MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

OF THE COMMISSION OF

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATER RESEARCH PROJECT AUTHORITY

 

HELD AT THE OFFICES OF THE AUTHORITY

3535 Harbor Blvd., Suite 110, Costa Mesa, California

 

March 9, 2007

9:30 a.m.

 

 

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT

Janet Hashimoto - US Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX

Darrin Polhemus - State Water Resources Control Board

Jonathan Bishop - Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region

Arthur Coe - Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region

Rita Robinson - City of Los Angeles

Mas Dojiri - City of Los Angeles

Steve Maguin - Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts

Robert Ghirelli - Orange County Sanitation District

Alan Langworthy - City of San Diego

Gerhardt Hubner - Ventura County Watershed Protection District

Diego Cadena - Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

Larry McKenny - County of Orange

Kathy Flannery – County of San Diego

 

STAFF PRESENT

Stephen Weisberg - Executive Director

B. Richard Marsh - Legal Counsel

Ken Schiff - Deputy Director

Bryan Nece – Administrative Officer

Jim Allen - Principal Investigator

Art Barnett - Principal Investigator

Steve Bay - Principal Investigator

Larry Cooper - Principal Investigator

Keith Maruya - Principal Investigator

Eric Stein - Principal Investigator

Yiping Cao – Scientist

Donna Ferguson – Scientist

Karen McLaughlin- Scientist

Karlene Miller - Administrative Analyst

Shelly Moore - Programmer

Becky Schaffner – Programmer

 

OTHERS PRESENT

Bob Horvath - Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts

George Robertson - Orange County Sanitation District

John Robertus - Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region

Ed Torres - Orange County Sanitation District

Joe Gully - Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts

Gerry McGowen – City of Los Angeles

Tom Rosales – SOCWA

Tim Stebbins– City of San Diego

 

Commission Chair Polhemus called the meeting to order at 9:37 AM.

 

CONSENT AGENDA

 

1.            MINUTES OF MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 8 AND DECEMBER 8, 2006

 

Commissioner Dojiri motioned for approval of the minutes from the last two meetings. Commissioner Maguin seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved with a typographical  correction to the December 8th minutes.

 

2.            QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED

DECEMBER 31, 2006

 

3.            QUARTERLY STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AT DECEMBER 31, 2006

 

4.             MINUTES OF CTAG MEETINGS OF NOVEMBER 16, 2006

 

Commissioner Ghirelli motioned for approval of consent items 2 through 4, which was seconded by Commissioner Dojiri.  The consent items were unanimously approved.

 

REGULAR AGENDA

 

5.            EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

The Executive Director started by welcoming the Commission to the agency’s new facility and promised a tour after the meeting.  He also welcomed Steve Maguin as the new Commissioner for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and Ed Torres as the new Alternate Commissioner for the Orange County Sanitation District.

 

He began his administrative report by stating costs for constructing and moving into the new facility were on target.  He indicated that he had briefed the Personnel and Finance Committee about the agency’s cash flow in context of moving-related expenditures and that there were no areas of concern.  He next stated that SCCWRP had hired five new employees who will start at the agency within two months following the move, filling positions that were open but for which there was too limited space at the old facility. 

 

He began his technical report by commenting on positive responses he had received about the Agency’s most recent Annual Report.  He announced that the Long Beach Aquarium had decided to develop an exhibit based on the findings from SCCWRP’s Technical Report 499, Historical Ecology and Landscape Change of the San Gabriel River and Floodplain. He reported that there was increasing interest in SCCWRP’s role as an interface between science and management, as many of the federal agencies are seeking to better transition their scientific activities into management applications.  Dr. Weisberg indicated that he had recently been asked to give talks on this subject to the Subcommittee on Integrated Management of Ocean Resources, the NOAA National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, and the National Research Council Ocean Studies Board.  He added that he was recently appointed to the Governing Board of the California Ocean Science Trust, which will further assist SCCWRP in connecting with other science-based management activities in the State.  Finally, Dr. Weisberg provided updates on the Agency’s Sediment Quality Objectives project and the CIWQS Review.

 

Commissioner Cadena arrived at 10:10 am.

 

6.         CTAG REPORT

Gerry McGowan, Chair of the Commissioner’s Technical Advisory Committee (CTAG), presented a summary of their February 14, 2007 meeting.  At that meeting, CTAG elected Gerry McGowan as Chair and Dominic Gregorio as Vice Chair.  Dr. McGowan indicated that Ken had presented the first draft of the Agency’s 2007-2008 Research Plan and gave a presentation of the upcoming Epidemiology Study at Doheney State Beach.  Eric Stein gave a presentation of the San Gabriel Watershed Integrated Monitoring and Assessment.  Finally, Keith Maruya gave a presentation of the Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME).  He stated that all the presentations were well received.

