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DPC Convenes Panel to Discuss Delta Mercury TMDL
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Board) is developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) value for mercury in the Delta. Such TMDLs have already been approved for Cache Creek, San Francisco Bay, and other California waterways. The Board's process consists of two parts: Delta methylmercury TMDL development and a Basin Plan Amendment. Regarding the first step, a report titled "Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary TMDL for Methyl and Total Mercury Draft Report" was released in 2005; revisions are posted to the Board's web page. The second step will culminate in a Basin Plan Amendment staff report which will propose a site-specific water quality objective for the Delta, an implementation plan to achieve the objective, and regulations to reduce mercury and methylmercury discharges; a draft of this report was scheduled to be released in March 2006. The board held a workshop to receive stakeholder input in March 2007. Staff is working on the report. It will be released for comments by interested parties prior to starting a Board hearing tentatively scheduled for March 2008. More information on the process is available at www.waterboards.ca.gov.
The Delta Protection Commission (Commission) convened a collaborative group to provide coordinated input into the Board's Delta mercury TMDL process. The Collaborative expressed a desire for integration of the Commission's Land Use and Resource Management Plan for the Primary Zone of the Delta (Plan), several "Delta visioning" processes and programs being undertaken by other entities, multi-species HCP/NCCPs, and other prominent Delta activities, into the process.
To date, the Collaborative includes representatives from:
- CA Bay-Delta Authority
- CA Dept. of Fish and Game
- CA Dept. of Water Resources
- US Dept. of Agriculture
- Contra Costa Water Agency
- Sacramento County Sanitation District
- San Joaquin County Public Works
- San Joaquin County RCD
- Yolo HCP/NCCP JPA
- Yolo Basin Foundation
- The Nature Conservancy
- Ducks Unlimited
- HART Restoration
- DCC Engineering
- KSN Engineering
- Environmental Justice Water Coalition
- Delta Landowners/Stakeholders
- Yolo County Planning, Resources & Public Works
Collaborative Meeting Schedule:
Collaborative Documents:
- Collaborative Letter to Regional Board, April 24, 20 (pdf)
- Fact Sheet on the Collaborative (pdf)
- Initial letter to Central Valley RWQCB re the Collaborative (pdf)
- AB 2901: Mercury Monitoring and Remediation Act (pdf)
- AB 909: Mercury Monitoring and Remediation Act (pdf)
- March 2006 letter in support of AB 2901 concepts (pdf)
- Clean Water Future for California (pdf), a report by the Environment California Research & Policy Center.
- March 2006 letter to Central Valley RWQCB (pdf)
- Update from May 25, 2006 DPC meeting (pdf)
- Update for July 27, 2006 meeting (pdf)
- September 2006 letter to Central Valley RWQCB (pdf)
- February 2007 letter to Regional Board (pdf)
- February 2007 letter to SWRCB (pdf)
- February 2007 letter to State Water Board (pdf)