Watersheds make and are made by erosional processes on the land. Riverine systems derive multiple benefits from natural episodic sediment delivery, while chronic anthropogenic (management-related) sedimentation can negatively impact watershed health, aquatic species, and water quality. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) set a threshold for the amount of a particular pollutant, like sediment and turbidity, that can be delivered to a river system without impairing the “beneficial uses” of the waters.

Participants in this webinar will learn about the TMDL process, from listing a watershed as impaired to performing a sediment source analysis to determine what can be considered natural “background” sediments and what are “management-related” sediments to developing BMPs for the land practices contributing sediment. This will include watershed-scale practices to move the entire watershed towards water quality recovery and site-scale BMPs meeting the requirements of the CA CGP.

The course will highlight two ground-breaking TMDL case studies in Northern California, including 1) the Mad River TMDL, which was set forth by the Federal EPA for the entire watershed, and the Mad River TMDL Compliance Plan, which was developed through a landowner-based process guided by a local non-profit agency; and 2) the Elk River TMDL and TMDL Compliance Plan, which were set forth by the CA Regional Water Quality Control Board for a partitioned reach of the watershed.

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