Russian River Regional Monitoring Program

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) is calling for the development of a Regional Monitoring Program of best available independent science to inform and coordinate environmental regulatory and management decisions throughout the Russian River Watershed.

The Russian River Regional Monitoring Program (R3MP) will be developed in phases. During Phase 1, a Steering Committee was convened to guide the development of the R3MP’s governance framework, priority management questions, and the first iteration of the R3MP Charter. A list of funding models was also drafted to identify potential funding sources for implementing the program. Phase 1 was completed in March 2019.

Phase 2 will start by honing in on specific management questions for implementing regional monitoring within the Russian River watershed, with a focus on ambient ecological condition monitoring to support a watershed based approach to condition assessments and regulatory compliance (e.g. Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permits). This phase can realize adaptive management by updating and implementing a sampling design; protocols for data collection, sharing, analysis, and management; guidelines for data interpretation; and by producing a public report of findings and public agency responses.

Subsequent phases can broaden the R3MP to support additional regulatory and management programs, subject to Steering Committee advice and review. The anticipated functions and benefits of the R3MP include, but are not limited to:

• Improved protection of aquatic resources and their beneficial uses;

• Coordinated, inter‐agency adaptive watershed management;

• Maximized value and minimized costs of environmental data;

• Robust assessment of baseline conditions and trends;

• Evaluation of project and program effectiveness;

• Improved data access and visualization;

• Improved public outreach and reporting.