US Army Corps
of Engineers
Cold Regions Research &
Engineering Laboratory
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Hanover, New Hampshire
Publication of a Map Series on the Aquatic Resources for San
Jacinto and Portions of the Santa Margarita Watersheds
The Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, in cooperation
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recently funded an effort to inventory
and map the aquatic resources within the San Jacinto and portions of Santa Margarita
River watersheds, Riverside County, California. This project is being undertaken as part
of the Corps of Engineers' Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) for western Riverside
County. A SAMP is a comprehensive aquatic resource planning effort in the context of
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The ultimate goal of the SAMP is to provide a
management tool that helps reach a balance between protection of aquatic resources and
reasonable economic development. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Los
Angeles District is leading the development of the SAMP in western Riverside County.
Lichvar and Ericsson (2003), from the USACE Engineering and Research
Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL),
recently published a report containing detailed maps showing the SAMP planning-level
delineation of aquatic resources in western Riverside County. This map series, along with
background reports (Lichvar et al. 2003), is available in interactive format at the
following web site:
https://rsgis.crrel.usace.army.mil/vegmap/westriverside.watershedstart_pk
The web site allows users to view the maps according to their choice of a variety of
vegetation and hydrologic features at a variety of scales. It is also searchable by, for
example, zip code, place name, or vegetation type. The result is easy access to a wealth of
information on the aquatic resources of these watersheds.
A planning-level delineation identifies those areas that meet both the jurisdictional
requirements under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and the California Department of
Fish and Game (CDFG) Section 1600 Code at a watershed scale. Although the delinea-
tion is highly accurate at the planning level, it is not specific to any one site. A planning-
level wetland delineation does not replace the need for a jurisdictional wetland
delineation from the Corps of Engineers permitting program or the CDFG Section 1600
requirements. These maps display the baseline occurrence of aquatic resources that were
observed in these watersheds during the study period (August 2001 to May 2002).
ERDC/CRREL Technical Note 04-4
June 2004
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