A Chance to Restore Fisheries and Water Quality in the Central Valley and Delta
The “Clean Farms – Clean Water” campaign with over one hundred California environmental, commercial and recreational fishing, and environmental justice organizations will hold a rally and press conference in front of the Regional Board’s office when the Board breaks for lunch. The Regional Board’s office is located at 11020 Sun Center Drive, Suite 200, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670. We encourage all to attend!
The “Clean Farms – Clean Water,” campaign is demanding that the Regional Board do its job of regulating the quality of water coming off of irrigated lands, the largest identified source of pollution to Central Valley waterways: pollution that threatens drinking water, recreation and fisheries. The bottom line is that fisheries cannot be restored unless we control and reduce the pollutant discharges from irrigated land.
The Regional Board will conduct the hearing to potentially regulate runoff from six million acres of irrigated agriculture just weeks after requiring Sacramento citizens to expend billions of dollars to improve wastewater treatment. The Regional Board is poised to give irrigated agriculture a free ride to continue business as usual with the new program appearing even weaker than the present system, which turns over regulatory responsibilities to agricultural industry advocacy groups.
The Regional Board doesn’t know who is discharging or what pollutants are being discharged to surface and ground water. They don’t know the local water quality impacts or if farmers are implementing measures to reduce pollution. And farmers don’t know whether their pollution control practices are actually effective in reducing pollution.
Monitoring downstream of agricultural areas tells us that virtually all sites exceed water quality standards and almost two thirds are toxic to aquatic life. Agricultural pollution is one of the principal causes of the collapse of Central Valley fisheries and it threatens public health and impairs groundwater.”
The Board regulates pollutant discharges from cities, industry, and even mom-and-pop businesses. Only irrigated agriculture remains exempt from requirements to monitor discharges and identify measures implemented to reduce or eliminate pollution.
More information can be found on the CSPA website at: www.calsport.org
Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program Public Hearing:
Where: Regional Water Board Offices, 11020 Sun Center Drive, Suite 200, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
When: Public Hearing: Thursday, April 7, at 9 AM
Rally and Press Conference: During the Board’s Noon Lunch Break