Environmental Information

2007 Monterey Regional Storm Water Management Program (MRSWMP) Annual Report

This report report comprises the annual reports required by the General Permit issued to the Monterey Regional Storm Water Permit Participants Group by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).  Carmel-by-the-Sea received its permit on May 1, 2008 and is a full and active participant in the regional storm water participants group.  For more information or for questions regarding the City's efforts to prevent storm water pollution, please contact Heidi Burch at (831) 620-2000.

The following files is the documentation for the annual report.  these are all pdf files and some are rather large, so please wait for the download.

MRSWMP Annual Report

 

Flood Hazards
Carmel is located on a sloping terrain that offers good storm water runoff into both the Pacific Ocean and the Carmel River. There are two areas of the City, however, which have been identified as being prone to flooding: the beachfront and the Mission Trail Nature Preserve. The beach is subject to flooding during high tide and beach sand is lost yearly during winter storms. The Mission Trail Nature Preserve site is owned by the City and primarily used as a park. This use mitigates some of the damage that would normally result from the retention of water on the site. The only 100 year floodplain in the area lies outside the city limits along the Carmel River and up to 16th Avenue. Mission Fields, a residential area, is within the 100-year floodplain, as are the Carmel Center/Carmel Rancho shopping centers.

Erosion and Landslides
Erosion is a natural process caused by wind, water, and gravitational forces. This process generally creates two problems: the wear and removal of soil from one site and its deposit in another. The removal of soil can be damaging through gully erosion, wind blown erosion, the erosion of stream courses and banks, and the erosion of coastal dunes and beach area. Soil deposit damage affects flood plains, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and may clog drainage structures. Development activities
frequently accelerate erosion related damages and losses. Climate is another major contributor to potentially high erosion rates. This is due to a number of factors:

  • Geologic studies indicate that erosion is highest in areas where annual precipitation is between 7" and 18". Annual precipitation on the Monterey Peninsula ranges from 12.7" on the coast to 17.7" at the higher elevations.
  • Most of Carmel's rainfall occurs during the winter when temperatures are too low for rapid vegetative growth. Erosion on sloped inland areas and at the shoreline (beach) has been a problem for much of Monterey County, including Carmel. (See Slope Stability and Erosion data, Distribution of Hazards) A discussion of Carmel beach erosion is included in the Open Space/ Conservation/Scenic Highway Element. The hazards due to erosion are difficult to separate from those due to flooding and landsliding. In some cases, erosion is a result of flood and landslide conditions; in others, rapid water runoff and landsliding can occur in areas subject to prolonged erosion.

The preventive costs of erosion are generally included within flood control measures and the overall costs of hillside development. Adoption of the present state of the art procedures for erosion prevention in hillside areas will, in most cases, eliminate losses.
Losses due to coastal erosion can be reduced most economically by avoiding construction in areas subject to severe erosion (County of Monterey General Plan, 1975). Erosion of the beach bluffs is addressed in the City's Master Beach Management and Emergency Action Plans.