Lahontan to discuss renewal of grazing waiver
A Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control, Board workshop on Livestock Grazing and Water Quality affecting the Bridgeport Valley will be held on July 11-12 in South Lake Tahoe.
According to the workshop description, “Staff will present information on recent efforts to modify grazing activities to protect or improve water quality, including grant support to install and evaluate grazing management practices.”
The agenda bill goes on to say that “Nearly 100 water quality impairments identified on the 2010 Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list (impaired water bodies list) in California are located on lands with active grazing operations; these grazing operations are likely contributing to many of these water quality impairments and associated impacts. Some of these impairments are due to bacteria or pathogens. In the Lahontan region, thirteen of the 43 water body segments listed as impaired are for violations of pathogen water quality objectives. This is 30% of the Region’s listed waters. The total mileage of pathogen-listed streams is 87 miles. Because many of these water bodies are located in the Bridgeport Valley of Mono County, the Water Board began focusing actions to address the impairments in this watershed … “
“During the 2011 field season, staff collected water samples from several streams in the Eastern Sierra. Samples were analyzed for two bacterial indicators (fecal coliform and E. coli). The results show that the highest concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria occurred at sites where rangeland livestock grazing was the predominant land use.”
So what does this all mean?
That there is a process to revise water quality standards going forward, and although a completed plan is not expected until 2019, further data is being collected now.
In the interim, the Lahontan Board will discuss possible renewal of the 2007 General Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements for Grazing Operations in the East Walker River Watershed. The staff report indicates that “grazing management practice implementation aided in meeting the interim standard in most waters at most sampling events, but have not yet resulted in full compliance.”
The agenda item is expected to be addressed during Wednesday’s afternoon meeting session.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Lahontan Board Room located at 971 Silver Dollar Ave. in South Lake Tahoe.
