From the Central Valley Salinity Coalition:
Thanks to the continued work of CV-SALTS stakeholders, 2023 has been another year of tremendous progress, with free well testing and safe drinking water being delivered to thousands of households across the Central Valley. Meanwhile, even more drinking water efforts are poised to launch and important progress is being made in developing a salt management blueprint for the Central Valley.
New nitrate control requirements are coming soon for permittees in these sub-basins: Delta Mendota, Eastern San Joaquin, Kern County (Poso), Kern County (West Side South), Madera, Merced, Tulare Lake, and Yolo. See Nitrate Priority 2 Subbasins below to learn more.
The Priority & Optimization Study Year 1 Progress Report is now available for the Salt Control Program. See Salt Control Program section below for more detail.
Regulators, permittees, and community members work together to develop and implement the Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability (CV-SALTS) through a unique process involving permittees, agency representatives, dedicated staff, and community members. This collaborative process ensures that all involved parties have not only had a role in building the program from the ground up but also work together to ensure that the program benefits everyone involved.
More details on CV-SALTS can be found at the CV-SALTS Program website.
Nitrate control program
To provide community benefits, Management Zones (MZs) are funded and supported by permittees who have chosen to tap into the advantages MZ membership provides, including:
- More opportunity to be involved in decision making.
- A much more cost effective and simpler approach than going-it-alone.
- The opportunity to collaborate with each other and local communities to solve short and long-term nitrate issues in ways tailored to local conditions.
Nitrate Priority 1 Subbasins
Priority 1 Subbasin MZs have made a lot of progress this year. Each of the five MZs have turned in their Management Zone Implementation Plans (MZIPs) to the Central Valley Water Board. The plans are posted here (look for MZIPs for each MZ).
Public comments on the plans will be accepted through December 22. The Regional Water Board has scheduled a workshop on December 7to discuss the content of the plans. Future Regional Board meetings in 2024 will consider approval of the proposed plans and potential revised requirements for permittees.
In addition, the MZs continue to coordinate with the State Water Board SAFER (Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience) Program to offer well tests for contaminants other than nitrate. All MZs have been granted authority from their governing bodies to work with SAFER and they are in various stages of implementing full-complement testing.
The MZs also continue their work in local communities, building relationships, participating in local events, and spreading the word about the well testing and free bottled water delivery services they offer.
Nitrate Priority 2 Subbasin
The CV-SALTS Nitrate Control Program is a phased program. Priority 1 Subbasins were launched first and are well underway (described above).
Compliance work in Priority 2 Subbasins will begin at the end of this year and each Subbasin will proceed through a development process similar to the Priority 1 Subbasins.
Postcards were sent out in August 2023 to provide notice to Priority 2 permittees of the upcoming launch and their responsibilities. Notices to comply will be mailed out by the Central Valley Water Board in December 2023.
Permittees will have 14 months to select their pathway and file their Notice of Intent. As with the Priority 1 launch, it is expected that the benefits of joining an MZ will mean most permittees choose that pathway.
Priority 2 basins include Delta Mendota, Eastern San Joaquin, Kern County (Poso), Kern County (West Side South), Madera, Merced, Tulare Lake, and Yolo.
Click above to access our online interactive map and view P1 and P2 Subbasins, along with their associated MZs, and contact information for all MZs.
Additional information on the Nitrate Control Program can be found here on the CV-SALTS website.
The CV-SALTS Nitrate Challenge Story Map can be found here.
Salt Control Program
Salt Control permittees gain many benefits by supporting the Priority & Optimization Study (P&O Study). These include (1) Lowering the costs and time spent complying with salt permitting regulations and (2) Participating collectively in a process that is thoroughly characterizing the Central Valley’s salt problem and developing and implementing future solutions.
The P&O Study team has made significant progress on its list of priorities for 2023. It has developed modeling tools and completed much of the work to characterize the Central Valley salt problem.
The team has released the Priority & Optimization Study Year 1 Progress Report. The report includes an overview of accomplishments for the P&O Study and required specifics, including participation and summarized revenue and expense information. For more details, the Report can be downloaded here.
Additional information on the Salt Control Program can be found here on the CV-SALTS website.
