Truckee River Watershed Monitoring Plan

Truckee River Watershed Monitoring Plan

Introduction and Request for Information

Placer County and the Town of Truckee are in the process of developing a comprehensive water quality monitoring plan for the Truckee River watershed. This monitoring plan is being prepared in response to a Technical Directive issued by the State of California’s Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. The reason for the directive is that there are water quality issues in the Truckee River. The monitoring plan will include all the watershed areas outside of the Lake Tahoe Basin which drain into the Truckee River within Placer County and the Town of Truckee. The area of concern is within the dark heavy lines of the attached map.

Placer County and Town of Truckee wish to engage with local stakeholders, such as yourself, to create a synthesized set of goals and objectives for the monitoring plan and to identify relevant information on past and existing data collection and monitoring programs within the County and Town jurisdiction. It is anticipated that the monitoring plan will evaluate current water quality monitoring activities being performed by others, define preferred monitoring methods and protocols, identify appropriate monitoring sites, establish an implementation schedule, and provide an estimate for budget and staffing requirements. One of the goals of the plan is to review the potential of coordinating existing water quality monitoring efforts and provide recommendations for consistent, timely and meaningful comprehensive monitoring.

Placer County and the Town of Truckee have contracted with 2NDNATURE, LLC, of Santa Cruz, California to prepare this monitoring plan. Other members of the consulting team include Nichols Consulting Engineers and Hydroikos. This team has an ideal combination of regional experience in technical water quality evaluation, regulatory permit processes and monitoring program development and implementation.

An important part of this planning process is to include stakeholders who may be involved with, or affected by, this monitoring program and its implementation. We have attempted to identify possible stakeholders for this process; the current list is included in the email address of this notice. We encourage your input regarding those included on the list, as we anticipate sending several emails during this process to be advised of progress and of meetings. We would like your help in the following way:

• Let us know if you want to be deleted from the list or you want changes made (different contact, spelling, address change, etc.)

If you would like to provide input to the process at this time, please complete the attached Stakeholder Information Survey form and submit via email to Bill Schell at Placer County Stormwater Quality Division (bschell@placer.ca.gov). Please limit the information below to the reaches of the Truckee River between River Ranch Lodge at Alpine Meadows and Juniper Creek, and the tributaries that drain to the Truckee River within this area (see attached map).

We would appreciate a response by February 19, 2008. We thank you for your response and participation in this planning process.

Bill Schell:

Placer County Stormwater Quality Division; p. (530)-745-7555; email: bschell@placer.ca.gov

Jessica Thompson:

Town of Truckee; p. (530) 582-2938; email: jthompson@townoftruckee.com