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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly Farm Mitigation Bank Project | 1B25167WNSO | Sonoma | 38.421436°N, 122.8000737°W | The project is located in Sonoma County along the south side of Occidental Road between Hepworth Road and a vineyard. The project site includes approximately 100 acres within the greater Kelly Farm property that is owned and operated by the City of Santa Rosa for recycled water irrigation and leased to local farmers for hay production. The purpose of the project is to perform restorative actions to the property to serve the establishment of a single-client mitigation bank to mitigate impacts from City of Santa Rosa project. Project activities will include rehabilitating and enlarging degraded seasonal wetlands and re-establishing historic vernal pools tha thave been destroyed. Some existing seasonal wetlands will be deepened to create California tiger salamander (CTS) breeding ponds. CTS upland habitat will be enhanced by the cessation of farming and enactment of a grazing and vegetation management plan. Impacts to aquatic resources include 4.223 acres of temporary impacts to seasonal wetlands. Certification through the Statewide General Restoration Order (SRGO) authorizes ground disturbing restoration activities and does not authorize or establish the mitigation bank. The City of Santa Rosa circulated an intent to adopt an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (SCH 2026010340) for the project beginning January 16, 2026. | February 19 to March 12, 2026 | Kaete King kaete.king@waterboards.ca.gov 707-576-2848 |
| Laguna Treatment Plant Flood Protection Project | 1B22085WNSO | Sonoma | 38.367281°N, 122.766685°W | The purpose of the project is to protect the Laguna Treatment Plant from flooding and risks to City staff, damage to physical assests, and releases of raw or partially treated wastewater to the Laguna de Santa Rosa. The project involves installing a flood berm, flood gate, warning system and barrier arms, pier and lagging retaining wall, Llano Road improvements, and modifications to the existing stormwater system. Part of the earthen berm will necessarily be placed within riparian habitat and wetlands, installation of the retaining wall will impact riparian habitat, and the removal of five existing stormwater outfalls will impact wetlands. Permanent impacts to waters of the state total 0.71 acre. Temporary impacts total 0.05 acre. Compensatory mitigation will be provided with the purchase of a minimum of 0.71 acre of wetland creation credits from an approved mitigation bank. Credits are expected to be purchased from the Kelly Farm Mitigation Bank initial credit release, which is expected to occur in 2026. | February 12 to March 5, 2026 | Kaete King kaete.king@waterboards.ca.gov 707-576-2848 |
