| Data Used to Assess Water Quality: |
Pine Creek was listed due to lack of access to spawning habitat for Eagle Lake Trout (ELT). The "sedimentation/siltation" designation was apparently an artifact of an old 303(d) listing database, which provided a "picklist" of pollutants to select from. Since "lack of fish passage" was not an available option in the picklist, sedimentation/siltation was selected as the descriptor.
A Coordinated Resource Management Planning (CRMP) Group was formed in 1987, and as of 1997, over forty restoration projects to address habitat degradation and fish passage issues were completed (see Macdonald, 2000). In 1999, to address the lack of access to ELT spawning habitat, Caltrans agreed to replace the existing culverts on Highway 44 with ones that provide fish passage. The project also helped restore Pine Creek in its original channel. In 2000, a report summarizing current conditions and proposing delisting of Pine Creek was completed and accepted by USEPA as a TMDL-funded work product. The delisting was not acted on in 2000 due to a request by the CRMP to leave it on the list to secure funding. Regional Board staff recommends that Pine Creek be delisted as outlined in the 2000 delisting report. |