Water Quality Monitoring

One of the first County efforts under the Project Clean Water program was to begin characterizing water quality in the urban south County creeks.  The South Coast Watershed Characterization Study was prepared from monitoring data collected during the winter of 1998/99.  Subsequent years saw increased funding for monitoring and Project Clean Water expanded the sampling to many more watersheds receiving urban runoff.

Lab costs approached $1500 per sample for a full suite of constituents, and with over 26 watersheds on the south Coast alone, the sampling program was the largest component of the Project Clean Water budget.  Due to funding cuts beginning in 2002, ambient creek monitoring was reduced and eventually eliminated from the Project Clean Water program.

Water monitoring is now limited to the ocean water monitoring program, which includes weekly testing of ocean waters for indicator bacteria, and monitoring of benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) for assessing long-term biological health of creeks.

During the 2006 budget review process, a one-time allocation was provided by the Board of Supervisors to Project Clean Water to fund limited sampling.  This sampling program targets constituents of concern in 303(d) listed water quality limited streams receiving urban runoff, including the Carpinteria area, Goleta area, and Orcutt. Sampling data will be compiled and a report developed at the end of the sampling period, June 2008.

The following reports are available:

Water Quality Reports

2002/2003 Water Quality Analysis Report
This report examines the goals and results of the water quality sampling program undertaken by Project Clean Water during the rainfall season of 2002/2003. Available in PDF format.

Main Text
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F

2001/2002 Water Quality Analysis Report
This report examines the goals and results of the water quality sampling program undertaken by Project Clean Water during the rainfall season of 2001/2002. Available in PDF format.

Main Text
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F

2000/2001 Water Quality Analysis Report
This report examines the goals and results of the water quality sampling program undertaken by Project Clean Water during the rainfall season of 2000/2001. Available in PDF format.

Main Text
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F

1999/2000 Water Quality Analysis Report
This report examines the goals and results of the water quality sampling program undertaken by Project Clean Water during the rainfall season of 1999/2000. Available in PDF format.

Main Text
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D

South Coast Watershed Characterization Study
(1998/1999 Water Quality Analysis Report)
This study assesses the water quality conditions in four South Coast watersheds (Arroyo Burro Creek, Mission Creek, Carpinteria Creek and Rincon Creek). Available in PDF format.

Main Text
Figure 2a
Figure 2b
Figure 2c
Figure 2d
Figure 4a
Figure 4b
Figure 5a
Figure 5b

Other Water Quality Monitoring Efforts and Data

UCSB Plumes and Blooms
Santa Barbara Coastal LTER
Central Coast Ambient Monitoring Program (CCAMP)
Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO)
USGS Water Quality Data for California
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)