BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Cost Sharing Agreement with Santa Clara County, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and Guadalupe Rubbish Disposal, Inc. for Guadalupe River Watershed Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load Coordinated Monitoring Program and Consultant Agreement for Mercury Monitoring.
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RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
A. Approve the Cost Sharing Agreement by and between the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the County of Santa Clara, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and Guadalupe Rubbish Disposal, Inc. to fund implementation of the Guadalupe River Coordinated Monitoring Program required by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) under its Section 13267 California Water Code;
B. Authorize the District Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to execute the Cost Sharing Agreement; and
C. Authorize the CEO to negotiate and execute a Consultant Agreement for an amount not-to-exceed $350,000 for the development and implementation of a plan meeting the requirements of the Regional Board for Mercury monitoring in the Guadalupe River Watershed.
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SUMMARY:
On October 8, 2008, the Regional Board adopted a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Mercury in the Guadalupe River Watershed, which was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) on June 1, 2010. A TMDL determines the value of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards. The TMDL then establishes allocations typically in the form of load limits or other regulatory measures to the pollutant sources with the ultimate goal of reducing the amount of the pollutant entering the water body to meet water quality standards. The Guadalupe River Watershed is contaminated by the former New Almaden Mining District, North America's oldest and most productive mercury mine which closed in the 1970s. The Guadalupe River Watershed Mercury TMDL, establishes contaminant alloca...
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