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REGIONAL WATER BOARD RESPONSE (SWRCB/OCC FILE A-1886) -3- PETITION FOR REVIEW OF WA,*DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS • ORDER NO. R5-2007-0113 (NPDES NO. CA0079243) CITY OF LODI, WHITE SLOUGH WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY WDR Order No. R5-2007-0113 (NPDES No. CA 0079243), for the City of Lodi White Slough Water Pollution Control Facility was adopted by the Regional Water Board on 14 September 2007. The Petitioner filed a petition on 15 October 2007, for the State Water Board to review the decision of the Regional Water Board. The State Water Board determined on 8 November 2007, that the petition was complete. RESPONSES TO PETITIONER'S ARGUMENTS The following are the Regional Water Board's responses to discrete arguments raised in the petition. For convenience, the responses are correlated to the issues as they appear in the petition. CONTENTION A: REPORT OF WASTE DISCHARGE (ROWD) WAS INCOMPLETE The Petitioner believes that the ROWD was incomplete and the Regional Water Board was unable to adopt a permit that requires full compliance with the Basin Plan that fully protects beneficial uses of groundwater and receiving waters as required by Federal Regulations and California Water Code. The Discharger has submitted a complete permit application for its NPDES permit and waste discharge requirements in compliance with all State and Federal requirements (Cal EPA Form 200, U.S. EPA NPDES Form 1 and Form 2C). The Discharger filed a ROWD and submitted an application for renewal of its WDRs and NPDES permit on 28 duly 2004. The application was deemed complete upon receipt of additional information (EPA form 2S) on 5 April 2005. The Discharger submitted the requested information and accordingly, staff concluded a complete application was submitted by the Discharger and the wastewater was adequately characterized in compliance with the regulations cited above. The NPDES application and effluent limitation requirements the Petitioner cites do not apply to the land discharges discussed in Contention A. These discharges are not "point source" discharges and the Regional Water Board regulates them under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Porter-Cologne). (See, Permit Finding II.R, p.7.) The cited provisions of Water Code section 13377 do not impose any additional requirements on these discharges. Porter-Cologne allows issuance of WDRs without any application (Water Code section 13263(d)). Even assuming the ROWD was incomplete, which it was not, the Regional Water Board was justified in issuing WDRs as long as the record supports the land discharge requirements. For the following reasons, it does. The petitioner contends that the ROWD insufficiently characterized the discharges to the Storage Ponds and agricultural fields. Thus, the Petitioner concludes that the Order cannot ensure compliance with the Basin Plan and fully protect the beneficial uses of the groundwater. The Regional Water Board recognizes there is a threat to groundwater quality if