California water quality officials consider regulations to control agricultural runoff
Water Tech Online
12/14/2010
SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. — The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Board is considering whether to adopt new regulations to control polluting runoff from agricultural fields, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.
The results of a surface water study released last month indicated that water samples from the Central Coast were among the most toxic in California, the article stated.
Samples taken from agricultural areas were more likely to be toxic.
The proposed rules call for reduction or elimination of agricultural pollutants and increasingly stringent monitoring programs depending on a farming operation’s size, its pesticide use, the type of crops it grows and its proximity to impaired waterways, according to the story.
