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CSPA appeals Regional Board's blind-eyed approval of Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant permit
March 12, 2009 -- CSPA has appealed the recently issued wastewater discharge permit for the City of Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant. The facility discharges up to 10.4 million gallons a day of treated wastewater into Tule Canal thence the Yolo Bypass and subsequently to the Sacramento River. The beneficial uses of Tule Canal include; municipal and agricultural supply, contact and non-contact recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, commercial and sport fishing, aquaculture, water and cold freshwater habitat warm and cold migration of aquatic organisms, warm spawning, reproduction and early development and wildlife habitat.
The permit was approved 5 February 2009 by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and appealed to the State Water Resources Control Board on 4 March 2009.
CSPA's petition alleges that the Regional Board ignored specific regulatory requirements mandated by the federal Clean Water Act. Specifically, the permit backslides in adopting less stringent discharge limits than were included in previous permits. It also contains a seriously deficient antidegradation analysis.
The Woodland permit continues the Schwarzeneger Administration's business-friendly policy of ignoring explicit requirements mandated by federal law in issuing permits for wastewater discharge. This U-turn in environmental protection increasingly threatens California's already depressed fisheries.
CSPA routinely reviews, provides comments and, where necessary, appeals and litigates Regional Board permits that are not protective of fisheries and beneficial uses and fail to conform to regulatory requirements.