Regional regulatory approaches to agricultural runoff in California
Contents
Regions with ag waivers
Currently, four regions (Central coast, Los Angeles, Central Valley and San Diego) have adopted conditional ag waivers for irrigated agricultural lands [4].
Characteristics of Various Regulatory Approaches[1]
WDRs (ag waivers) | Conditional Waivers of WDRs | |
---|---|---|
Permit Type | Individual or General | Usually General |
Risk of Discharges | Moderate | Low |
Management Practices | Not Prescribed | May be Prescribed |
Monitoring and Reporting | High | Low |
Fee | Yes | Yes |
Expiration | No - Open ended renewal depending on program effectiveness | Yes – Reviewed, revised, replaced, or reissued every 5 years |
Regional Commonalities
Each of the 9 regions contains issues related to agricultural runoff. The goal of settings regulations to remedy agricultural runoff is common amongst the regions, although each region contains unique irrigation practices and previous regulatory actions if any at all. These unique circumstances cause each region to form preferential regulatory approaches and lead to differences amongst the regions.
Regional Differences
Each RWQCB is tailored to a specific region. The regulations that are established are specific to a region's types of irrigated land and environmental concerns. For example, the regulations in San Francisco will be different then the regulations in Los Angeles because the agricultural settings are different (San Francisco is currently developing a conditional waiver program for vineyard facilities).
Regions
The 9 RWQCBs for California are listed below:
Region 1 -- North Coast
Region 2 -- San Francisco
Region 3 -- Central coast
Region 4 -- Los Angeles
Region 5 -- Central Valley
Region 6 -- Lahontan
Region 7 -- Colorado River Region
Region 8 -- Santa Ana
Region 9 -- San Diego
Technical Assistance
The following organizations provide a wide range of information, tools and guidance to assist California growers in water management and discharge reduction:[5]
- University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources- Free publications on agriculture, insects, soil, water, and irrigation
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) – A federal agency that aims to preserve and enhance natural resources
- NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program - Financial and technical assistance for Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation
- NRCS Agricultural Water Enhancement Program - Financial and technical assistance for BMP implementation for the purpose of improving water quality of surface and groundwaters.
- University of California Cooperative Extension - Local advisers and researchers provide assistance to growers and conduct education programs and research to address agriculture issues.
- California Irrigation Management Information System - weather stations across the state specifically developed to support efficient water management
- Pesticide Wise – Database provides pesticide information to growers and threats to water quality
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Water Quality Compliance Program Initial Program Framework http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/irrigated_lands/pdf/120227/dec_14_ad_grp/4_Powerpoint_Initial_Staff-Developed_Framework.pdf
- ↑ Vineyards and Waivers http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/water_issues/programs/TMDLs/vineyard/waiver_newsletter.pdf
- ↑ Some text copied from Conditional waiver of waste discharge requirements for irrigated lands http://ecoviz.csumb.edu/wiki/index.php/Conditional_waiver_of_waste_discharge_requirements_for_irrigated_lands
- ↑ New Ag Waivers http://ucanr.org/sites/UCNFAnews/Archived_Stories/_New__Ag_Waivers_from_two_regional_water_quality_control_boards/
- ↑ http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb4/water_issues/programs/tmdl/waivers/08_5_10/BMP%20Resources%20Guide.pdf
Links
Disclaimer
This page may contain students's work completed as part of assigned coursework. It may not be accurate. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of CSUMB, its staff, or students.