Central Valley farm groundwater will soon be monitored
Heather Hacking
Chico ER
03/30/2011
RANCHO CORDOVA — The program that currently monitors the quality of water that runs off farms in the Central Valley to surface waterways, is expected to expand next year to include groundwater.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to make a final decision April 7 in Rancho Cordova, with the new rules to kick in April 2012.
Many details need to be worked out; specifically, how much the program will cost landowners and which level of monitoring will be required on which properties.
The background
Water users who discharge wastewater are required to get a permit. But agriculture was given an exemption for about 20 years in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2003, new rules were adopted that gave growers the option of joining a water quality coalition for surface water monitoring, or adopting a more costly individual water management and monitoring plan.
In this area, most growers joined the Sacramento Valley Water Quality Coalition, run by staff of the Northern California Water Association.
