Lake County Clean Water Program tells Clear Lake council it is 50% compliant, seeks sustained funding

Lake County Water Resources staff told the Clear Lake City Council on June 2 that a multi-jurisdictional Clean Water Program aims to reduce stormwater pollution entering Clear Lake and its tributaries and needs steady funding and staffing to meet upcoming regulatory requirements.

"Stormwater is all one connected system," Angela DePalma Dao, program coordinator with Lake County Water Resources, said during the presentation. She and colleagues described the program’s structure — a management council with work groups for public education, illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE), construction and post-construction controls, and municipal good housekeeping — and traced a series of recent accomplishments including renewed agreements with co-permittees and the completion of a trash implementation plan.

Deputy Watershed Protection District director Marina Delajonis highlighted local projects, saying the Middle Creek Restoration Project "will reclaim those levees, restore it back to wetland" and estimated it will reduce roughly 40% of certain nutrient inputs in its immediate area. Presenters also described coordinated monitoring efforts, including urban monitoring sites and pyrethroid (urban pesticide) sampling that included a site in the City of Clear Lake.

Presenters outlined funding already secured and funds pending. The group reported $1,900,000 approved by a Blue Ribbon Committee for lake rehabilitation, with $706,000 in contract and use now and another approximately $1,000,000 anticipated in the governor’s budget process next year; the county reported a proposed $500,000 match to leverage those funds. Staff said the county used a one-time $100,000 cannabis tax allocation to support program effectiveness and monitoring work. Council members were told there is currently no guaranteed, ongoing revenue stream and that sustaining the program depends on intermittent grants and local contributions.

The presenters urged completing two near-term tasks: hiring a program coordinator under a contract to manage the multi-jurisdictional work and finishing a low‑impact development planning document so design guidance can be implemented. They also emphasized that producing a stormwater resources plan would make the county and cities eligible for certain state bond funds for stormwater projects, potentially unlocking larger capital grants.

"We're still only at 50%, so we only meet 50% of our permit requirements," DePalma Dao said, warning that a new state permit cycle expected in 2023 will bring additional, costly obligations. Staff recommended continued quarterly management council meetings, improved program support and shared, cost‑share approaches to finish outstanding planning documents and implement monitoring and outreach work.

Council members did not take formal action on funding during the meeting but thanked presenters and signaled interest in future budget discussions and coordination. The presenters offered hard-copy materials and an acronym cheat sheet for council and public reference and invited questions after the presentation.