San Joaquin River - Sources to Millerton Lake

Watershed Specific Water Quality Objectives

Waterbody Reach Beneficial Use Constituent Limit Units Details Reference Comments

Numeric Water Quality Objectives

Beneficial Use Constituent Limit Units Details Reference Comments
Cold Freshwater Habitat Dissolved Oxygen -7 mg/L -
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,1,1-Trichloroethane 0.2 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane 0.001 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,1,2-Trichloroethane 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,1-Dichloroethane 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,1-Dichloroethylene 0.006 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene 0.07 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,2-Dichlorobenzene 0.6 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,2-Dichloroethane 0.0005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,2-Dichloropropane 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,3-Dichloropropene 0.0005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 1,4-Dichlorobenzene 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 2,3,7,8-TCDD (Dioxin) 3E-07 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 2,4,5-TP (Silvex) 0.05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply 2,4-D 0.07 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Alachlor 0.002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Aluminum 1 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Antimony 0.006 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Arsenic 0.05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Asbestos 7 MFL - TITLE22 Million fibers per liter
Municipal and Domestic Supply Atrazine 0.003 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Barium 1 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Bentazon 0.018 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Benzene 0.001 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Benzo(a)pyrene 0.0002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Beryllium 0.004 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Cadmium 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Carbofuran 0.018 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Carbon Tetrachloride 0.0005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Chlordane 0.0001 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Chromium 0.05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene 0.006 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Copper 1.3 mg/L - TITLE22, Pb&Cu Rule in>10% of tap water samples collected
Municipal and Domestic Supply Cyanide 0.2 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Dalapon 0.2 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate 0.4 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate 0.004 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Dibromochloropropane 0.0002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Dichloromethane 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Dinoseb 0.007 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Diquat 0.02 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Endothall 0.1 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Endrin 0.002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Ethylbenzene 0.7 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Ethylene Dibromide 5E-05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Fluoride 2.4 mg/L <53.7F
Municipal and Domestic Supply Fluoride 2.2 mg/L 53.8F-58.3F
Municipal and Domestic Supply Fluoride 2 mg/L 58.4F-63.8F
Municipal and Domestic Supply Fluoride 1.8 mg/L 63.9F-70.6F
Municipal and Domestic Supply Fluoride 1.6 mg/L 70.7F-79.2F
Municipal and Domestic Supply Fluoride 1.4 mg/L 79.3F-90.5F
Municipal and Domestic Supply Freon 113 1.2 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Glyphosate 0.7 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Heptachlor 1E-05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Heptachlor Epoxide 1E-05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Hexachlorobenzene 0.001 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Hexachlorocyclopentadiene 0.05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Lead 0.015 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Lindane 0.0002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Mercury 0.002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Methoxychlor 0.04 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Molinate 0.02 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Monochlorobenzene 0.07 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Nickel 0.1 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Nitrate (as NO3) 45 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Nitrate + Nitrite (sum as nitrogen) 10 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Nitrite (as nitrogen) 1 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Oxamyl 0.2 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply PCBs 0.0005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Pentachlorophenol 0.001 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Picloram 0.5 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Selenium 0.05 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Simazine 0.004 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Styrene 0.1 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Tetrachloroethylene 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Thallium 0.002 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Thiobencarb 0.07 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Toluene 0.15 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Toxaphene 0.003 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene 0.01 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Trichloroethylene 0.005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Trichlorofluoromethane 0.15 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Vinyl Chloride 0.0005 mg/L - TITLE22
Municipal and Domestic Supply Xylenes 1.75 mg/L - TITLE22
Warm Freshwater Habitat Dissolved Oxygen -5 mg/L -

Ammonia Water Quality Objectives

Beneficial Use Constituent pH Temperature Duration Concentration Units Details Reference

Bacteria Water Quality Objectives

Beneficial Use Constituent Limit Units Details Reference Comments
Water Contact Recreation Fecal Coliform 400 Count per 100 ml Geometric Mean-10% of Samples for 30 day Geometric mean value. Based on more than 10 percent of the total number of samples taken during any 30-day period.
Water Contact Recreation Fecal Coliform 200 Count per 100 ml Geometric Mean-5 Samples for 30 day Geometric mean value. Based on minimum of not less than five samples for any 30-day period.

