Sediment (TMDL)

July 15, 2025 by Dylan Freebairn-Smith Friends of Gualala River Introduction Next week, at long last, the public will have the opportunity to offer comment on preliminary steps being taken to reduce sediment pollution washing into the Gualala River, which has been harming endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead. Nearly thirty years after the river was first listed as impaired, …

Introduction The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is proposing to develop a new water quality permit that will apply to landowners with rural roads in the Gualala River Watershed. The permit, also referred to as “order” or “project” in this Initial Study, will require landowners to maintain their roads to reduce erosion and sediment discharges to watercourses. Landowners …

In 1994, the entire Gualala River watershed was listed on section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act as impaired for excessive sedimentation / siltation. Excessive sediment in the Gualala River watershed impairs Beneficial Uses associated with the Gualala River’s salmonid fishery and habitat. In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for …

Download a pdf version of this presentation Staff Presentation Project Goals, History, and Timeline Purpose of CEQA Scoping Meeting Project Location: Gualala River Watershed Overview Gualala River Sediment Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) What is a TMDL? Problem Statement Water Quality Objectives Source Analysis Load Allocations Existing Programs of Implementation Potential Additional Implementation Actions Public Comments: CEQA Scoping of Possible …

Download a pdf version of the main TMDL document This Gualala River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for sediment is prepared as part of a Clean Water Act program to assure that State water quality standards are achieved and beneficial uses protected. Protection of cold water fish such as coho and steelhead from human caused erosion of sediment is the …

Download a pdf version of this flyer: New Water Quality Permit for Gualala River Watershed Landowners For more information, visit the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/waru/

by Dylan Freebairn-Smith, Conservation Analyst One of the first projects that Dylan has tackled is analyzing the TMDL program for the Gualala. Summary The Gualala River has been listed as impaired under the federal Clean Water Act due to elevated sediment levels since 1993 and has exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of sediment since 2001. …

After Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) filed suit in 2021 against the State and Regional Water Boards for failing to create a plan to improve water quality conditions in the watershed as required by federal law, the Water Boards have finally agreed to do so. FoGR reached an agreement with the Water Boards in early 2023 requiring the launch of …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) achieved a major accomplishment that will help improve water quality and reduce sediment pollution in the Gualala River and its tributaries – a pivotal step in assisting salmonid recovery efforts. After nearly two years of legal actions and negotiations, a settlement agreement was reached last month between FoGR, the State Water Resources Control Board (State …

By: FoGR Vice President, Lynn Walton Adult Steelhead, photo by Peter Baye For nearly a year Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) has been engaged in an effort to prompt the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the State Water Resources Control Board to perform their duty to incorporate the Gualala River’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for sediment …

Historically, the Gualala River was home to abundant coho salmon and steelhead trout populations that numbered in the tens of thousands. Today, the endangered coho salmon are all but gone and threatened steelhead are struggling to survive in the home river they evolved and adapted to over millennia. The dwindling salmonid population is a critical indicator of the declining health …