The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board held a hearing on June 3 to consider approval of the Modesto Management Zone Implementation Plan (MZIP) and amendments to water quality permits for operations in the Modesto groundwater subbasin. This action applied to irrigated agriculture, food processors, municipal wastewater treatment plants, bovine feedlots, as well as dairy operations. At the end of the day, the Board approved the resolution as presented by staff without making any changes.
This was an important step in the CV-Salts process that started almost two decades ago. With this action, the Regional Board officially provided a 35-year exception to meeting the nitrate drinking water standard in groundwater. This was in exchange for permit holders funding replacement drinking water for those whose wells are impacted by nitrates, something that has already been happening in the Modesto Management Zone for about five years. This hearing now sets the stage for the remaining Priority 1 management zones (Turlock, Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah, and Tule) to move through this same process.
The 35-year timeline does not mean that permit holders can sit on their hands. There are interim targets that must be met along the way, including those listed below. A new annual reporting tool is being developed to augment the current field-scale nitrogen accounting by adding a whole-farm nitrogen accounting component. It will also be able to show aggregated trends within the individual management zones. These are requirements of the newly adopted MZIP. The Central Valley Dairy Representative Monitoring Program (CVDRMP) is currently working on this tool.
At 10 years, there is a milestone requiring dairies to achieve a whole-farm nitrogen balance, meaning the nitrogen available in the manure and imported as fertilizer is balanced with what is used by crops and exported off the dairy. A component of this will include a comparison of the amount of nitrogen in lagoon water to the land available to receive lagoon water. This is going to be a heavy lift for many dairies. Continued monitoring along the way will also be required to show that we are actually making progress.
Overall, this was a positive step for dairies and other permit holders in providing additional time, but the process will also bring new urgency to addressing nitrate issues as local stakeholders work together to identify and address local nitrate sources. The dairy industry has already started this process, with changes rolling out over the next couple of years.
This should not be confused with a separate process that will soon restart. The State Water Resources Control Board recently sent an email stating that its Remand Order on the Central Valley Water Board’s dairy permit is expected to be released on or around June 15th. The State Board anticipates holding a workshop on July 8th and a hearing to adopt the order on September 15th. Once I have reviewed the Remand Order, I will update our members on its contents and keep you informed as we move through this process.
These are two separate actions, but there is a common message. Dairy water quality regulations in the Central Valley will be changing, and dairies need to be aware of the changes. Knowing what is coming can help dairies prepare. As always, if you have any questions on these or other environmental issues, please contact me. — By Paul Sousa, Western United Dairies Director of Regulatory & Environmental Affairs
