Sacramento - Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley has ruled that California is not doing enough to curb the "witch’s brew of pollution" pouring from California farms, according to a news release from coalition of fishing and environmental groups
Judge Frawley ordered the State and Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to create new rules protecting human health and the environment, surface and groundwater, from agricultural pollution.
Read the ruling here:
http://mavensnotebook.com/...
"In 2013, a coalition of five nonprofit organizations and a low-income elderly woman, who cannot drink water from her tap because it is contaminated with agricultural waste, filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court, challenging the Central Coast Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges from Irrigated Agriculture (also known as the “Ag Waiver”) and changes made by the State Water Resources Control Board to cripple the already weak order," the groups said.
The coalition alleged the Ag Waiver was so weak it did not comply with State Law. The organizations - Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, The Otter Project, The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and California Sportfishing Protection Alliance - represent a broad alliance of conservation, environmental justice, and industry groups, united in protecting clean water.
Agricultural pollution is exempt from regulation by the federal Clean Water Act, but is governed by California’s Water Quality Control Act.
In adopting the Water Quality Control Act, the California Legislature declared that “the quality of all the waters of the state shall be protected for use and enjoyment by the people of the state.” Any person or industry proposing to discharge waste that “could affect the quality of the waters of the state” must file a report of waste discharge and be issued a permit (called Waste Discharge Requirements).
A group of similar dischargers can be issued a group permit, called a Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements. All dischargers in the group must comply with the “conditions” of the waiver.
In a report released on February 1, 2010, Central Coast Water Board staff explained that many water segments throughout the Central Coast region are listed as impaired under section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act, nearly all beneficial uses are impacted by agricultural pollution, and these impairments remain “well documented, severe, and widespread.”
Regional Board staff concluded that “[i]mmediate and effective action is necessary to improve water quality protection and resolve the widespread and serious impacts on people and aquatic life.” Staff determined that previous Ag Orders “[lacked] clarity and focus,” did not provide for adequate “compliance and verification monitoring,” and allowed “agricultural discharges [to] continue to severely impact water quality in most receiving waters.”
Draft waivers were attacked by agricultural interests as draconian, punishing, and intrusive over-regulation and the Ag Waiver was significantly weakened when it was finally adopted by the Regional Board in March 2012.
Desiring even weaker regulation, organized agricultural interests filed four separate appeals of the Regional Board’s decision to the State Water Resources Control Board. Conservation interests also filed an appeal asking for stricter regulation. On October 29, 2013, the State Board issued its decision to further weaken the Ag Order.
The coalition that filed the lawsuit believes the Ag Order "fails to protect public health and the environment by allowing the further degradation of surface and ground water quality." The organizations are represented by Stanford Environmental Law Clinic and the Golden Gate University Environmental Law and Justice Clinic. Ms. Manzo is represented by California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
“In 2012, California became the first state in the nation to adopt the human right to water into law, stating that it is the policy of the State that every human has a right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water for human consumption," said Colin Bailey, J.D., Executive Director of The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, "Today’s ruling is a victory for the communities most vulnerable to water contamination and a step towards the realization of that right."
Judge Frawley agreed.
Although the lawsuit focuses on the Central Coast region that includes the Salinas Valley, the lawsuit is "anticipated to influence the entire state," the coalition stated. The California Farm Bureau Federation, Ocean Mist, Western Growers and other major farms intervened in the lawsuit to maintain the weak regulations.
A copy of the filed lawsuit and additional background can be found at http://www.otterproject.org/...