Grading and Streamside Management Ordinances in the Five Counties

A grading ordinance is typically adopted by a county in order to promote and protect public safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity, general welfare, and natural resources, including fisheries. "Grading" includes any earthmoving activity such as excavating, cutting, placement of fill, terracing, clearing or the removal of natural vegetation, grubbing, contouring, or other construction that creates the potential for erosion or sedimentation, change in the direction, velocity or volume of flow of water, or threat to public safety or structural integrity. Grading is primarily undertaken for the construction of roads, building pads, new sewage disposal systems and many other earthmoving needs. A grading ordinance provides one means to control erosion and sedimentation and prevent damage to off-site property and streams, watercourses, water quality, and aquatic habitat as well as to avoid creation of unstable slopes or filled areas.

Over the past five years there has been a lot of attention given to grading problems on the North Coast. Because much of the flat, private land in the County has been developed, grading for driveways, roads, pads and other projects has increased within sensitive areas such as floodplains and streams zones, and along steep hillsides and ridgetops. Many landowners have not been able to obtain building permits due to poor grading practices including inadequate fill compaction, damage to leach field areas or the creation of unstable conditions. In some cases, structural damage has developed in buildings, parking lots and roads due to fill settling.

The case for better grading practices and erosion control techniques has been building for a long time. In 2000, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while studying a portion of the Eel River found that the percent of sediment from small landowner and county roads was actually increasing proportional to timber industry related sediment. They found that timber management erosion has been decreasing over the past 15 years as improved grading practices, road designs and drainage controls have been implemented. Many of these improvements were the result of changes in the Forest Practice Act regulations.

In 1997, a lawsuit filed under Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act (Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations v. Marcus) resulted in the designation of all rivers of Trinity County as sediment impaired due to past and/or current human activities including mining, logging, and the construction of roads and dams. Once this designation was made, the EPA and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board were then deemed responsible under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) for establishing sediment load allocations for these river systems and an implementation plan to achieve them.

Further, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries Branch (formerly National Marine Fisheries Service) has said that high sediment levels can clog salmon spawning gravels reducing fish reproduction. This and many other factors led to the federal listing of the Coho salmon as a threatened species in 1997. In August 2002, the California Fish and Game Commission followed the federal lead and listed the Coho as a state threatened species. Both state and federal agencies have also looked at steelhead populations and status, with no listings to date. In addition, both the Department of Fish and Game and North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board have issued fines and increased enforcement of water quality rules in response to citizen complaints and increasing urgency.

Since the inception of 5C, Del Norte County has updated their ordinance, Humboldt County has adopted a Grading and Streamside Management Ordinance, Mendocino County has an ordinance in draft form and has entered into the adoption process, and Trinity County is drafting a Grading, Water Quality, and Erosion Control Ordinance. Recognizing their importance, 5C has helped to offer funding and support for county grading ordinances. In Trinity County, the program is aiming to create a more incentive based ordinance, rather than one requiring many regulations.

Humboldt County Grading, Erosion Control, Geological Hazards, Streamside Management Area Ordinance

Mendocino County Draft Grading Ordinance

Del Norte County Grading Ordinance and Hillside Development Standards

Trinity County DRAFT Grading Ordinance and Minimum Standards