Lake Berryessa.
Background
The Bureau of Reclamation previously sampled for MTBE in the lake and biologicals near the
resorts, but has not done so for at least one year. They currently sample for E. and F.
coliform once a month, focusing their efforts on the streams during the winter and the lake
during the summer. They also monitor lake and stream physical parameters at these sites
including the following: dissolved oxygen, electrical conductance, water temperature F, pH,
and turbidity. Specifically, they collect data from the lake sites on the third Wednesday of
each month and from the stream sites on the first Wednesday of each month. Collection
from streams occurs when they have significant flow (e.g. during the rainy season for small
streams). Open water sites are selected based on threat-activities occurring in the region,
with the boat operator from the Berryessa Office potentially providing input.
During the swimming/boating season they may take 13 samples from the lake and three
samples from the streams. During the rainy season they may take eight samples from the
lake and eight samples from the streams. A MPN total/fecal/Ecoli coliform QA reference
sample will be added to the lake coliform samples collected and a QA blank sample will be
added to the stream coliform samples collected. The number of samples collected may
change with the threat to human health. Some of the lake sites they have regularly tested
in the past include the following: Boy Scout Camp, Putah Swim beach, Rancho Monticello
Resort area, Berryessa Marina, Acorn Beach, Coyote Beach, Gun Ranch, Spanish Flat, Carpel
Cove, Steele Park Resort, Pleasure Cove, and Makley Cove. Some of the stream sites they
have regularly tested in the past include the following: Pope Creek, Eticuera Creek, Cappell
Creek, Wragg Creek, Steele Canyon, Quarry Canyon, and Smittle Creek. They have been
conducting these tests for the past 3 or 4 years. They plan on putting the results on a
website as soon as possible. For more information see the April 2004 edition of the Lake
Berryessa Black Book (Attachment #1).
Soils
Testing
Quality Projects
Concerns
Opportunities
The Bureau of Reclamation is the primary agency responding to spills or
releases at Lake Berryessa. They do not have a standard response protocol
or procedure because each event is different. If a spill/release is detected
they will initially send their own staff out to conduct immediate testing before
the chemicals dissipate. The BR will also contract a water quality testing
professional from Caltest to respond to the spill, though they usually take a
few hours or even a full day to respond. They contract an employee from
Caltest to give them additional evidence in case the incident is taken to
court. Spills or releases are sometimes reported to the Bureau of
Reclamation by the resorts and sometimes they are discovered during regular
testing/monitoring. Gasoline spills are generally contained by the resorts
themselves using absorbent pads and barriers. The Standard Operating
Procedures for spill/release response are tied to the resort’s contracts which
are very old. When/if their contracts are renewed, new Standard Operating
Procedures (SOP’s) will be put in place. The Bureau of Reclamation is in the
process of developing a nationwide set of SOP’s that they hope will be ready
for implementation within a couple years.
NCEM manages water quality information gathered from underground storage tanks located
at the resorts. NCEM began gathering testing information from these sites in 1989. Active
testing currently takes place at Putah Creek Resort, Rancho Monticello and Steel Park
Resort. The testing at the resorts is usually conducted quarterly. They occasionally test the
lake itself depending on conditions. They are trying to determine whether or not
contamination from underground storage tanks is reaching the lake. The testing protocol is
determined by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Typically TPH as gasoline, diesel,
and motor oil are included in the monitoring. They all test for the constituents listed in the
top box of the attached sheet entitled “Gasoline and Related Compounds” (Attachment
#2). Other constituents such as alcohols, lead scavengers and volatile halocarbons are
required if warranted.
Each resort that draws water from the lake also does its own water quality testing for a
variety of parameters, both before intake and prior to distribution. The resorts either
conduct the testing themselves or contract government approved labs to do the testing for
them. Results are then given to the Napa County Environmental Management office.
