Water Board Reissued WDR To Dairies

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board in early October adopted Reissued Waste Discharge Requirements General Order No. R5-2013-0122 for existing milk cow dairies.

The water board will soon be sending out a letter to each dairy notifying them that they are now covered under the reissued order in place of the 2007 order. 

A copy of the Reissued Dairy General Order may be downloaded at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/water_issues/dairies/dairy_program_regs_requirements/index.shtml.   The water board was mandated by a court order to set aside the Dairy WDR adopted in 2007 and reissue the Order once it complied with the court’s writ of mandate.

The reissued order, which is now 167 pages in length, strengthens the language within the document and makes it clear that the practices that dairy producers having been implementing for several years meet the requirements of the State’s antidegradation policy. 

 For dairies that are members of the Representative Monitoring Program (RMP) will continue to meet the requirement for groundwater monitoring.

Source: Western United Dairymen, Modesto