Workshop for Water Board draft EIR set for Sept. 8

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is offering four public workshops for comment on its recently released draft program environmental impact report.

The first will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the Southern California Edison Agricultural Technology Application Center facility, 4175 S. Laspina St., Tulare.

The Tulare County Farm Bureau will be providing talking points and comments for growers who attend the workshops.

The comment period will last through Sept. 27.

The Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program would expand regulated irrigated agricultural discharges to include both surface waters and ground waters from over seven million acres of land.

This program came as a result of changes in the California Water Code in 2003 by the state legislature. Under the new rules, farmers were allowed to combine resources by forming water quality coalitions. Through the coalitions, monitoring of waterways was initiated and regional management plans were developed to prevent pollution and improve water quality.

Under this proposal, agricultural water quality coalitions would continue working on local solutions with growers to protect rivers and streams and now ground water basins used for drinking water. If a grower fails to protect water quality as part of a coalition, the Water Board will issue an individual permit to that grower.

The draft EIR evaluates and describes the potential environmental impacts associated with the proposed program in the areas of climate change — such as potential increase of greenhouse gas emissions, and agriculture resources — such as potential loss of farmland due to increased regulatory costs.

For more information, including documents available for review, dates and locations of upcoming public workshops visit www.waterboards.ca.gov.centralvalley.