Storm Water Division

Plans & Reports

Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals TMDL Implementation Plan

The Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan Stakeholders page serves as a resource for interested community members, agencies and other stakeholders. This site provides an opportunity to learn about the TMDL process, review draft documents and check project status. (Note: for information that describes the TMDL, please see "TMDLs" section below.)

The Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals TMDL Implementation Plan (hereafter referred to as "Implementation Plan") was developed by the jurisdictions and agencies named in the TMDLs including the City of the San Diego, the City of La Mesa, the City of Lemon Grove, the County of San Diego, U.S. Navy, the Port of San Diego, and Caltrans.

The purpose of the Implementation Plan is to provide the basis and strategy to reduce dissolved metals loading and other constituents of concern in storm water and urban runoff that may be impacting the beneficial uses of Chollas Creek. The Implementation Plan identifies projects to be implemented in the first 5-year phase of the program to meet these goals. The Implementation Plan was submitted to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in October 2009.

Annual updates for the Implementation Plan were provided to the Regional Water Quality Control Board in January 2011 as part of the San Diego Bay WURMP Annual Report.

Chollas Creek TMDL Water Quality Monitoring 2009-2010 (FINAL REPORT)

Chollas Creek TMDL Implementation Plan Update 2009-2010

2011 Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan Stakeholder Meeting

The 2011 Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan Stakeholder Meeting was held on June 23 at the Lemon Grove Community Center. The goal of the meeting was to provide activity updates on planned and implemented projects and answer questions from the stakeholders. Copies of the meeting presentations, meeting notes and the agenda are provided below:

2011 Meeting Agenda (PDF)
Meeting Summary (PDF)

For additional information regarding the Chollas Creek TMDL Stakeholder's Meeting, please contact Stephanie Bracci at sbracci@sandiego.gov.

Materials from last year's Stakeholder Meeting are available for review below:

2010 Stakeholder Meeting Summary

Materials provided at the 2010 Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals TMDL Stakeholder Meeting:

Stakeholder Involvement

The public was invited to participate in the planning and implementation process through attendance at stakeholder meetings, as well as providing comments at each iteration of the draft plan. While comments are no longer being formally accepted regarding the Implementation Plan, the public is invited to contact the representatives listed below with specific questions.

Caltrans Constantine Kontaxis NPDES Branch Chief (619) 688-3626 constantine_kontaxis@dot.ca.gov	City of La Mesa Joe Kuhn Storm Water Program Manager (619) 667-1340 jkuhn@ci.la-mesa.ca.us	City of Lemon Grove Cora Long Management Analyst (619) 825-3827 clong@ci.lemon-grove.ca.us
City of San Diego Stephanie Bracci Associate Planner (858) 541-4314 sbracci@sandiego.gov	County of San Diego Tracy Cline Planner III (858) 495-5513 tracy.cline@sdcounty.ca.gov	Port of San Diego Stephanie Bauer Associate Environmental Specialist (619) 400-4719 sbauer@portofsandiego.org
United States Navy Len Sinfield CWA Compliance Manager (619) 532-2280 len.sinfield@navy.mil

Final Draft Chollas Creek Dissolved Metals TMDL Implementation Plan

Cover Page and Table of Contents (PDF)
Introduction:
- Section 1.0 to 1.1 (PDF)
- Section 1.2 (PDF)
- Section 1.3 to 1.5 (PDF)
Initial Assessment: Section 2.0 (PDF)
Planning: Section 3.0 (PDF)
Implementation: Section 4.0 (PDF)
Effectiveness Assessment & Re-Evaluation: Section 5.0 (PDF)
Literature Cited: Section 6.0 (PDF)
Appendices:
- Appendix A: Water Quality Reports and Data (PDF)
  - Section A.1 to A.6 (PDF)
  - Section A.7.1 (PDF)
  - Section A.7.2 (PDF)
  - Section A.7.3 to 7.4 (PDF)
- Appendix B: Discharger Partnership Projects and Watershed Activity Lists (PDF)
- Appendix C: Monitoring Plan (PDF)
- Appendix D: Integrated TMDL Watershed Approach and Tools (PDF)
- Appendix E: Public Participation (PDF)

Reports

Previous Stakeholder Meeting Summaries and Information

May 18, 2009 (PDF)
March 30, 2009 (PDF)
December 15, 2008 (PDF)
October 6, 2008 (PDF)
Stakeholder Comments/Responses (See Appendix E above)

Additional Information

Chollas Creek Watershed

The Chollas Creek Watershed is located south and east of downtown San Diego in a highly urbanized portion of San Diego County. The watershed drains approximately 30 square miles via two main tributaries, the North Fork and the South Fork, and discharges into San Diego Bay. Except for the downstream 1.2 mile tidal prism area, Chollas Creek is an ephemeral stream which usually only flows during rainy conditions. The map below highlights the Chollas Creek Watershed boundaries, jurisdictional boundaries of the responsible agencies, and the City of San Diego's community plan areas.

Chollas Creek Watershed Map (PDF)

TMDL

A TMDL is a "pollution budget" for an impaired waterbody, such as Chollas Creek. A TMDL defines the maximum amount of a pollutant the waterbody can safely receive while meeting the water quality objectives identified in the San Diego Basin Plan. There are four adopted TMDLs for Chollas Creek: the pesticide (diazinon) TMDL, the dissolved metals TMDL (for copper, lead and zinc). In addition, a draft TMDL for indicator bacteria is currently being revised. This Implementation Plan is designed to meet the requirements of the metals and bacteria TMDLs over the 20 year allowed implementation period. The Implementation Plan uses an integrated approach to achieve this goal.