1. Home
  2. public notices
  3. water quality certification

Water Quality Certification Public Notices

Water Quality Certification Actions - Applicants for federal permits that involve dredge or fill activities in surface waters (including wetlands) are required to obtain certification from the state verifying that the activity will comply with state water quality standards. Most of these federal permits are referred to as 404 permits (in reference to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act). Applicants for some other types of federal license or permits (ex. FERC licenses) that authorize activities that may result in discharges to waters of the United States are also required to obtain state certification. This state certification is called 401 Certification (in reference to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act). In California, 401 certification actions are the responsibility of the State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards. It is the policy of this Regional Board to provide public notice of pending 401 Certification actions in order to gather comments from concerned agencies and the public. The following list contains notification of pending 401 Certification actions.

 Project Name WDID County  Location Description Comment period Contact Info
Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District
R.W. Mathews Dam/Ruth Lake Operations		 1A05156WNTR Trinity latitude 40.3704555°N, longitude -123.435183°W The Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District proposes the following Project activities along the Mad River downstream of Ruth Reservoir:
Vegetation Management: Young willow vegetation located along approximately 1,590 linear feet (0.38 acre) of river banks will be pruned at least once every three years to comply with FERC requirements.
Sediment Removal: Sediment removal may occur at the tailrace channel and spillway plunge pool areas up to 250 cubic yards (0.22 acre and 0.42 acre respectively). This activity will be determined based on winter flows.
Rock Slope Protection/Revetment Improvements: Maintenance of existing RSP and revetments at the spillway plunge pool and tailrace channel ¼ to 1 ton RSP. The area subject to repairs activities is approximately 0.54 acre . This activity will be determined based on winter flows.
All impacts associated with vegetation management are considered temporary and compensatory mitigation is not required.
 August 6, 2025 through Augus 26, 2025 Maggie Teicher
Margarete.Teicher@waterboards.ca.gov
707-576-2501
Trinity River Watershed Meadow Restoration Project 1B25105WNTR Trinity 40.88492° N, 122.82439° W with additional sites throughout the Trinity River Watershed to be determined Presently, many meadows in the Trinity River watershed are in various states of degradation and are experiencing a loss of defining meadow characteristics and ecological processes. To address this meadow degradation, this project will implement the following restoration actions: 1) Aquatic LTPBR: Post-assisted logs (PALs), beaver dam analogs (BDAs), gully packing, brush baffles, and other sediment capturing techniques that use hand tools; sediment, sod, wood chips, etc. to pack a channel; wood loading, contour felling, and other tree tipping techniques; and, future LTPBR techniques as they develop and are field-tested. 2) Vegetative LTPBR: native species plantings; invasive species removal; tree encroachment removal or thinning, prescribed fire or beneficial burning; and, fencing installation or deterrent activity. 3) Heavy Equipment Construction: Valley reset or “Stage 0”; floodplain restoration; grade control construction; large woody debris installation (yarding, tipping, helicopter); and, mine tailing removal. 4) Road and Trail Improvements: Stream crossing upgrade or removal; meadow crossing upgrade or removal; road decommission; road realignment; road grading or reshaping; road maintenance; and, or ditch maintenance. 5) Monitoring: shallow groundwater, streamflow, and/or temperature. July 29 through August 18, 2025 Jake Shannon Jacob.Shannon@waterboards.ca.gov
Cluff Bank Stabilization Project 1B25073WNSO Sonoma 38.46925 °N, 123.01440 °W The purpose of this Project is to stabilize 105 linear feet of stream bank along the Russian River near Monte Rio. The Project involves rock slope protection (RSP) above the active waterway. RSP will be interspersed with willow plantings. An excavator will be used to place rocks and the temporary access road will be restored to pre-project condition. Silt fencing will be used during construction as a minimization measure to prevent sediment discharge during construction. The work is proposed to be constructed over 30 days between September 1 and October 15, 2025. The Project will permanently impact 0.09 acres of stream channel and temporarily impact 0.02 acres of riparian area. July 18 - August 8, 2025 Emma Tracy Emma.Tracy@Waterboards.ca.gov
707-576-2834