Welcome to The Office of Enforcement

Dairy General Order Enforcement

The Office of Enforcement has represented the Central Valley Regional Water Board in enforcement actions against dairy farmers who have not complied with the General Order for Existing Milk Cow Dairies.  . 

The 2007 Dairy General Order requires owners and operators of dairy farms in the Central Valley to protect water quality from pollution from nitrates and salts.   Groundwater and surface water pollution can occur if manure, silage, and deceased animals are not handled properly.

Farmers must keep records to ensure they are managing manure waste properly, managing nutrient application to cropland to prevent excess runoff, and performing general housekeeping of the dairy facility to reduce threats to water quality. 

To date, the Water Board has prosecuted more than 75 cases against dairy farmers who have not complied with the Dairy General Order.  More than 60 of these cases have been resolved through administrative adjudication and settlement, yielding $339,000 in penalties paid to the Cleanup and Abatement Account.  Steep fines have been issued to dairy farmers that improperly buried dead dairy cows on their property or discharge raw manure to surface waters, including a $272,000 penalty to a Merced County dairy, and a $1.1 million penalty to a San Joaquin county dairy.