CV-SALTS Basin Plan Amendment Update May 3, 2018 Stephanie Tillman - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CV-SALTS Basin Plan Amendment Update

May 3, 2018

Stephanie Tillman

Agenda

• Mystery Word Game
• Terminology you should know
• Programs
• Nitrate Control Program
• Salt Control Program
• Supporting Policies
• Decisions You Have to Make
• Recommendations on Basin Plan

Amendment Language

Mystery Word Game

10 questions about CV-SALTS 10 numeric answers in presentation Each number corresponds to letter Put the letters in order to find the 12- letter mystery word Win the mystery prize!

Terminology You Should Know

Terminology You Should Know

• Program Basics

– Program Goals – there are 3 biggies

• Provide safe drinking water
• Achieve mass balance
• Restoration

– Basin Plan

• The regulator’s policy on water quality

– Salt and Nitrate Management Plan (SNMP)

• The guidance document (it’s huge) for the Basin Plan

Terminology You Need to Know

• Groundwater

– Assimilative Capacity

• How much wiggle room you have to stay under the

drinking water threshold – 10 mg/l nitrogen as nitrate

– Shallow Zone

• Roughly, the average depth of “top” 10% (shallowest)
• f the domestic wells

– Upper Zone

• Roughly, where the domestic wells go down to

– Production Zone

• Where the ag/production wells go down to
• Where majority of groundwater production is

(Handout)

Terminology You Need to Know

• Regulatory tools

– Exception

• When the regulators give you permission to NOT

comply with a water quality objective (threshold)

• You have to have a really good reason
• They aren’t forever – you have to have a plan

– Offset

• Something you can do somewhere else to compensate

for the pollution you are causing by discharging.

Overview of Nitrate and Salinity Control Programs (handout)

Nitrate Control Program

Nitrate Permitting Strategy

• Priority based
• Permit based
• Effective immediately
• Directly impacts ILRP

Nitrate Management Strategy

• Priority 1 Area (Red) – Notice

to Comply within one year of Basin Plan amendments becoming effective

• Priority 2 Area (Orange) –

Notice to Comply within 2-4 years of Basin Plan amendments adoption (June 2018?)

• Remaining Areas (Green) –

Implementation to be phased in at a later date

Nitrate Permitting Options (see handout)

Traditional Permitting Path

• Going it on your own
• Discharge with an

individual permit

• Initial assessment
• Submit Notice of Intent

and Early Action Plan – if needed

• Identify discharge category
• Less management and

“red tape”, stricter regulations Management Zone Path

• Similar to managing surface water

by a watershed instead of a single water body

• Each MZ cannot be bigger than a

single groundwater basin

• Several dischargers collaborate to

manage groundwater

• Submit and implement regulatory

requirements in a group

• More management, less strict

regulations

Management Zones

• General Idea: Whole or portion of sub-basin

that serves as discrete compliance unit

– Participation is optional but incentivized – No bigger than DWR sub-basin – Consistent with Recycled Water Policy – Cannot be bigger than 1 basin

• Rationale: Better together
• Main difference from current Basin Plan

– Current Basin Plan has no provision for collaborative management for any constituent

Management Zone

15

Collaborative Nitrate Management in an Area within a Groundwater Basin/Subbasin “Discrete Regulatory Compliance Unit within a Groundwater Basin/Subbasin”

Management Zone Characteristics

6/8/2018 16

Discrete Regulatory Compliance Unit within a Groundwater Basin/Subbasin Assure Safe Drinking Water for Adversely Affected Residents Promotes Coordinated Water Resource Management Promotes Prioritization of Resources Allocation Facilitate Stakeholder Cooperation

Proposed by Stakeholders

Management Zone Nitrate Permitting

Preliminary Management Zone Proposal

– Submit to Regional board no later than 12 months year after receiving the Notice to Comply – Propose boundaries and participants – Determine groundwater quality conditions – Identify public supply and/or domestic wells that exceed nitrate water quality objective – Develop an Early Action Plan to address immediate drinking water concerns

• Provide safe drinking water to those who don’t have it

within the Management Zone

Management Zone Nitrate Permitting

Notice of Intent

– Permittee must submit after a 2-month review period for the Preliminary Management Proposal

• 425 days after Notice to Comply
• 60 days after Preliminary Management Zone Proposal is

submitted

– Select permitting approach

Management Zone Nitrate Permitting

Early Action Plan

– Must start implementation 2 months after Preliminary Management Proposal is submitted – Must include:

• Process to identify affected residents and outreach
• Process for coordinating with non-permittees
• Specific actions to address immediate needs of those

drinking groundwater that exceeds nitrate objective and schedule of implementation

• Funding mechanism

Management Zone Nitrate Permitting

• Final Management Zone Proposal

– Submit 6 months after receiving comments from Regional Board on Preliminary Management Proposal – Must include:

• Final list of permittees/participants and governance

structure

• Timeline for development of implementation plan and

Additional evaluation of groundwater conditions

• Proposed approach for compliance
• Documentation of Early Action Plan implementation

Management Zone Nitrate Permitting

Schedule

• Submit 6

months after the Final Management Zone Proposal is accepted by the Regional Board

