Rural Roads Sediment Reduction Program

Since 1998, the Sotoyome Resource Conservation District (SRCD) has worked with over 100 private landowners to identify and improve rural road conditions with ecological principles in mind.

The Russian River and Gualala River are listed as impaired waterbodies under the US Clean Water Act's 303(d) listing with sediment listed as the single most prevalent impairment. Unimproved rural roads are thought to be the number one contributor of sediment in these watersheds. The goal of the Rural Road Sediment Reduction Program (RRSRP) is to reduce sediment delivery and improve water quality in high quality salmon and steelhead streams throughout these watersheds by working with private landowners to assess their rural roads for sediment delivery, prioritize improvement sites, and implement road improvements.

Since our efforts began, SRCD has worked with local landowners to treat over 129 miles of road throughout the Russian and Gualala River Watersheds with funding from the California Department of Fish and Game and the California State Water Resources Control Board. Our combined work district-wide has prevented over 114,000 cubic yards of sediment from entering streams and waterbodies.

The RRSRP addresses the source rather than symptoms of water quality impairment in the Russian and Gualala River Watersheds and coastal drainages within our district. The key tributaries where the program has been implemented include the Mark West Creek, Gray Creek, Palmer Creek, Pena Creek, and Hobson Creek Watersheds within the Russian River Watershed, and the Little North Fork, Tombs Creek, and Fuller Creek Watersheds in the Gualala River Watershed.

The district provides semi-annual to annual technical workshops and training to both private road associations and public watershed groups, and has helped train contractors in rural road maintenance techniques. Following our outreach and education, the district then works with private road associations to develop a cooperative cost-share approach to the project. This typically requires the district to pursue additional grant funds for (1) an inventory of road conditions followed by (2) an implementation of road improvements.

The district works with skilled consultants such as Pacific Watershed Associates (PWA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to first identify sediment sources then prioritize and implement treatment approaches. The standards followed are accepted by Department of Fish and Game, the State Water Resources Control Board, the State Coastal Conservancy and other entities that address and fund watershed restoration.

The work of road association coordination, cost-share arrangement, and pursuit of funds to inventory and then implement project recommendations is complex. Private landowners comprise the majority of land owned within Sonoma County and so there is a tremendous amount of one-on-one contact with landowners that SRCD must complete for these projects to be successful from the landowner's perspective and to protect the natural resources of the watershed.

2007 has been another successful year for the RRSRP. In April, forty landowners along Pena Creek recognized SRCD with an award for our role to secure emergency funds for a three-mile slide repair project. In July, Senator Mike Thompson recognized the district with an Environmental Stewardship Award for our work with over 70 residents in the Mark West Creek watershed that resulted in 12 miles of road improvements. The Rural Roads Technical Assistance Program relies on grants and contracts to continue SRCD coordination, road inventories, and implementation projects. Currently, SRCD is pursuing funds to continue outreach, inventory, and implementation efforts in Austin Creek, Mark West Creek, Pena Creek, and Hobson Creek within the Russian River Watershed; the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River (Kelly Road); and named and unnamed coastal drainages between Jenner and Gualala.