 

7.         FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLANNING MEETING

The Executive Director described the preparation for the Commission’s Five-Year Strategic Planning Meeting.  He reminded the Commission that they had appointed a Subcommittee, chaired by Dr. Dojiri, to plan the meeting.  He indicated that the Subcommittee was planning two surveys, one of which was an external survey to assess effectiveness of the organization.  The second was an internal survey to assess employee understanding of the organization and job satisfaction.  The surveys will be administered via the Internet and Orange County Sanitation District has volunteered to compile the results.  The Executive Director then presented the agenda that the planning committee had drafted, which includes a review of survey results, future structure of the Commission, internal management structure, outreach activities, and guidance on changing the Agency’s name.  The meeting date was set for May 17th to be held at the Agency’s facility in Costa Mesa.

 

8.            CONTRACT APPROVAL

The Executive Director requested that the Commission approve a resolution regarding the following contract that would be offered to the Agency. He indicated that the contract was not included in his contract memo because it came in after the memo had been prepared and therefore required a resolution to be considered. Upon the motion of Commissioner Maguin, seconded by Commissioner Bishop, the contract was approved to be placed on the agenda, with Commissioners Hashimoto and Polhemus abstaining.

 

1)         State Water Resources Control Board ($125,000)

            ASBS Monitoring

 

Upon the motion of Commissioner Maguin, seconded by Commissioner Robinson, the contract was unanimously approved by Resolution, with Commissioners Hashimoto and Polhemus abstaining.

 

As an informational item, Dr. Weisberg described contracts with value of $250,000 or less that the Authority has accepted or indicated a willingness to accept.  While the governing agreement of SCCWRP requires no Commission action on these, the contracts were described to inform and ensure that the direction of the Authority’s work is consistent with the desires of the Commission. 

 

2)         State Water Resources Control Board ($45,000)

            ASBS Advisory Committee

 

3)         State Water Resources Control Board ($75,000)

            Survey of Los Angeles Region’s Anglers

 

There were no objections to either of these contracts.

 

9.            EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY

Ken Schiff described the agency’s plans for an epidemiology study at nonpoint source polluted beaches.  The goal of the epidemiology study was threefold: 1) assess if swimming-related illnesses increased at beaches contaminated by nonpoint, nonhuman sources of fecal pollution; 2) determine if existing fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) currently used for regulating beaches are good predictors of swimming-related illnesses; and 3) determine if newer, faster, and more specific indicators of fecal pollution are better predictors of swimming-related illnesses than the traditional FIB.  These are important elements because most beaches in Southern California are contaminated by nonpoint sources of contamination, rather than sewage, and the relative risk posed by these sources is unknown.  The project will begin at Doheny State Beach, which is thought to be contaminated largely by birds and is currently subject to a total maximum daily load (TMDL).  Traditional FIB are consistently criticized because they are slow and nonspecific, but nontraditional methods provide an excellent opportunity to test new technology that might better protect human health and reduce false warnings.  More than 40 new methods, conducted by the leading laboratories nationwide, will be included in the study.  The study is set to begin on Memorial Day. 

 

10.       SAN GABRIEL WATERSHED INTEGRATED MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

Eric Stein described the agency’s approach to developing the San Gabriel Watershed Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Program, including results from the first year.  The San Gabriel watershed Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Program originated as a result of an NPDES permit condition of the five Los Angeles County Sanitation District’s Water Reclamation Plants in the watershed, but was to include other regulated entities (i.e., Power Generating Stations, Stormwater Agencies) and Nongovernmental organizations (i.e., Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council).  After inventorying existing effort, it was obvious that the existing monitoring programs lacked comparability, adequate spatial coverage, and equity.  Ultimately, all of these organizations joined forces to create a collaborative monitoring program that provided a scientifically robust assessment of watershed health with little to no increase in overall cost.  Trading effort from inefficient and redundant portions of existing programs was used to create an ongoing watershed-wide program.  This model of collaboration and integration is being exported into other watersheds as part of the Stormwater Monitoring Coalition’s Regional Watershed Monitoring Program.

 

11.            FUTURE MEETING AGENDA ITEMS

The Commission requested updates regarding the following items at the June meeting: 1) Effectiveness of Treatment Wetlands as Stormwater BMP’s and Compatibility with Wildlife Beneficial Uses project; 2) San Gabriel Historical Ecology project.  There was also agreement that results from the Bight’03 regional sampling effort should be presented at the September meeting.

 

12.            OTHER BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS

None.

 

13.            PUBLIC COMMENTS

None

 

14.            ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 12:20 pm until the Commission Strategic Planning meeting on May 17, 2007 at the Agency’s location.

 

            ATTEST:

 

            Bryan Nece

            Secretary