Drinking Water Policy

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A multi-year effort is currently underway to develop a drinking water policy for surface waters in the Central Valley. As water flows out of the sierra foothills and into the valley, pollutants from a variety of urban, industrial, agricultural, and natural sources affect the quality of water, which leads to drinking water treatment challenges and potential public health concerns. Current policies and plans lack water quality objectives for several known drinking water constituents of concern, such as disinfection by-product precursors and pathogens, and do not include implementation strategies to provide effective source water protection. The exact types of regulatory requirements that will be included in the drinking water policy have not been determined but the goal is to develop a policy that provides clear guidance to ensure consistent source water protection. For more information contact Karen Larsen at (916) 464-4646 or by email at klarsen@waterboards.ca.gov.

• Notice of Public Workshop and CEQA Scoping Meeting, 48 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  A public workshop and CEQA scoping meeting will be held on August 25, 26, and 27th in Rancho Cordova, Stockton and Chico, respectively. Written comments should be submitted by 19 September 2008 to Holly Grover at hgrover@waterboards.ca.gov or (916) 464-4747.
• CEQA Scoping Staff Report, 332 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  This CEQA Scoping Staff Report provides more information regarding the development of Central Valley Drinking Water Policy. This report is only intended to be an informational item, not the staff report for the Basin Plan Amendment.
• Development of a Drinking Water Policy for Surface Waters of the Central Valley
  • Power Point presentation for the CEQA scoping meetings, 592 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Drinking Water Policy Fact Sheet Update #1 - September 2006, 188 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• 3 October 2006 Public Workshop
  The intent of this workshop was to update interested stakeholders and the general public on the status of development of the drinking water policy and related efforts and to obtain input.
  • Agenda, 31 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Summary, 37 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Presentations
    The Drinking Water Policy Workgroup collaborates with several agencies to acquire and share data and modeling tools. These agencies presented updates on their ongoing studies related to drinking water quality, some of which are posted below.
    • Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Overview, 29 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Overview of Technical Studies, 72 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Conceptual Models for Organic Carbon, Nutrients, and Pathogens, 724 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Conceptual Model for Salinity, 338 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Basin Plan Amendment Process & Schedule, 181 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Relationship of Drinking Water Policy to CALFED Program, 51 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Policy Issues to be Addressed & Next Steps, 14 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Central Valley Salinity Management Plan, 32 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Delta Water Quality Fingerprinting Using DSM2, 581 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Developing and Testing Rangeland BMPs That Account for Temporal and Spatial Variability of Transport of DOC and Nutrients, 643 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Monitoring Existing Water Quality at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, 88 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• The Future for Drinking Water Contaminant Regulations, 1.68 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
  Bruce Macler, USEPA Region 9, delivered a presentation to the Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup on 11 December 2006. The presentation centered on how EPA develops regulations for contaminants of concern in drinking water and how a drinking water regulation is initiated and promulgated including the information necessary to list a contaminant on the Candidate Contaminant List (CCL). Bruce concluded with a review of the current status of various constituents on the CCL and emerging constituents of concern.
• Conceptual Model for Salinity in the Central Valley and Sacramento San Joaquin Delta
  • Complete Document, 6.1 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Document Pages
    • Pages 1-12, 892 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Pages 13-27, 921 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Pages 28-38, 958 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Pages 39-55, 966 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Pages 56-58, 821 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Pages 59-61, 1.04 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Pages 62-65, 791 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Conceptual Model for Pathogens and Pathogen Indicators
  • Complete Document, 6.4 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Document Sections
    • Report Cover, Table of Contents, & Executive Summary, 792 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 1, 85 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 2, pages 1-11, 154 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 2, page 12, 1.2 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 2, page 13-14, 54 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 3, page 1-5, 713 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 3, pages 6-8, 2.4 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 3, pages 9-23, 289 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 4 and 5, 227 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Conceptual Model for Nutrients in the Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
  • Complete Document, 9.6 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Document Sections
    • Document Cover, Table of Contents, and Executive Summary, 899 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 1: Introduction, 48 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 2: Nutrient in Aquatic Ecosystems and Pathways of Disinfection Byproduct Formation, 226 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 3: Overview of Data Used for Analysis
      • Chapter 3, pages 1-11, 903 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 3, pages 12-21, 1.00 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 3, pages 22-25, 873 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 3, pages 26-35, 980 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 4: Loads Transported From Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins
      • Chapter 4, pages 1-14, 742 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 15-17, 988 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 18-22, 1.01 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 23-25, 621 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 26-28, 901 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 29-42, 918 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 43-55, 813 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 56-69, 857 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 5: Nutrient Concentrations and Loads in the Delta, 596 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 6: Major Findings and Recommendations for Future Work, 98 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • References, 103 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Appendices: Summary of Nutrient and Flow Data, 298 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Conceptual Model for Organic Carbon in the Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
  • Complete Document, 9.1 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Document Sections
    • Document Cover, Table of Contents, and Executive Summary, 241 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 1: Introduction, 121 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 2: Organic Carbon in Aquatic Ecosystems and Pathways of Disinfection Byproduct Formation, 187 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 3: Overview of Data Used for Analysis
      • Chapter 3, pages 1-5 , 1.04 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 3, pages 6-10, 578 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 3, pages 11-19, 842 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 4: Loads Transported From Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins
      • Chapter 4, pages 1-15, 1.36 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 16-20, 1.06 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 21-25, 953 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 26-30, 1.15 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 31-40, 1.09 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 41-50, 1.30 MB*, PDF (PDF Info)
      • Chapter 4, pages 51-60, 374 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 5: Organic Carbon Concentrations and Loads in the Delta, 478 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Chapter 6: Major Findings and Recommendations for Future Work, 177 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • References, 99 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
    • Appendices: Summary of Organic Carbon and Flow Data, 171 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Drinking Water Policy Constituent Prioritization Summary, 103 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  Technical memo summarizing the process the Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup used to prioritize drinking water constituents for future work.
• Identification of Existing Data and Planned Monitoring, 970 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  An inventory of existing major water quality data sources for drinking water consitutents of concern. The metadata spreadsheet used to compile this report is available upon request.
• Resolution in Support of Developing a Drinking Water Policy for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Upstream Tributaries
  The purpose of the resolution is to show progress toward developing a policy and affirm the Regional Board's commitment to the effort.
  • Resolution No. R5-2004-0091, 33 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
  • Staff Report, 632 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Drinking Water Policy Fact Sheet, 76 KB, PDF (PDF Info)
• Technical Workplan, 40 KB, PDF (PDF Info)

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--Web page updated 08/28/2008