Water Quality Laws and Regulations

Ground water laws and regulations

State regulations designate about 2.4 million acres across California where soil conditions make shallow ground water most vulnerable to contamination from leaching. As of June 2009, there are discussions under way to add ground water protection to the existing Irrigated Lands Program. To determine the status of the ground water quality program by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board please click here.

For some time California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation's has had a Groundwater Protection Program that limits the use of certain pesticides in more vulnerable regions of California. In 2009, DPR expanded the list of compounds included in the Ground Water Protection Program. It is likely DPR’s efforts will be folded into the Regional Board’s program.

Surface water laws and regulations

Surface water quality is regulated under the Clean Water Act as well as the Porter-Cologne Act  in California.Currently any grower with the potential for run-off in the Central Valley is regulated by the Irrigated Lands Program. There are several watershed-based coalitions throughout the Central Valley. This program monitors water quality in surface waters for a range of possible water quality issues. Based on the data then additional efforts to reduce the issue of concern are undertaken. The program which has collected three years of data, identified some problems and is conducting specific grower outreach to farmers located next to waterways.

External Links:

Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program