COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Environmental Quality Committee

DATE:

December 11, 2007

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 18, 2007

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Environmental Quality Committee

Supervisor Rich Gordon, Chair

Supervisor Jerry Hill, Vice-chair

SUBJECT:

Recommended Watershed Protection Outreach Plan

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution approving a watershed protection outreach plan.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

The recommended action furthers the following commitments and goals:

Commitment: Preserve and provide people access to our natural environment

Goal(s): 14—Important natural resources are preserved and enhanced through environmental stewardship

Commitment: Leaders work together across boundaries to preserve and enhance our quality of life

Goal(s): 24—Residents accept individual responsibility for contributing to the quality of life of the County as a whole

BACKGROUND:

With 34 watersheds that flow to either the San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean, San Mateo County is home to a diverse and complicated array of ecosystems that host a variety of plants, animals, birds and aquatic life such as the threatened and endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout. While the county currently receives over 90 percent of its water from the San Francisco Regional Water System (Hetch Hetchy), local water is critical to natural resources, farming and residents who receive their water from local water sources.

Unfortunately, human activities are among the factors impacting water quality. There is mounting scientific and empirical evidence indicating that San Mateo County’s creeks and streams are impaired with rising amounts of sediment and other contaminants. Sediment, toxics and bacterial contamination harm our watershed ecosystems, as well as create flooding problems.

San Mateo County has three creeks that are listed as impaired water bodies for sediment due to degradation of salmonid habitat. There are also four Critical Coastal Areas (CCAs) in the County. CCAs are identified based on degraded water quality and proximity to sensitive marine areas.

San Mateo County has a number of policies and programs to protect watersheds. However, Fishnet 4C, the Fishery Network of the Central California Coastal Counties, found in a 2001 study that most of the County’s protections and programs focus on the coastal zone. Despite current programs, there are a number of identified and potential policy gaps.

In response to these issues, staff from Environmental Health, Agriculture, Planning and Building, Public Works, County Counsel and Parks has formed a working group, the Watershed Protection and Restoration Coordinating Committee (WPRCC) to explore and develop recommended actions. Staff recommends that the first step in this current effort be public outreach.

DISCUSSION:

The WPRCC has been working for over a year on issues related to watershed protection. WPRCC has worked diligently to address many of the recommendations in the Fishnet4C study. The proposed outreach effort represents the most current effort to satisfy the recommendations found in the FishNet4C study as well as address a number of other concerns.

The attached recommended outreach plan is intended to initiate and guide San Mateo County’s public communication and engagement efforts through the development and adoption of a watershed protection effort. With workshops throughout the County and some tailored for specific interest groups, this plan strives to continuously engage all stakeholders. These workshops will also help to identify issues of concern and commonality.

The general goal of the workshops will be the development of a draft ordinance that minimizes the impact on slope stability, groundwater recharge, off-site drainage, erosion and sedimentation impacts. To facilitate the outreach process, staff will present concepts that:

• Address both Water Pollution laws and Endangered Species Acts in the same program.

• Track existing County requirements, like the Local Coastal Plan riparian policies, as much as possible to ensure consistency and reduce burden on property owners so that they do not face unnecessary new or duplicating requirements.

• Focus the regulation on the areas that have the most impact, such as grading on hillsides with slopes over 10 percent and activities in areas adjacent to streams.

• Use a simple permit system that addresses environmental concerns but still allows most activities. This could include the following elements:

• Allow as many regulated activities as reasonably possible by an “over-the–counter” permit using established standard conditions and best management practices.

• Allow activities with greater environmental risk (i.e., development in a stream, grading on slopes over 30 percent) through a reasonable discretionary permit and environmental review process.

• Prohibit only activities with high risk, such as land clearing, grading and development on slopes exceeding 50 percent, unless the activity qualifies for a strict variance or is otherwise exempt by law.

• Use a fair and reasonable approach for existing development on slopes and near hillsides. This could include the following elements:

• “Grandfather” structures and activities that exist at the time the regulation is adopted.

• Develop a system, like the “legal non-conforming use” system under County zoning laws so that existing development and activities can continue and only any increase or new development or activity would require a permit.

• Allow reasonable exemptions for matters like routine maintenance, existing agricultural work outside riparian areas, or those activities that are already subject to comparable state, federal or local permit conditions.

The plan includes communication techniques, a timeline and an outline with proposed roles, responsibilities and tasks for various County departments for communicating with the public and a targeted campaign for key audiences. While the timeline includes a report back to the Environmental Quality Committee by April 2008, the outreach plan can be changed to ensure that there is adequate time for community outreach and education. While workshops comprise the most interactive component of the outreach process, staff hopes to create a website with additional information, resources and opportunities for involvement, as well as a general informational document.

Subsequent to review by the Environmental Quality Committee, staff has amended the resolution.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Implementation of the Watershed Protection Outreach Plan will not exceed current department resources.