The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopts statewide requirements to protect state waters. These requirements include the recycled water policy and the irrigated lands regulatory program.

There are many sources of salts and nutrients in surface and groundwater, including water soluble inorganic and organic constituents in imported water, leaching of naturally occurring salts in soils as a result of irrigation and precipitation, animal wastes, fertilizers and other soil amendments, municipal use including water softeners, industrial wastewater, and oil field wastewater.

SWRCB’s recycled water policy requires local water and wastewater entities together with other stakeholders who contribute salt and nutrients to a groundwater basin or subbasin, to fund and develop salt and nutrient management plans to comprehensively address all sources of salts and nutrients.

The salt and nutrient management plan for the Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), when adopted, will determine stakeholder responsibilities in order to protect the beneficial uses of groundwater and surface waters in the Coachella Valley. The RWQCB is authorized to adopt basin plan amendments to enforce water quality implementation plans to control discharges of salt and nutrients in the region. Customer is considered a stakeholder and will participate in the salt and nutrient management plan, and be subject to applicable provisions of basin plan amendments to control discharges of salt and nutrients as required.

The RWQCB uses conditional prohibitions, conditional waivers, and waste discharge requirements to implement provisions of the state irrigated lands regulatory program. Discharges of canal water may be subject to one or more of the RWQCB requirements governing irrigated lands. Customer shall abide by RWQCB provisions applicable to irrigated lands. (Ord. 1437.3 § 13-8, 2023; Ord. 1437.2 § 13-8, 2023; Ord. 1437.1 § 13-8, 2022; Ord. 1437 § 2 (Exh. A § 13-8), 2019)