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Frequently Asked Questior 5 2 June 2010 Waste Management Plans General Order No. R5-2007-0035 For Existing Milk Cow Dairies 5. 1 have a completed Waste Management Plan. Although I have less than the number of mature cows allowed under the General Order, the Plan says that I don't have enough storage. Am 1 in violation of the General Order? Yes. You are only allowed to have as many animals at your dairy as you have storage capacity for the waste they generate, but in no case may you have more mature cows than allowed under the General Order. In the situation described here, you would need to either increase your storage capacity or reduce your herd size to the number of animals that the Waste Management Plans says that your facility can accommodate. 6. How can I increase my storage capacity? The General Order contains a series of steps to help dairy owners and operators identify ways to increase their storage capacity. The PDFA submitted in December 2007 included an initial evaluation of storage capacity, and indicated if storage capacity appeared inadequate. Next, as part of the 1 July 2008 submittal to the Central Valley Water Board, dairy owners and operators were required to propose interim facility modifications that would improve storage capacity, if the PDFA indicated that storage capacity was inadequate, together with a revised PDFA indicating the expected improvement from the modification. Then, as part of the 1 July 2009 submittal to the Central Valley Water Board, dairy owners and operators were required to document that the proposed interim facility modifications were indeed implemented, and provide a revised PDFA demonstrating the actual effect of the modifications. The entire process described in the preceding paragraph was designed to identify the less expensive and simpler steps that could be taken to improve storage capacity. If those steps did not increase storage capacity sufficiently, the remaining steps are to either reduce the amount of storage capacity needed, through herd size reductions or changes in operation (such as increased solids removal), or increase the storage capacity by construction of additional lagoons, settling basins, or both. Before expanding an existing lagoon or settling basin, or constructing a new lagoon or settling basin, you will need to provide design information to the Central Valley Water Board, and receive a letter from the Executive Officer notifying you that the proposed design is acceptable. Please see page 13 and 14 of the General Order (General Specifications #6 —9) for more information. 7. I'd like to propose a contingency plan instead of using the higher precipitation figure of 1.5 times annual precipitation for my storage calculations. What kind of contingency plan is acceptable? Does an engineer need to prepare the contingency plan? It is important to remember that a contingency plan will be needed when it is most difficult to make changes in the facility, because it is extremely wet and there is little time to act. If an area naturally receives only limited rainfall, even in a rainy year, an additional irrigation event that is incorporated into the Nutrient Management Plan could be an acceptable contingency plan. Similarly, a wastewater agreement that is only invoked during a rainy year could be another option in an area that receives only limited rainfall. However, if the