Water Quality Protection in the Temecula Valley Wine Country

The San Diego Water Board has initiated a workgroup to develop a plan for addressing potential water quality impacts resulting from future development within the Temecula Valley Wine Country. The Temecula Valley Wine Country Community Plan area encompasses approximately 19,200 acres generally east of the City of Temecula, south of Lake Skinner, west of Vail Lake; roughly framed by Butterfield Stage Rd, State Route 79 (SR-79), De Portola Road, and Borel Road. Within this area, the number of wineries over the past decade has nearly doubled, from approximately 18 to 34, with more than thirty new projects in process for development with the County of Riverside (County). Along with vineyards and other agricultural uses, the area’s existing development activities also include large, single-family residential and equestrian estates, bed and breakfast inns, restaurants, equestrian centers and special occasion facilities. The County of Riverside is preparing an amendment to its General Plan establishing the Community Plan for this area. See http://www.rctlma.org/planning/content/temp/wine_country_2020.html

The workgroup is made up of representatives of the property owners, Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association, onsite wastewater treatment industry, County of Riverside, Eastern Municipal Water District, Rancho California Water District, and the San Diego Water Board. The immediate focus of the workgroup is to develop general waste discharge requirements that enable the San Diego Water Board to expeditiously process individual project proposals in the Temecula Valley Wine Country by taking a holistic approach to addressing sources of pollutants in the area.
This approach will encompass application of several San Diego Water Board regulatory mechanisms and programs pertaining to the discharge of pollutants to ground and surface water into one regulatory document.

The San Diego Water Board considers this project as a step in developing a comprehensive approach that takes into account the relationship between land use and potential impacts to water resources. As stated in the State Water Resources Control Board's Strategic Plan Update 2008-2010.
Groundwater management generally requires that legally-formed entities subject to regulation be assigned responsibility for management of the resource. The duties of these entities would be to ensure that extraction, inflow, pollutant input, and pollutant output are managed to result in a sustainable situation that protects beneficial uses.

The Temecula Valley Wine Country project manager for the San Diego Water Board is Mr. Fisayo Osibodu, who can be contacted at 619-521-8036 or by email at Olufisayo.Osibodu@waterboards.ca.gov.

Meeting Information

The following are documents background information for completing this project.

Regional Permits

Reference Documents

Salinity

Nutrients

Irrigation Management

Other