Fix Rubicon Trail's problems or pay fine, water board tells El Dorado County
By Matt Weiser
mweiser@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009 | Page 2B
“Water quality officials are threatening El Dorado County with enforcement action and fines for allegedly mismanaging the legendary Rubicon Trail off-road vehicle route.
In a draft order issued Friday, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board finds that erosion caused by vehicle traffic on the trail threatens fish habitat in the south fork of the American River and its tributaries.
The rate of erosion on trail segments examined by the agency is 50 times greater than from dirt logging roads in the same watershed.
The order also asserts that pollution from vehicle fluids and human fecal matter deposited by trail users have damaged public waterways.
"We received a number of complaints, and that's why we did inspections," said Wendy Wyels, the board's chief of compliance and enforcement. "We definitely found there's a concern about water quality impacts from the sediment coming off the Rubicon Trail."
Though it crosses U.S. Forest Service land, El Dorado County years ago asserted ownership of the Rubicon Trail within county boundaries.
The 60-mile trail between Georgetown and Lake Tahoe is one of the world's most famous off-road vehicle destinations. It offers four-wheel-drive enthusiasts access to challenging boulder fields and granite slabs.
The county obtained state grant funds to develop a management plan for the trail. Among the proposals were erosion-control projects at stream crossings, seasonal closures and a permit system to educate users and collect management funds.
But the county halted work on the plan last year, citing budget troubles.
Now the county could be forced to adopt many of the same protective measures in the stalled management plan, or be fined $10,000 per day for each water quality violation.
"They seemed to think they could get away with just doing no management," said Karen Schambach, a Georgetown resident and California director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "They're very short-sighted."
Tom Celio, the county's deputy director of transportation maintenance, said he hasn't reviewed the draft order in detail and declined to comment on specifics.
He said that the county has worked hard with volunteer groups to improve the trail. Recent improvements include a new restroom at the trail's Loon Lake access point, and numerous erosion control projects.
"We've done a significant amount of planning, a lot of work, over the last couple of years, actually," Celio said.
Randy Burleson, president of the Rubicon Trail Foundation, an off-roading group, said the county and trail enthusiasts have continued to work on many improvements proposed in the unfinished plan.
For example, he said, the planning is finished for new bridges over Gerle and Ellis creeks to prevent erosion. Those bridges are among the requirements proposed by the water board to address pollution problems.
"I think the county's done a fine job of managing the trail," Burleson said. "I question whether the water quality board has the authority to identify how a county road is to be managed."
To develop the order, the water board studied erosion rates on seven trail segments totalling about one mile in August 2008. It found that streambed gravel in Ellis Creek, downstream of a Rubicon Trail crossing, had become unsuitable for trout spawning because the gravel was clogged with sediment eroded by trail use.
Other measures in the draft order require the county to submit a trail management plan, which must include specific measures to control erosion and limit vehicle traffic.
The water board can finalize the order without a public hearing, said Wyels. Whether to hold a hearing depends on the nature of public comments received by a Feb. 23 deadline.”
