California State University, Monterey Bay Digital Commons @ CSUMB Miscellaneous Monterey and San Luis Obispo Salinas River and Carmel River Groundwater County Documents and Reports Basins 12-19-2018 2008 - San Antonio and Nacimiento Rivers Watershed Management Plan Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_cgb_5 Part of the Business Commons, Education Commons, Engineering Commons, Law Commons, Life Sciences Commons, Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation "2008 - San Antonio and Nacimiento Rivers Watershed Management Plan" (2018). Miscellaneous Monterey and San Luis Obispo County Documents and Reports. 35. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_cgb_5/35 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Salinas River and Carmel River Groundwater Basins at Digital Commons @ CSUMB. It has been accepted for inclusion in Miscellaneous Monterey and San Luis Obispo County Documents and Reports by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CSUMB. For more information, please contact [email protected]. San Antonio and Nacimiento Rivers Watershed Management Plan October 2008 Prepared by the Nacitone Watersheds Steering Committee and Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, Inc. Prepared for the Monterey County Water Resources Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board Funding for this project has been provided in full or in part through an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the State Water Resources Control Board, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendations for use. (This page intentionally left blank) 2 Acknowledgements Facilitation of the Nacitone Watersheds Planning Process was managed by Traci Roberts of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. Stephnie Wald of Central Coast Salmon Enhancement prepared the watershed management plan with grateful assistance of Nicole Smith, Elise Torres, and Sarah Paddack. The preparation of the management plan was guided by Steering Committee Co-chairs Duane Wolgomott and Phil Humphrey. Ken Ekelund of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency managed the SWRCB grant that funded the Nacitone Watersheds Management Plan. Each member of the Steering Committee also contributed valuable information and assistance and is acknowledged below. Ann Beckett, Lockwood resident Marilyn Breland, Heritage Ranch resident Bill Capps, Nacimiento Regional Water Management Advisory Committee Terry Chavis, Heritage Ranch resident Ken Ekelund, Program Manager, Monterey County Water Resources Agency Letty French, Nacimiento watershed resident Adrienne Greve, Assistant Professor, City & Regional Planning Department, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Michel Hardoy, Lockwood resident Wally Haussamen, Fort Hunter Liggett, Natural Resources Manager Phil Humfrey, Nacimiento Regional Water Management Advisory Committee Mary Ann Martinus, Lockwood resident David Osgood, Nacimiento watershed resident; Chair, Adelaide Farm Center Dennis Palm, Ventana Wilderness Alliance Lester Patterson, Lockwood resident Eric Peterson, Lime Mountain Mining Company Bill Phillips, MCWRA Deputy General Manager Kim Roth, Lockwood resident Tom Shepherd, Monterey County Parks & Recreation Scott Smith, Vice Chair, Adelaide Farm Center Lisa Wallender, Water Systems Chemist, Public Works Department, County of San Luis Obispo Mark Williams, Camp Roberts, Environmental Chief Duane Wolgamott, Lockwood resident 3 The members of the Technical Advisory Committee made themselves available for the betterment of this document and are listed below. Ann Beckett, Historian and Lockwood resident Rob Atwill, Doctor, UC Davis, School of Veterinerian Medicine John Bradford, US Forest Service, District Ranger James Caruso, Senior Planner, SLO County John D’Ornellas, Heritage Ranch Community Service District Manager Ken Ekelund, Monterey County Water Resources Agency Jill Falcone, Environmental Resource Specialist, County of San Luis Obispo, Dept. of Public Works Joy Fitzhugh, San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau Howard Franklin, Hydrologist, Monterey County Water Resources Agency DJ Funk, Executive Directory, Upper Salinas Las Tablas Resource Conservation District Steve Knudsen, San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau Robert LaFluer, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (Salinas Service Center) Royce Larsen, UC Cooperative Extension, Area Natural Resources, Watershed Advisory Margy Lindquist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (Templeton Service Center) Danny Marquis, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Steve Mason, Land Use Technician, Planning Department, County of Monterey Kay Mercer, Agriculture Water Quality Consultant, Kay Mercer, Inc. Donna Meyers, Big Sur Land Trust Elizabeth Painter, Botanist Margaret Paul, California Department of Fish and Game Paul Robins, Executive Director, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County Mary Root, Conservation Partnerships Coordinator, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Bob Schubert, Senior Planner, Planning Department, County of Monterey Kelly Sorenson, Ventana Wilderness Society Ken Tate, Rangeland Watershed Specialist, Cooperative Extension, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis Kathy Thomasberg, Water Quality Specialist, Monterey County Water Resources Agency Lisa Wallender, Water Systems Chemist, SLO County Public Works Mark Williams, Environmental Chief, Camp Roberts Duane Wolgamott Phil Humfrey 4 Executive Summary There are two aspects to the development of any watershed plan. Dedicated people spent countless hours discussing concerns, issues and potential solutions to problems. This dedication leads to the production of documents that hope to articulate the outcome of the dialog in a way that is useful for the community. The executive summary identifies the Nacitone Watersheds Management process and products, and attempts to capture the major core findings arising out of both efforts. The Vision The Nacimiento/San Antonio River Watersheds Management Plan should protect water quality and watershed uses for all stakeholders. The Purpose The purpose of the Nacitone Watersheds Management Plan is to identify the existing conditions of and stresses in these watersheds as they relate to water quality, and recommend methods for reducing or eliminating those stressors such as alternative land use practices. The Process The Nacitone Watersheds Management planning process is a stakeholder driven process that represents the interests of residents, agencies and businesses that work and live in the watersheds. The stakeholder process used to produce these products presents an investment of 8800 volunteer hours of time in meetings, field trips, community outreach and planning. The magnitude of the effort includes far more than this if one includes the hundreds of contacts made through flyers, press releases and web-site visits. Each of the products was placed on the web-site for public review. Public comment periods were held for the Goals and Strategies document and the Watershed Management Plan. There were Steering and Technical Advisory Committees as well as a staff team guiding the process and development of the products. The members of each are listed in the acknowledgement section of the plan and referenced in Part 1 “How the Plan was Prepared.” The Products The Nacitone Watersheds Plan was initiated by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) and funded by a grant from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. As part of the grant, several products were produced to assist the watershed stakeholders in gathering and analyzing existing information about the watersheds to discern critical issues facing the watersheds and potential remedies. These products include: Watershed Resources Inventory (WRI)—Existing watershed information was identified including reports, studies, maps, Geographic Information System (GIS) files, and technical data covering land use, water supply, water quality, ecology, hydrology, habitat and vegetation, agricultural and grazing practices, and planning efforts. The inventory is comprised of a spreadsheet file containing over 300 entries as well as an annotated bibliography of a select number of the entries. 5 Analysis of the WRI (Analysis)— Existing information was compiled in order to establish a baseline describing existing watershed conditions including land use, major water features, water quality, water supply, designated beneficial uses, point and nonpoint sources of water pollution, population, infrastructure, vegetation and habitat, and agricultural and grazing practices. Trends were identified for those items that had sufficient historical data. The Analysis did not include a technical review of compiled information. Grazing Land Management Plan—the Upper Salinas/Las Tablas Resource Conservation District conducted an assessment of the 24,000 acres of grazing land owned and managed by the MCWRA at the Nacimiento and San Antonio Reservoirs to determine impacts on water quality, maintenance of ecological communities, and management of sustainable and restorative grazing. Watershed Goals and Strategies—The WRI and Analysis were utilized by the stakeholder group to articulate goals and planning strategies for future watershed activities that focus on water quality improvements. These include non-regulatory approaches to watershed