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Sam Monaco -2 - 9 June 2017 <br /> Harvest-Lathrop Composting Facility ' <br /> CEQA would be finalized in "mid-April to accommodate one appellant." The Discharger in its <br /> Final Technical Report did not provide evidence that it had complied with CEQA <br /> requirements for the proposed 20-acre expansion. <br /> 2. Water uses for irrigation. The Discharger's water balance dated 10 April 2017 section 5.4 <br /> states that the Discharger may use detention pond wastewater for irrigation. The General <br /> Order does not have provisions allowing discharge of wastewater for irrigation purposes. <br /> Discharge of wastes to land can only be conducted under waste discharge requirements <br /> that are not specified in the General Order. <br /> 3. Invalid Water Balance Analysis. The General Order Attachment D-Technical Report <br /> Requirements C.2.d requires that if a detention pond is used, a water balance analysis must <br /> be performed demonstrating compliance with the Design, Construction, and Operation <br /> Requirements section of the General Order. General Order Specifications#5 requires that <br /> wastewater must be managed to prevent discharge. The Discharger's water balance <br /> analysis is invalid because it will not prevent discharge due to the proposed detention ponds <br /> having insufficient storage capacity during the wet season for the following reasons: <br /> a) Invalid compost area runoff coefficient. The Discharger's water balance dated <br /> 10 April 2017 uses a runoff coefficient of 0.6 for the compost areas discharging to <br /> detention ponds A and B. However, the Discharger states that the compost area <br /> consists of an area covered with compost windrows approximately 7 feet high, 18 feet <br /> wide, and 250 feet long as well as open aisle area 8 feet wide between the windrows. <br /> Composting using these specifications will mean 70% of the compost area will be <br /> covered with windrows and 30% will be open aisle area. <br /> The Discharger's consultant submitted a water balance analysis dated 17 February 2017 <br /> where the water balance used the weighted average method to determine a composited <br /> runoff coefficient for the compost area. Staff agrees that this is the appropriate method <br /> for determining the runoff coefficient using the Rational Method, and concurs with the <br /> recommended runoff coefficients for compost pads consisting of an asphalt surface is <br /> 0.85 for the open aisle spaces between windrows and a runoff coefficient between 0.50 <br /> and 0.70 for the windrows themselves'. However, the Discharger's 10 April 2017 water <br /> balance does not use a composited runoff coefficient for the compost area and therefore <br /> does not take into account higher runoff volumes from the compacted soil in the open <br /> aisle area. <br /> Furthermore, Caltrans Highway Design Manual, 6t" Edition, chapter 810, Hydrology, <br /> Topic 819.2(1), Estimating Design Discharge using the Rational Method states that <br /> when using runoff coefficients for storms with less than 5 or 10 year return frequencies, <br /> a frequency factor C(f) should be used to adjust runoff coefficients for increased runoff <br /> due to saturated near surface ground conditions. The Design Manual recommends <br /> multiplying runoff coefficients by 1.1, 1.2, and 1.25 for storms with 25 year, 50 year, and <br /> 100 year return frequencies, respectively. The Discharger should compensate for less <br /> frequent higher intensity storms where infiltration, detention, and other losses increase <br /> runoff. <br /> ' Kalaba, L., et al, "A Storm Water Runoff Model for Open Windrow Composting Sites," Compost Science& Utilization, Vol. 15, <br /> No. 3, p. 142-150. <br /> P AP1 <br />