Irrigated lands regulations workshop April 25
New regulatory requirements that will apply to lands irrigated to produce crops for commercial purposes are on a path to become reality by mid-year. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program, which already regulates surface water, is quickly heading for expansion to cover agricultural water discharges to groundwater within the Tulare Lake Basin, the Tulare County Farm Bureau reports.
Growers will be required to prepare and maintain an on-site farm evaluation report and nutrient management plan and summary; implement sediment and erosion control plan (if necessary); submit data from farm evaluation and nutrient management summary (if in a high vulnerable area) to coalition; participate in grower outreach events; cooperate in requested assistance for groundwater quality monitoring; and implement management practices protective of surface or groundwater.
The final draft Tulare Lake Basin general order will be issued by the Regional Board in mid-March. A third workshop on the regulations will be conducted by the Regional Board on April 25 at a location in Fresno that has not been announced.
A hearing and likely Regional Board adoption of the general order are currently planned to occur in June with an anticipated timeframe of November 2013 through February 2014 for coalition open enrollment for growers.
