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Information Sheet IS-20 Reissued Waste Discharge Requirements General Order R5-2013-0122 Existing Milk Cow Dairies California Milk Advisory Board analysis5, California's dairy industry is responsible for creating a total of 443,574 jobs and $63 billion in economic activity. The same report estimated that a typical dairy cow generates $34,000 in economic activity annually and a herd of 100 cows creates about 25 jobs. The economic value of the dairy industry is particularly important within the Central Valley, where 89 percent of the state's cows and 81 percent of the state's dairy farms are located, as well as a significant fraction of the state's 117 dairy processing plants. Moreover, the jobs generated in the Central Valley are of even greater importance given routine double-digit unemployment rates in many rural counties and a high reliance on a healthy agricultural sector. Furthermore, California dairy farms are a significant producer of the nation's milk supply. In 2012, California dairy farms produced about 41.7 million pounds of milk, which is about a fifth of the nation's milk supply. As such, California dairies play an important role in food and nutrition security for California and the nation. Considering the economic significance of the Central Valley dairy industry as well as the important role Central Valley dairies play in providing adequate milk supplies to the nation, the Central Valley Water Board finds that maintaining the Central Valley dairy industry is to the benefit of the people of the state. Verifying that the State Anti-Degradation Policy is Satisfied Although not an explicit provision of the State Anti-Degradation Policy, the Appellate Court determined that the Dairy General Order does not comply with the State Anti-Degradation Policy without a monitoring program sufficient to determine whether the discharges are in compliance with the State Anti-Degradation Policy. The primary method used to determine if water quality objectives and the requirements of the State Anti-Degradation Policy are being met is surface water and groundwater quality monitoring. The Dairy General Order prohibits discharges of storm water from the production area to surface water and any discharge of storm water to surface water from the land application areas being used for nutrient utilization unless that discharge is from land that has been managed consistent with a certified Nutrient Management Plan. Should discharges of manure, process wastewater, or storm water occur from the production area, the Dairy General Order requires discharge monitoring and chemical analysis to determine if an exceedance of a water quality objective has occurred. The Dairy General Order also requires monitoring of the first storm water discharge of the year to surface waters from land application areas on a rotating basis (1/3 of the fields per year); and tailwater discharges to surface waters from the land application areas if they have occurred less than 60 days following an application of manure and/or process wastewater. Likewise, the Dairy General Order requires individual or 5 http://www.californiadairypressroom.com/node/289, study by J/D/G Consulting using economic output multipliers developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Based on 2008 data(size of the California dairy industry in number of cows has declined about 3.4 percent since 2008 but the economic impact of the industry is expected to be roughly similar today as to 2008 due to slightly higher overall levels of milk production).