what’s water? · food & water watch v when dairies submit data showing groundwater...

Industrial Dairies,

Groundwater Pollution

and Regulatory Failure

in California’s

Central Valley

What’s in the

Water?

About Food & Water Watch

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Food & Water Watch

for their contributions to this report.

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What’s in the Water? Industrial Dairies, Groundwater Pollution and

Regulatory Failure in California’s Central Valley

What’s in the Water? Industrial Dairies, Groundwater Pollution and Regulatory Failure in California’s Central Valley

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Executive Summary

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The General Order is not living up to the promise of protecting groundwater quality and preventing pollution. -

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The Central Valley Regional Board’s failure to implement regulations until late 2007 allowed serious groundwater contamination from industrial dairies in the Central Valley.

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The CVRWQCB is not analyzing the data supplied by dairies from their on-site wells in a timely manner

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When dairies submit data showing groundwater contamination in their on-site wells, the CVRWQCB is not re-quiring them to take further steps to test and monitor their groundwater to determine the scope of the problem,

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Enforcement of penalties against dairies that do not turn in required paperwork is nonexistent.-

Enforcement of the General Order is also a major problem.

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There is a serious lag time between when CVRWQCB staff inspections of the dairies identify violations — including discharges to surface water or groundwater — and when dairies receive notices of violation. -

Federal policy plays a role.


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Introduction

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Groundwater: A Critical (and Poorly Understood) Resource for California

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subjects them to special water quality regulations. In California, a 700-cow dairy farm does not seem so large. On this map, the darker dots represent dairy operations with herds of between 3,500 and 7,000 cows. Lighter dots represent herds with more than 7,000 cows.

http://www.epa.gov/region9/ag/dairy/images/CED0601309_1.gif


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Central Valley Dairy Overview

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Change in the Number of Large Dairies in Select Central Valley Counties, 1992-2007

Number of Small, Medium and Large Dairies in Central Valley Dairy Counties, 1992-2007

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1992 1997 2002 2007

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Industrial Dairies and Water Quality: Serious Impacts

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Nitrogen

waste, --

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Hormones

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wastewater, -

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Regulation of Central Valley Dairies

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Central Valley Groundwater Contamination Before and After the General Order

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The General Order: One Step Forward with Miles to Go

1. The board has failed to take enforcement action in cases where dairies are violating the General Order.

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and the

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2. Discharge from dairies is largely left up to the dair-ies to report. In circumstances where CVRWQCB staff discovers that a dairy is discharging waste, they have not taken steps to require proper permitting or to shut down the offending operation, violating both state and federal laws.

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water supplies in the Central Valley.

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1. The CVRWQCB is not analyzing the groundwater monitoring data supplied by dairies in a timely man-ner, nor is it reporting this data in a way that is useful to any of the stakeholders involved, making it impos-sible to tell if the General Order is having an effect.

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2. The CVRWQCB is not implementing the additional groundwater monitoring program in a timely manner or in a way that can truly provide feedback on how well the General Order is working.

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to be degraded.

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2. The CVRWQCB is not requiring monitoring for all of the contaminants of concern, or even for contami-nants for which there are water quality standards in

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3. The CVRWQCB is considering changing the moni-

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Recommendations

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1. The governor and the California State Legislature must prioritize groundwater protection by directing the State Water Resources Control Board to implement a comprehen-sive statewide monitoring program for groundwater quality and quantity.

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2. Groundwater protection should be prioritized by devot-ing more funds to the regional water boards for adequate


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3. The governor and state legislators must appoint board

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-WQCB can and should take action to improve outcomes under the General Order.

Fine bad actors that remain in violation of water qual-ity laws if they do not remedy the problem after a notice of violation is issued.

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Implement a groundwater monitoring program that can assess water quality by including all contaminants

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Implement a groundwater monitoring program that can track the impacts of the General Order and iden-tify the sources of pollution.

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If not all dairies can be adequately monitored under

greatest risk to public health for monitoring.

Require that data be gathered and reported in a stan-dardized way and submitted electronically. -

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In cases where dairies are complying with the General Order but data show that contamination continues to occur, require dairies to implement more stringent best practices, including lagoon liners.

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Require clean up and abatement actions where dairies have contributed to pollution of state waters.

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U.S. Department of Justice must address the factors that drive dairies to industrialize, and they must better support more decentralized dairy supply chains.

The federal government must address anti-competitive behavior in the dairy market -

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Congress should provide dairy farmers with a fair wage rather than leaving pricing to the whim of large buyers.

Hold bad actors accountable.

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Support healthy local dairy production systems. The

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Conclusion-

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Endnotes

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Food & Water Watch

www.foodandwaterwatch.org

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