There are three resorts that currently take water from the lake and conduct water quality
tests that are reported to NCEM; they are Putah Creek Resort, Markley Cove and Lake
Berryessa Marina. Depending on the constituents being looked at, tests are conducted
once a year, once every three years or once every five years. See the Source Chemical
Monitoring Requirements list attached to the document for a complete list of constituents
and their testing frequency.
CDHS requires the utilities to conduct water tests and send the results to them. They do
not conduct any of their own testing at Lake Berryessa.
The NRCD does not have any active sampling sites in the Lake Berryessa basin right now,
though they did conduct some water quality sampling there historically. They are beginning
a water quality and stream gaging program in Pope Creek and Capell Creek, above the
receiving waters of Lake Berryessa, in January of 2005. These two monitoring sites will
capture virtually all irrigated farmland runoff, with little or no background inputs from other
land uses. California Department of Healthy Services has agreed to continue to supply this
group with a data base of Lake Berryessa test results for several pesticides known to be
used in Napa County.
The NRCD is working for a consortium of landowners in the Putah creek watershed in order
to satisfy a new regulation for irrigated agricultural land requiring seasonal water quality
monitoring. They will collect samples three times during the rainy season; probably in
January, March and May. They will be testing the following parameters: flow, pH, specific
conductance, DO, temp, color, turbidity, TDS, TSS, TOC, and maybe some toxicity
measures if required.
The RWCD does not conduct any direct monitoring of Lake Berryessa or any of the
associated streams and rivers. They do conduct monthly or quarterly monitoring and
reporting of effluents and discharges from the resorts into their wastewater treatment
facilities and ponds. They monitor water quality parameters associated with domestic water
discharge such as TDS, nitrate as nitrogen, minerals, BOD, TKN, TCO, dissolved oxygen, pH,
and free boards (surface level of liquid to the top of the burm - don’t want pond to
overflow). They monitor several different sites in the region, and they monitor different
parameters at each site depending on the Monitoring Reporting Program tied to each facility’
s permit. This information is available to the public if you make an appointment to see the
relevant case files. They also determine the testing protocol for the underground storage
tanks at each resort and they occasionally require lake samples to be taken in an attempt to
determine if contamination from these tanks is reaching the lake.
This group does not conduct any water quality testing at Lake Berryessa, nor do they
receive or store any water quality testing results collected from other organizations.
In December 2004 the Upper Putah Creek Stewardship began a stream monitoring
program that involves sampling 20 sites over the next two years. At each site they pick
three separate locations and take three macroinvertebrate samples using a kick net. The
samples are sent to a professional lab for analysis and the results will be reported to the
California Water Resources Control Board and hopefully to SWAMP as well. In 2005 they
are hoping to expand the testing to include monthly sampling of physical parameters such
as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, sediment and total dissolved solids at a variety of
stream sites. They also hope to ascertain mercury levels at sampling sites by bioassaying
some of the bugs they collect.
Neither of these projects currently includes any kind of monitoring. Rather, these projects
are consortiums of people interested in these broad areas. But, the project’s website http:
//bioregion.ucdavis.edu provides information about historic monitoring conducted in these
regions. Some of the monitoring projects include the following: riparian inventory and
biomonitoring projects; distribution and ecology of Putah Creek fish projects (larval fish,
Chinook, Perch, Hitch, Tule Perch, etc.); a wood duck study; a California Quail restoration
study; a feral house cat ecology study; an avian survey; a small mammal survey; a
vegetation survey; an aquatic funnel trapping survey; and a pitfall trapping survey.
This agency prepares a Sanitary Survey for Lake Berryessa every five years. The survey
contains information about the health of the watershed, potentially contaminating
activities, source water assessments (a more direct look at where the water comes from
and what levels of protection are provided to protect it from potentially contaminating
activities) and lists current water quality testing activities and results. Also within this
document specific Best Management Practices, such as designating buffer zones and
planning environmental education programs, are suggested for implementation.
