On 30 June 2014, CSPA and a broad coalition of environmental, fishing and tribal organizations submitted comments to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) regarding the proposed Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) for the Grasslands Bypass Project (GBP). The WDRs regulate the discharge of selenium and other pollutants exceeding state and federal water quality standards into Mud Slough and the San Joaquin River from thousands of acres of farmland on the west side of the river.
The letter states that the proposed WDRs fail to protect water quality and beneficial uses, contain grossly inadequate monitoring requirements and do not comply with required mitigation measures contained in the final EIR/S for the 2009 Use Agreement and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion for the GBP. The letter further states that GBP’s drainage should be regulated by an NPDES permit, pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act and requests that the Regional Board take the proposed order back to the drawing board and reissue an order that is protective of water quality and complies with the law.