In 2001, the Contra Costa County Watershed Program (CWP), a division of the Public Works Department and lead agency for the KDC Program, acknowledged the immediate need to enhance and protect the Delta’s water quality from nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. The primary mission of the CWP is to focus on reducing and eliminating potential sources of NPS pollution for the preservation and protection of both human and environmental health. In a world of constrained budgets, increasing awareness about the importance of environmental resources protection and the emerging need to meet mounting environmental regulations, the CWP began to explore what was being done within Contra Costa County (County) to address all of these concerns.   
  
There are a variety of potential sources of NPS pollution within Contra Costa’s Delta region, including urban stormwater and agricultural runoff, the rapid development of land adjacent to the Delta (construction operations), large animal management (equestrian facilities and livestock ranching), water-based recreation (recreational boating, marina operations, and water-based recreation), and waterfront residency (housing developments built on the Delta’s banks and levies). In a review of CWP programs, it was determined that programs/efforts were already under development or in the process of being implemented to address each of the NPS pollution sources mentioned above except for that of water-based recreation and residency. Because the number of residents living on the water in the Delta is relatively small when compared with the larger boating industry in the area, it was determined that the CWP would focus its efforts on the boating industry. It was assumed that waterfront residents would likely own boats and so would be indirect recipients of the CWP’s outreach efforts.   
  
In addition to considering potential sources of NPS pollution in the Delta, the CWP evaluated the Delta’s beneficial uses and the characteristics of the local boating industry in order to better understand the needs of boaters and impact a boating program could have on their behavior. The County is home to approximately 19% of California’s 880,000 registered boaters. The Delta has over 150 marinas, 57 of which are in Contra Costa alone, and more than 170,400 registered boaters living in its surrounding counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo). Additionally, some of the fastest growing suburban areas in California are adjacent to the Delta and expected to bring thousands of new boaters in the coming years.  
  
The need for a clean boating program was identified and County staff then developed a proposal for the KDC Program in 2002. The purpose of the KDC Program would be to protect and sustain the Delta’s beneficial resources by reducing the cumulative impacts of NPS pollution that may be caused by marina operations and recreational boating.  
  
The proposal was submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and later funded in 2003 ($965,000, Costa-Machado Water Act of 2000, Proposition 13, Grant Funding).   
  
The KDC was championed by the County and was a pilot project that demonstrated the effectiveness of marina-based pollution prevention infrastructure and boater education. The KDC Program drew much attention to the County’s commitment to be at the forefront of NPS issues through an innovative program. This in turn garnered respect and attention from other Counties that share the Delta (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo). Through the extensive network of partnerships and the value demonstrated through the program, the County gained the exposure it needed to form an alliance between the other four Delta Counties.   
  
A second phase of the KDC began to emerge through this alliance. In early 2006, the KDC partners, including representatives from the City of Stockton and Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano and Yolo Counties, developed a grant proposal, with the County as the logical lead agency, to expand the existing program model from its previous geographic restriction (Contra Costa) to the entire Delta region.   
The competitive grant proposal was awarded $1.6 million in Proposition 40 funds by the SWRCB on December 1, 2006. The grant funds would provide the resources for additional pollution prevention infrastructure, an expanded education campaign, and a program team to implement Phase II, more formally known as the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Watersheds’ Boating Program (DBP). The DBP represents Phase II of the County’s KDC Program and will expand the Program throughout the surrounding Delta counties (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo). This multi-jurisdictional approach will unify a diverse group of Delta stakeholders to integrate regional efforts that prevent NPS pollution in order to protect beneficial uses (drinking water, agricultural irrigation waters, recreation, and preservation of wildlife habitat).  
Phase II is governed by the five Delta Counties through a Memorandum of Understanding. The Program Team, including Tonya Redfield, is composed of consultants acting under the aegis of this regional group of counties, and guides the major decisions and direction of the Program. The Program Team looks to the regional group as a supervisory entity in their day-to-day work. The County will remain the lead agency for the purpose of processing reports, invoices, and other administrative duties, most of which will be covered by grant funding.   
The purpose of this contract is to extend Tonya Redfield’s term as an independent contractor to assist with the completion of Phase II of the Program.   

Contra Costa County Public Works Department will be unable to implement the grant program without an experienced individual who can successfully implement this comprehensive pollution prevention campaign that will work to protect the Delta’s water resources and further the County’s efforts to comply with the provisions set forth in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit with the SWRCB. If this task is not successfully met, it could result in the inability to successfully meet the provisions of the SWRCB Grant Agreement with the County, in turn forfeiting a large portion of the $1.6 million in grant funding awarded to the County.