 2.1 Current Status ........................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Monitoring Trends .................................................................................................................... 2-2 2.3 Potential Discharges ................................................................................................................. 2-2 2.3.1 Agricultural Drainage ........................................................................................................... 2-2 2.3.2 Storm Water Runoff ............................................................................................................. 2-2 3 Agricultural Management Practices .........................................................................................3-1 3.1 Management Practices Trends in Kern County ........................................................................ 3-1 3.1.1 Water Application Practices ................................................................................................. 3-1 3.1.2 Soil Enhancement and Control ............................................................................................. 3-2 3.1.3 Pesticide Application ............................................................................................................ 3-3 Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group • February 2015 i 3.1.4 Fertilizer Application ............................................................................................................ 3-4 3.2 Management Practices and Land Use ...................................................................................... 3-5 3.3 Future Management Practice Implementation ........................................................................ 3-6 4 Surface Water Monitoring Site Selection & Rationale ...............................................................4-1 4.1 Proposed Monitoring Sites ....................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1.1 Chanac Creek (Core) ............................................................................................................. 4-1 4.1.2 El Paso Creek (Ephemeral) ................................................................................................... 4-2 4.1.3 Tecuya Creek (Ephemeral) ................................................................................................... 4-2 4.1.4 Poso Creek (Core) ................................................................................................................. 4-3 4.2 Monitoring Site Coordination ................................................................................................... 4-3 4.2.1 Cawelo Water District Coalition – Poso Creek ..................................................................... 4-4 4.2.2 Buena Vista Coalition – Main Drain Canal ............................................................................ 4-4 4.3 Rejected Monitoring Sites ........................................................................................................ 4-4 4.3.1 Caliente Creek ...................................................................................................................... 4-4 4.3.2 San Emigdio Creek ................................................................................................................ 4-4 4.3.3 Miscellaneous Small Creeks ................................................................................................. 4-5 4.3.4 Kern River Outlet Canal ........................................................................................................ 4-5 4.3.5 James Canal .......................................................................................................................... 4-5 4.3.6 Connecting Slough ................................................................................................................ 4-5 4.3.7 Friant-Kern Canal .................................................................................................................. 4-5 4.3.8 Conveyance Facilities ........................................................................................................... 4-5 4.4 Selection Rationale Summary ................................................................................................... 4-6 5 Surface Water Monitoring Schedule ........................................................................................5-1 5.1 Assessment Monitoring Schedule ............................................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Ephemeral Monitoring Schedule .............................................................................................. 5-2 5.3 Core Monitoring Schedule ........................................................................................................ 5-2 5.4 Special Monitoring Schedule .................................................................................................... 5-3 5.5 Monitoring Prioritization .........................................................................................................