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0 <br />ORDER NO. R5-2006-0054 <br />INDIVIDUAL DISCHARGER CONDI'T'IONAL WAIVER OF <br />WASTE DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS <br />FOR DISCHARGES FROM IRRIGATED LANDS <br />-5- <br />Any activity which produces or may produce a waste or increased volume or <br />concentration of waste and which discharges or proposes to discharge to existing <br />high quality waters will be required to meet waste discharge requirements which will <br />result in best practicable treatment and control of the discharge necessary to assure <br />that (a) a pollution or nuisance will not occur and (b) the highest water quality <br />consistent with maximum benefit to the people of the State will be maintained. <br />The Central Valley Water Board has information in its records that has been collected by the <br />Central Valley Water Board, dischargers, educational institutions, and others that <br />demonstrates that many water bodies within the Central Valley Region are impaired for <br />various constituents, including pesticides such as Diazinon and Chlorpyrifos, salt, boron, and <br />others. Many water bodies have been listed as impaired pursuant to Clean Water Act section <br />303(d). Such impaired water bodies are not high quality waters with respect to those <br />constituents within the meaning of Resolution No. 68-16 and it is not necessary for the <br />Central Valley Water Board to conduct an anti -degradation analysis. This Order does not <br />authorize further degradation of such waters. <br />The Order requires persons who obtain coverage under the Conditional Waiver to comply <br />with applicable water quality standards, protect beneficial uses, and prevent nuisance by <br />implementing MRPs, evaluating the effectiveness of management practices, and where water <br />quality exceeds applicable water quality standards, by identifying and implementing <br />additional management practices to comply with applicable water quality standards. The <br />Conditional Waiver requires management practices to be implemented to achieve applicable <br />water quality standards and to prevent nuisance. These conditions are enforceable and the <br />Conditional Waiver may be terminated at any time. <br />Where water bodies within the Central Valley Region are of high quality, this Order is <br />consistent with Resolution No. 68-16. This Order prohibits persons from discharging <br />additional wastes not previously discharged. As described above, persons who obtain <br />coverage under this Order are conducting water quality monitoring. The Central Valley <br />Water Board will continue to evaluate the data collected pursuant to monitoring to determine <br />if discharges from irrigated lands are causing degradation of those water bodies. This Order <br />does not authorize further degradation of such water bodies. The Water Board is in the <br />process of preparing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) pursuant to the California <br />Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Through the preparation of the EIR, the Central Valley <br />Water Board is evaluating management practices and will require implementation of <br />practices to achieve best practicable treatment or control of discharges. <br />22. Neither the Water Code nor Resolution No. 68-16 requires instantaneous compliance with <br />applicable water quality standards. Discharges from irrigated lands can and/or do contain <br />wastes, as defined in Water Code section 13050, that could affect the quality of the waters <br />of the State. The Conditional Waiver requires Dischargers to implement management <br />practices to achieve best practicable treatment or control of the discharge that will reduce <br />wastes in the discharges to achieve compliance with applicable water quality standards, <br />