The Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles District Regulatory Division (Corps) undertook to develop Special Area Management Plans (SAMPs) within portions of six southern Californian watersheds.  A collaborative watershed-based tool, the Corps’ SAMPs incorporate regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to improve regulatory decision-making processes affecting water resources, namely the riparian ecosystem.

Through SAMP planning and implementation, the Corps seeks to foster a shared responsibility for water resource management and to balance water resource protection and reasonable economic development and infrastructure needs.  SAMP frameworks, though based on the Corps’ permitting authority under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, result from the integration of scientific data and analyses and water and natural resource management principles, and the active engagement of local, state, and federal agencies, Indian tribes, the regulated public, non-governmental organizations, and other interested stakeholders.

For more detailed information on the process used to develop the SAMPs, click here.

As part of the SAMP development process, research was completed on the following watersheds:

• San Jacinto and upper Santa Margarita Watersheds (Riverside County)
• Otay River Watershed (San Diego County)
• San Juan Creek and Western San Mateo Creek Watershed SAMP (Orange County)
• San Diego Creek Watershed SAMP (Orange County).

Although the research generated by the SAMP process continues to be useful for understanding the aquatic resource permitting and restoration needs for each of the above-listed watersheds, watershed-specific permitting procedures were established for only the SAMP watersheds in Orange County.

For a repository of all documentation produced as part of the SAMP process, click here.

Click on a SAMP watershed below for further information on SAMP permitting procedures and research:

Questions/comments about the SAMP website? Please email Eric.R.Sweeney@usace.army.mil.