The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act is the law that governs water quality regulation in California. It was established to protect the beneficial uses of water and water quality—including surface water bodies, groundwater, and wetlands. As a result of this act, 9 regional boards and one state water board were created to better protect water rights and water quality in all of California. This act was recognized as one of the nation’s strongest anti-pollution regulations—in fact it was so influential that Congressional authors used sections of Porter-Cologne as the basis of the Clean Water Act.
The Porter-Cologne Act requires that each regional board adopts water quality control plans that gives direction and focus to managing water pollution in California—these are called Basin Plans. Basin Plans incorporate the beneficial uses of the waters of that region, and outline objectives which need to be met in order to maintain and protect these uses.
Regional Boards are obligated to keep the Region’s Basin Plan current and accurate through periodic review and updates at least once every three years—referred to as the Triennial Review. The Coachella Valley is under the jurisdiction of the Region 7 Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board. You can find the Region 7 Basin Plan here. The Triennial Review of the Basin Plan began in 2020, with the next public workshops slated for October 2020.
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/coloradoriver/water_issues/programs/basin_planning/docs/2020tr_timeline.pdf
The Regional Waterboards have the authority under the Porter-Cologne Act to enforce these Basin Plan objectives. Both the State Water Resources Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Board issue and enforce permits containing waste discharge requirements (WDR’s) in order to maintain and protect California’s water bodies and meet Basin Plan objectives. It is important to note however, that discharges of waste into water bodies is not a right and is up to the discretion of the Regional Board. They alone have the authority to decide when the discharge is to take place, for how long, and how much of waster can be released into the water.
A large portion of Coachella Valley Waterkeepers mission is to work with and support our Regional Water Quality Control Boards in protecting and maintaining our regions water quality. This means advocating for stricter enforcement of the Clean Water Act on dischargers/discharges into our local waterbodies like the the Whitewater River, the Salton Sea, and our groundwater basin.
If you have questions about how to get involved in protecting our waterways, or if you are interested in becoming a member of Coachella Valley Waterkeeper, feel free to contact us anytime at cvwaterkeeper@gmail.com.
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