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REGIONAL WATER BOARD REIPNSE (SWRCB/OCC FILE A-1886) • -4- PETITION FOR REVIEW OF WASTE DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS ORDER NO. R5-2007-0113 (NPDES NO. CA0079243) CITY OF LODI, WHITE SLOUGH WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY waste is not managed properly. Consequently, the Order requires the Discharger to limit the hydraulic, total nitrogen, and BOD loadings to the agricultural fields to agronomic rates to assure that pollution or nuisance does not occur. The Order also requires the Discharger to comply with groundwater limits for certain pollutants of concern (see Section V.B. Groundwater Limitations). Furthermore, the Order requires a groundwater characterization study and requires the Discharger to evaluate best practicable treatment or control (BPTC) of the discharge if the groundwater monitoring results show that the discharge of waste is threatening to cause or has caused groundwater to contain waste constituents in concentrations statistically greater than background water quality. Even if additional treatment or control of the discharge is necessary, the discharge limitations and requirements to upgrade BPTC if necessary, reasonably assure that degradation will not occur. The petitioner contends that federal regulations at 40 CFR 503 prohibits the application of biosolids to land that may be flooded or in such a manner that biosolids may enter surface water or wetlands. The petitioner also contends that permit does not consider the water quality impacts related to the flooding of the agricultural fields, which are not protected from inundation during a 100-yr flood event. The petitioner has misquoted the federal regulations. 40 CFR 503.14(b) states, in part, "Bulk sewage sludge shall not be applied to agricultural land, forest, a public contact site, or a reclamation site that is flooded, frozen, or snowcovered so that the bulk sewage sludge enters a wetlands or other waters of the United States..." (emphasis added) The Discharger's agriculture fields west of 1-5 are not protected from inundation during a 100-yr flood event. Typically in waste discharge requirements adopted by the Regional Water Board, land application areas are required to be protected from inundation during a 100-yr flood event. However, for several reasons, in this particular instance, this requirement was not included. First, the agricultural fields are used for disposal, but they are not the only means of disposal at the Facility. The Discharger is allowed to discharge to Dredger Cut year-round, so it does not have to rely solely on land disposal as would a facility with only a permit to discharge to land. If a field were to be lost due to flooding, the Discharger still has the ability to dispose of treated wastewater. Second, the water quality risks are minimal. The western fields are bordered by levees on the west and cannot naturally drain to the Delta. Flooding would occur if they were overtopped, but the water sits on-site until it is processed through the tailwater system. The only "runoff' would be the volume of water that is higher than the elevation of the levees. In addition, biosolids are only applied to the corn fields, which are tilled in every year in the fall. Therefore, biosolids that had been applied during the previous irrigation season would be incorporated into the soil before there is a potential for a flooding event to occur. Finally, since flooding risk is always linked to high precipitation, there would be no need to irrigate. To reduce or prevent water quality impacts that may be caused by the flooding of the fields, the Order includes a requirement that the Discharger develop and implement a management plan to reduce the risk of water quality impacts in the event the fields are inundated.