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Reissued Waste Discharge Requirements General Order R5-2013-0122 9 Existing Milk Cow Dairies a. Production Areas (including milk barns, wash/sprinkler pens, feed and non- liquid manure storage areas, and corrals): surface water discharges from the production area are prohibited, and the production areas shall be managed to limit the extent to which wastewater can infiltrate into the underlying materials. b. Land Application Areas: Dischargers must prepare and implement Nutrient Management Plans (NMPs). Discharges from the land application areas must not cause or contribute to an exceedance of any applicable water quality objective or federal water quality criteria. c. Existing Wastewater Retention Ponds: Existing wastewater retention ponds must be in compliance with design standards specified in Title 27. However, these design standards have not been found to be protective of groundwater under all conditions, and the immediate replacement of these wastewater retention ponds is not a practicable option for many dairies. Therefore, though compliance with Title 27 design standards was once considered to be BPTC, the Board now considers BPTC for existing ponds to be an iterative process whereby the ponds are evaluated (either under an individual monitoring program or under the RMP) to determine whether or not they are protective of the underlying groundwater, and upgraded or replaced on a time schedule that is as short as practicable if they are found not to be protective. This Order contains a time schedule to bring any deficient management practices (including wastewater retention ponds) into compliance. d. New and Expanded Wastewater Retention Ponds: This Order establishes requirements for new and expanded wastewater retention ponds that are more stringent than the requirements in Title 27 in order to provide groundwater protection. New and expanded wastewater retention ponds must meet a strict performance standard that only allows for a very conservative pond design unless there has been a demonstration that an alternative design meets the e strict performance standard. 29. This Order alsocontains closure requirements that specify that the Discharger must maintain coverage under this Order or a subsequent revision to this Order until all manure, process wastewater, and animal waste impacted soil (including soil within the pond(s)), is disposed of or utilized in a manner which does not pose a threat to surface water or groundwater quality or create a condition of nuisance. 30. This Order will assure thapollution or nuisance will not occur outside of the time schedule for improvements set by this Order. This Order addresses impacts from future discharges of waste, but does not address the cleanup of surface and groundwater that has been polluted due to historic dairy operations. Any required cleanup would be handled under separate authority under the Water Code. 31. The Central Vallepater Board recognizes that there is often site-specific, crop- specific, and regional variability which affects the selection of appropriate