Water Quality Requirements for Development Projects

Water Quality regulations for Priority Projects include Low Impact Design (LID) on-site retention requirements and Hydromodification Management measures which can be significant elements in the site design of your project and therefore it is crucial that they be considered early in the design process.

Please see Section 7 of the Dana Point Water Quality Local Implementation Plan (LIP)(PDF, 3MB) for the water quality requirements for Development 

City of Dana Point BMP Design Manual Cover Letter(PDF, 261KB) 

The City encourages all applicants to contact Lisa Zawaski, Senior Water Quality Engineer at (949) 248-3584 or by email at lzawaski@danapoint.org, to discuss the water quality requirements for your project early in the planning phase to ensure that your design will meet applicable requirements.

All development/redevelopment projects, regardless of priority, shall implement the site design and source control principles, where applicable and feasible, to maximize infiltration, provide retention, slow runoff, and reduce pollutants at the sources.  The Non-Priority Project Water Quality Checklist(PDF, 142KB) will be required as part of the grading plan submittal.

All priority projects shall meet Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) and Hydromodification Management Plan (HMP) requirements as described in the documents and tools below.  The project's WQMP is a plan for minimizing the adverse effects of urbanization on site hydrology, runoff flow rates and pollutant loads.  Hydromodification management measures address the changes in the magnitude and frequency of stream flows and associated sediment load due to urbanization or other changes in the watershed land use and hydrology and the resulting impacts on receiving channels, such as erosion, sedimentation and potentially degradation of in-stream habitat.

To determine if your project is a Priority Development Project and requires a WQMP, use the Priority Development Project Criteria List(PDF, 45KB).

Note:  The Preliminary WQMP (pWQMP) is required as part of the Project Application.  An application will not be deemed complete without a pWQMP.  It should be noted that the pWQMP is not a "conceptual" document in the normal sense of the word and requires detailed engineering sizing calculations and location details for selected BMPs.

The following updated documents and tools will assist you in preparing an acceptable Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP), including appropriate hydromodification management measures, for your project.  Please note that these are the current documents, dated September 28, 2017. Please disregard previous literature.

Documents and Tools for WQMP/HMP Preparation:

  • Technical Guidance Document(PDF, 49MB) (49 MB) for South Orange County, dated September 28, 2017.  This document is the technical resources companion to the Model WQMP and the WQMP Template and is the "how" to meet the requirements in the Model WQMP and how to use the WQMP Template to prepare your project's WQMP.  This document is bookmarked and internally linked for easy navigation.
  • WQMP Template(DOCX, 104KB), dated September 28, 2017.  This WQMP template is the framework for preparing your project's WQMP.  The use of this template is highly encouraged and will facilitate acceptable preparation and City' review and approval of your project's WQMP.s
  • Dana Point O&M Plan Template(DOCX, 123KB), dated September 28, 2017.  This O&M Plan template will help you prepare an acceptable O&M Plan as part of the Final WQMP.  Please note that the O&M will be a separate, stand-alone, user-friendly document and includes a BMP site plan.
  • Worksheets from the TGD.  The below worksheets are identical to those contained in the TGD, however they are available in editable MS Word so that they can be created for your project and included in your project's WQMP.
  • Hydromodification Exemption Map (PDF, 346KB)- To see if your project may be subject to hydromodification management controls per the Hydromodification Management Plan (HMP), please refer to this map. Note that this map is for use as a planning tool only and your will need to evaluate the project site details to confirm the applicability of hydromodification management requirements.
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