Agricultural Pollution Regulations Adopted by State Water Board Inadequate to Protect Water Quality and Public Health Sacramento, CA - After five years of regional and statewide debate and public input to develop a set of regulations to control pollution from irrigated agriculture on California’s Central Coast, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) decided to kick the can down the road despite clear evidence that agricultural pesticides and fertilizers are polluting hundreds of miles of streams and rivers, contaminating thousands of people’s drinking water, and causing severe impacts to the environment, including sea otters deaths from nutrient pollution. Yesterday (9/24) the State Water Board finalized their review and revisions to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (Regional Water Board) “Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges from Irrigated Lands,” commonly referred to as the Ag Order. After a four year multi-stakeholder policy making process, the Central Coast Regional Water Board adopted a version of the Ag Order in March 2012 which was challenged by both environmental groups and agricultural industry groups via petitions to the State Water Board. The Regional Board first issued draft regulations in February 2010 based on numerous consultations with industry-certified crop advisors and University of California Cooperative Extension researchers. The February 2010 draft was widely supported by the public and conservation organizations but panned by agriculture. Nine revised drafts were issued subsequently, each one weaker than the last due to substantial pressure and lobbying by agricultural industry representatives. “We are extremely disappointed with the final outcome of Ag Order as adopted by the State Water Board last night, and we are evaluating our options to compel a stronger program that better protects water quality and public health from agricultural pollution,” said Steve Shimek, on behalf of the three Central Coast Waterkeeper organizations – Monterey Coastkeeper, San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper. The Order adopted by the State Water Board: • Does not contain a single numeric standard or effluent limit; • Punts many important issues to an expert panel that will involve in an ag-influenced iterative stakeholder process with no prescribed end or deadline; • rovides an off-ramp that allows any change in practices to constitute compliance; · Monitors runoff from only 2.6 - percent (two POINT six percent) of farm dischargers (approximately 80 of 3000 farms).
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 23:00:00 +0000
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