From the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):
Today, the State Water Resources Control Board will be hearing feedback from stakeholders on nitrogen fertilizer regulation in California, including whether to advance enforceable numeric limits on nitrogen applications and discharges from irrigated agriculture. The Board’s own Second Agricultural Expert Panel concluded in March that sufficient data exists to set numeric limits now in some areas of the state and adopting them would make California the first state in the nation to do so.
Tomorrow’s hearing follows a new NRDC report, The Nitrogen Pollution Crisis: California, which details how fertilizer overuse is contaminating the state’s drinking water, fueling harmful algal blooms, and imposing enormous costs on taxpayers and vulnerable communities—and why decades of voluntary, data-only programs have failed to stop it.
The following is a statement from J.P. Rose, NRDC’s Director of Soil Health and report author:
“For decades, California communities have endured contaminated drinking water, rising cancer rates, and degraded ecosystems due to rampant overuse of fertilizer. Clean water is a right, not a luxury, and the State Water Board finally has the science and the opportunity to act.
“Many California farmers are already minimizing nitrogen pollution through sustainable practices, but the deck is stacked against them by a system that rewards excessive use. The solution is clear: create a level playing field through enforceable limits on nitrogen fertilizer overapplication and runoff.”
Key Findings of the California Report:
- 40 to 60 percent of nitrogen fertilizer applied to croplands is never used by crops, but ends up polluting our water, air, and soil instead.
- Roughly 1.5 million San Joaquin Valley residents received drinking water that tested at or above the federal nitrate limit between 2003 and 2017, and exposure at these levels is linked to preterm births, cancers, and “blue baby syndrome,” which deprives newborns of oxygen.
- In 2025, more than 14,000 Central Coast residents were served water from systems exceeding the federal nitrate limit.
- Excess nitrogen has polluted California water for ~70 years; a 1988 State Water Board report already recommended considering limits on fertilizer application, but no regulatory action followed.
- Decades of voluntary programs have failed to curb overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer.
Ahead of the meeting, NRDC and more than 40 environmental justice, public health, fishing, tribal, and conservation organizations submitted a letter urging the Board to adopt enforceable numeric limits in an updated water quality order by the end of 2026. The letter argues that every year of inaction shifts billions in health, water, and climate costs onto taxpayers and vulnerable communities instead of polluters and highlights the science and evidence that numeric limits on nitrogen pollution can curb these negative effects.
NRDC experts, including report authors, are available before and after the hearing to discuss the report, the coalition letter, and what’s at stake for California communities.
