The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board on Friday unanimously approved a request to fund a watershed coordinator to monitor the health of drainages in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Up to $502,126 from the Guadalupe oil spill mitigation money was authorized to pay for a watershed coordinator and partially underwrite the executive director and project assistant positions for the newly formed Central Coast Agricultural Water Quality Coalition.

Roger Briggs, executive director of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the vote authorized him to negotiate a final contact for the funding.

He said the board also accepted the staff’s recommendation that the coalition come up with a 40 percent funding match, which could equal about $200,850 for the authorized maximum amount.

The coalition expects to raise matching funds from state, federal and foundation grants. If it fails to raise sufficient matching funds, the contract could be canceled, Briggs said.

About six letters in support of the grant were received by the board, which also heard from half a dozen supporters during its meeting Friday.

Briggs said there was no opposition to the grant, but a representative of the American Land Conservancy told board members that the organization plans to apply for $950,000 from the Guadalupe oil spill mitigation funding.

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That application, which has yet to be formally submitted, would not compete with the grant for the Watershed Coalition, but would seek to tap into the $1.5 million remaining in the fund.

Briggs said the money would be applied to the $24 million needed for a conservation easement on the Avila Ranch, consisting of about 2,400 acres west of Avila Beach.

Under an eventual deed to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the land would be used to complete the California Coastal Trail, and for general conservation purposes, Briggs said.

Under the Central Coast Agricultural Water Quality Coalition’s initial proposal, about 15 tasks are outlined for its staff that will coincide with the Water Quality Control Board’s vision for “healthy functioning watersheds.”

That vision for 2025 calls for 80 percent of riparian systems to be healthy; the health of 80 percent of watershed lands to be protected through management programs; and 80 percent of groundwater to be clean.

To help meet that goal, the coalition staff will educate agricultural water users about water-quality issues, help them implement sound water-management practices, provide information through seminars and implement water-quality projects.

Part of their efforts will be to reduce pesticide toxicity and nitrates moving from crop root zones, working with Santa Maria to improve stormwater runoff from agricultural lands.

According to a board report, the proposal meets all seven criteria for allocation of Guadalupe Settlement Fund money. Only one of the criteria — a focus on water quality — is mandatory.

The watershed coordinator’s job would primarily focus on the lower Santa Maria and Oso Flaco watersheds, which meets the “geographical nexus” criteria.

Mike Hodgson can be reached at mhodgson@santamariatimes.com or 739-2221.

September 7, 2008