In July 2003, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) adopted a new set of regulations pertaining to discharges of waste from irrigated agricultural lands into waters of the State. These regulations, more generally referred to as the Irrigated Lands Conditional Waiver Program (Program), provided an individual irrigator with two options:

1. Join a coalition group that will meet the requirements of the Program for a group of individuals within a watershed.

2. File a Notice of Intent with the Regional Board to participate directly in the Program as an individual.

Individuals also continue to have the option outside of the Program to apply for a Waste Discharge Requirement (WDR) with the Regional Board.

The Kings River Conservation District (KRCD) and the Kings River Water Association (KRWA) have assisted districts and landowners within the Kings River watershed by implementing water quality monitoring programs, participating in policy meetings with the Regional Board and staff, and enrolling individual landowners and districts into a watershed coalition group. KRCD and KRWA have been sharing the costs of this program.

Many landowners continue to question whether they are at risk of discharge. The Coalition is actively involved in efforts to clarify the definition of a 'discharger' so that individual landowners can assess their situation and make an informed decision on whether to comply with the regulatory program. At this time, the Regional Board continues to define discharge as any irrigation or storm water runoff leaving your property and directly or indirectly entering a river, tributary, pond, or ditch.

A significant percentage of lands with the potential to discharge are not participating in the Coalition. The Regional Board remains very concerned about these "non-participant" lands and has requested the Coalition to provide membership data so that non-participant lands can be identified. Your land is located in the area of risk with the potential to discharge.

In addition, the State Board has proposed a fee increase to $0.31 per acre for 2006-07 for the land with the potential to discharge.

If you have not already been contacted by the Coalition regarding signup, please contact KRCD at 237-5567 extension 310. The deadline to join a coalition to obtain coverage is December 31, 2006.

While KRCD and KRWA have maintained the confidentiality of membership information in the past, the Coalition expects to be required to provide membership information sometime in the future. At this time, in order to comply with previous requests by the Regional Board, the Coalition intends to provide a map of lands not participating in the Coalition by September 30, 2006. It will then be up to the Regional Board to identify non-participating landowners in areas of potential risk and contact them directly to determine whether waste discharge regulation is necessary.

The Regional Board will continue to aggressively pursue enforcement of the Waiver Program by contacting individual landowners using county pesticide use and assessor information. Landowners who are found to be dischargers not in compliance with the law are subject to civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day, as determined by the Regional Board.

We urge you to carefully consider your landholdings and whether you are a 'discharger' or your land has the potential to discharge irrigation and/or storm water. Even the most remote of risks can effectively and efficiently be managed by joining the Coalition. Alternatively, you may wish to contact the Regional Board staff at (559) 445-5116 directly to determine whether you are in fact a discharger and/or seek a waste discharge requirement or individual waiver specific to your operation.