Narrative Water Quality Objectives

Constituent Description
Color Water shall be free of discoloration that causes nuisance or adversely affects beneficial uses.
Dissolved Oxygen 5.0 mg/l in all other Delta waters except for those bodies of water which are constructed for special purposes and from which fish have been excluded or where the fishery is not important as a beneficial use. For surface water bodies outside the legal boundaries of the Delta, the monthly median of the mean daily dissolved oxygen (D)) concentration shall not fall below 85 percent of saturation in the main water mass, and 95 percentile concentration shall not fall below 75 percent of saturation.
Floating Material Water shall not contain floating material in amounts that cause nuisance or adversely affect beneficial uses.
Oil and Grease Waters shall not contain oils, greases, waxes, or other materials in concentrations that cause nuisance, result in a visible film or coating on the surface of the water or on objects in the water, or otherwise adversely affect beneficial uses.
Pesticides No individual pesticide or combination of pesticides shall be present in concentrations that adversely affect beneficial uses. Discharges shall not result in pesticide concentrations in bottom sediments or aquatic life that adversely affect beneficial uses. Total identifiable persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides shall not be present in the water column at concentrations detectable within the accuracy of analytical methods approved by the Environmental Protection Agency or the executive Officer. Pesticide concentrations shall not exceed those allowable by applicable antidegradation policies (see State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 68-16 and 40 C.F.R. Section 131.12). Pesticide concentrations shall not exceed the lowest levels technically and economically achievable. Waters designated for use as domestic or municipal supply (MUN) shall not contain concentrations of pesticides in excess of the Maximum Contaminant Levels set forth in California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Division 4, Chapter 15.
pH The pH shall not be depressed below 6.5 nor raised above 8.5.
Radioactivity Radionuclides shall not be present in concentrations that are harmful to human, plant, animal or aquatic life nor that result in the accumulation of radionuclides in the food web to the extent that presents a hazard to human, plant, animal or aquatic life.
Sediment The suspended sediment load and suspended sediment discharge rate of surface waters shall not be altered in such a manner as to cause nuisance or adversely affect beneficial uses.
Settleable Material Waters shall not contain substances in concentrations that result in the deposition of material that causes nuisance or adversely affects beneficial uses.
Suspended Solids Waters shall not contain suspended material in concentrations that cause nuisance or adversely affect beneficial uses.
Taste and Odor Water shall not contain taste or odor producing substances in concentrations that impart undesirable tastes or odors to domestic or municipal water supplies or to fish flesh or other edible products of aquatic origin, or that cause nuisance, or otherwise adversely affect beneficial uses.
Temperature The natural receiving water temperature of intrastate waters shall not be altered unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Regional Water Board that such alteration in temperature does not adversely affect beneficial uses.
Toxicity All waters shall be maintained free of toxic substances in concentrations that produce detrimental physiological responses in human, plant, animal, or aquatic life. This objective applies regardless of whether the toxicity is caused by a single substance or the interactive effect of multiple substances. Compliance's with this objective will be determined by analyses of indicator organisms, species diversity, population density, growth anomalies, and biotoxicity tests of appropriate duration or other methods as specified by the Regional Water Board.
Turbidity Waters shall be free of changes in turbidity that cause nuisance or adversely affect beneficial uses. Increases in turbidity attributable to controllable water quality factors shall not exceed the following limits: 1) Where natural turbidity is between 0 and 5 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs), increases shall not exceed 1 NTU. 2) Where natural turbidity is between 5 and 50 NTUs, increases shall not exceed 20 percent. Where natural turbidity is between 50 and 100 NTUs, increases shall not exceed 10 NTUs. Where natural turgidity is greater than 100 NTUs, increases shall not exceed 10 percent. In determining compliance with the above limits, appropriate averaging periods may be applied provided that beneficial uses will be fully protected. Exceptions to the above limits will be considered when a dredging operation can cause an increase in turbidity. In those cases, an allowable zone of dilution within which turbidity in excess of the limits may be tolerated will be defined for the operation and prescribed in a discharge permit. For Folsom Lake (50) and American River (Folsom Dam to Sacramento River)(51), except for periods of storm runoff, the turbidity shall be less than or equal 10 NTUs. To the extent of any conflict with the general turbidity objective, the more stringent applies. For Delta waters, the general objectives for turbidity apply subject to the following: except for periods of storm runoff, the turbidity of Delta waters shall not exceed 50 NTUs in the waters of the Central Delta and 150 NTUs in other Delta waters. Exceptions to the Delta specific objectives will be considered when a dredging operation can cause an increase in turbidity. In this case, an allowable zone of dilution within which turbidity in excess of limits can be tolerated will be defined for the operation and prescribed in a discharge permit.