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- <br /> Excerpts on Ground Waters and Site Cleanup Page 9 <br /> from the Water Quality Control Plan <br /> Control Action Considerations of the Central Valley Regional Water Board <br /> Policies and Plans <br /> The following policies were adopted, or are hereby adopted, by the Regional Water Board. <br /> 3. Controllable Factors Policy <br /> Controllable water quality factors are not allowed to cause further degradation of water <br /> quality in instances where other factors have already resulted in water quality objectives being <br /> exceeded. Controllable water quality factors are those actions, conditions, or circumstances <br /> resulting from human activities that may influence the quality of the waters of the State, that <br /> are subject to the authority of the State Water Board or Regional Water Board, and that may <br /> be reasonably controlled. <br /> 7. Antidegradation Implementation Policy <br /> The antidegradation directives of Section 13000 of the Water Code and State Water Board <br /> Resolution No. 68-16 ("Statement of Policy With Respect to Maintaining High Quality <br /> Waters in California") require that high quality waters of the State shall be maintained <br /> "consistent with the maximum benefit to the people of the State." The Regional Water Board <br /> applies these directives when issuing a permit, or in an equivalent process, regarding any <br /> discharge of waste which may affect the quality of surface or ground waters in the region. <br /> Implementation of this policy to prevent or minimize surface and ground water degradation is <br /> a high priority for the Board. In nearly all cases, preventing pollution before it happens is <br /> much more cost-effective than cleaning up pollution after it has occurred. Once degraded, <br /> surface water is often difficult to clean up when it has passed downstream. Likewise, <br /> cleanup of ground water is costly and lengthy due, in part, to its relatively low assimilative <br /> capacity and inaccessibility. The prevention of degradation is, therefore, an important <br /> strategy to meet the policy's objectives. <br /> The Regional Water Board will apply 68-16 in considering whether to allow a certain degree <br /> of degradation to occur or remain. In conducting this type of analysis, the Regional Water <br /> Board will evaluate the nature of any proposed discharge, existing discharge, or material <br /> change therein, that could affect the quality of waters within the region. Any discharge of <br /> waste to high quality waters must apply best practicable treatment or control not only to <br /> prevent a condition of pollution or nuisance from occurring, but also to maintain the highest <br /> water quality possible consistent with the maximum benefit to the people of the State. <br /> Pursuant to this policy, a Report of Waste Discharge,or any other similar technical report <br /> required by the Board pursuant to Water Code Section 13267, must include information <br /> regarding the nature and extent of the discharge and the potential for the discharge to affect <br /> surface or ground water quality in the region. This information must be presented as an <br /> analysis of the impacts and potential impacts of the discharge on water quality, as measured <br />