Components

• Drinking water needs
• Nitrate loading balance
• Restoration,
• Collaboration with community,
• Funding,
• Nitrate management activities,
• Water quality characterization,
• Responsibilities of dischargers,

information for Exception or Assimilative Capacity

Implementation Plan

Management Zone Nitrate Permitting

Requirement Earliest Latest

Notice to Comply from Regional Board (2-4 years from Basin Plan Adoption) June 2020 June 2022 Preliminary Management Zone Proposal (1 year after Notice to Comply) June 2021 June 2023 Notice of Intent (2 months after Preliminary Management Zone Proposal submittal) August 2021 August 2023 Early Action Plan implementation August 2021 August 2023 Final Management Zone Proposal (6 months after receiving approval of Preliminary Proposal) ~2022 ~2024 Management Zone Implementation Plan (6 months after receiving approval of Final Management Zone Proposal) ~2023 ~2025

Timeline

365 Days 60 Days

Submit Preliminary Management Zone Proposals

• Proposed zone boundary
• Initial zone participants
• Initial groundwater condition and drinking

water well assessment

• Submit Early Action Plan (EAP)

All dischargers Submit Notice of Intent (NOI) – Select compliance pathway Cumulative Timeline

Management zone proposals available for public review

Notice to Comply

12 months 14 months

Salt Control Program

Salt Control Program Strategy

• Phase based – 3 phases over the next 30-45

years

• Regionally based – no local solutions yet
• Adaptive management approach
• See handout with diagram
• See handout with table

Salt Permitting Options

• Conservative permitting approach

– Permitted individually according to previous, unchanged requirements – Strict requirements – lack the flexibility of any new regulations

• Alternative permitting approach

– Requires that you participate in and help fund Phase 1 – Get a break for a while – no new permitting

• r new requirements will be implemented

for at least 10-15 years

Permittees have 6 months to choose

• ption after

receiving Notice to Comply

Salt Management Strategy

Permittees choosing Alternative Pathway have 6 months to collectively prepare an Implementation Schedule for P&O study

Alternative Salinity Permitting

28

Interim Permit Provisions

Continue to Implement Pollution Prevention, Watershed, and Salt Reduction Plans

Maintain Current Salinity Discharge Levels to Extent Feasible, Reasonable, Practicable

Comply with Interim Permit Limits, if applicable Implement Salinity Management Practices & Source Control Activities Conduct Required Monitoring Participate in Phase I Study and Phase II & III, as appropriate

Interim Permitting

• What to do in the interim –after Basin Plan

Amendments are adopted but before permits are changed to reflect new regulations?

– Conditional prohibition – scary word, not so scary concept – Regional board is giving itself 18 months to amend the Waste Discharger Requirements (Order, under the ILRP) for ag permittees – During this time, no discharger will be out of compliance if complying with old rules

30

Groundwater Assessment - Results

Comparison of Salt and Nitrate Strategies

Salt Management Strategy

• Long term
• Less urgent
• Further study
• Valley-wide approach

Nitrate Management Strategy

• Near and long term
• More urgent
• No further study
• Local approach

Supporting Policies

• 6. Drought and Water Conservation
• General Idea: Consider

drought and water conservation in tandem

• Rationale: comply

with Recycled Water Policy; recognize relationship between drought, water quality, and conservation Recommendations for Basin Plan Amendment

– Use long term averaging for salinity objectives (10+ years) – Authorize offsets – Allow temporary variances during drought – Allow temporary variance when discharge quality is better than receiving water

• 7. Exceptions
• General Idea:

Expand exceptions policy to allow more flexibility and provide additional regulatory tool

• Rationale:

Flexibility in permitting to allow permittees to stay in business Recommended revisions to current Exceptions Policy

• 1. Allow exceptions for nitrates (as

well as salt)

• 2. Eliminate sunset dates and limit
• n exception durations
• 3. Require 5-year status report
• 4. Assure safe, reliable and

affordable drinking water as necessary

• 8. Offsets
• General Idea: Create

an additional regulatory tool

• Rationale: allow more

types of solutions in solving water quality problems

• Difference: Current

Basin Plan has no provisions for offsets What is an Offset?

• Alternative means of achieving

compliance

• Management of other sources and

loads (not directly associated with the regulated discharge)

• Net effect from discharge and
• ffset is equivalent to (and

potentially better) than that which would have occurred by requiring the discharger to comply with its WDR at the point of discharge

Potential Benefits of Offset Projects

36

Benefits of Offset Projects as a Compliance Tool Supports resource allocation to the highest water quality priorities Emphasizes “Outcome-based” compliance strategies Provides additional permitting options Allows development of regional mitigation funds to pool available resources Encourages large, regional water quality improvement projects

Decisions You Have to Make

Permitting Pathways

• How do you want to be permitted for nitrate?

– As a coalition only – Form a management zone with other dischargers

• How do you want to be permitted for salt?

– Alternative path

• Give: Participate in and fund study
• Take: Postpone further requirements for 10-15 years

– Conservative path

• Give: Nothing
• Take: Compliance with stricter requirements with

no options

Recommendations for Comments on Basin Plan Amendment Language

Comments

• Management Zones and ag coalitions
• Zone of contribution
• Timeline of Early Action Plan
• Implementation –boron
• Drought and Conservation – boron

End