Complete TMDL and Basin Plan Amendments for Mercury

The State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards complete Total Maximum Daily Loads and Basin Plan Amendments for methyl mercury.

Measure Details

In May 2017, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted Resolution 2017-0027, which approved “Part 2 of the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California—Tribal and Subsistence Fishing Beneficial Uses and Mercury Provisions” and established mercury limits to protect the beneficial uses associated with the consumption of fish by both people and wildlife.

Delta Plan Strategy

Improve Environmental Water Quality

Delta Plan Recommendation

WQ R8. Completion of Regulatory Processes, Research, and Monitoring for Water Quality Improvements. The State Water Resources Control Board and the San Francisco Bay and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Boards are currently engaged in regulatory processes, research, and monitoring essential to improving water quality in the Delta. In order to achieve the coequal goals, it is essential that these ongoing efforts be completed and, if possible, accelerated, and that the Legislature and Governor devote sufficient funding to make this possible. The Delta Stewardship Council specifically recommends that:

• The State Water Resources Control Board should complete development of the proposed policy for nutrients for inland surface waters of the State of California by January 1, 2014.
• The State Water Resources Control Board and the San Francisco Bay and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Boards should prepare and begin implementation of a study plan for the development of objectives for nutrients in the Delta and Suisun Marsh by January 1, 2014. Studies needed for development of Delta and Suisun Marsh nutrient objectives should be completed by January 1, 2016. The water boards should adopt and begin implementation of nutrient objectives, either narrative or numeric, where appropriate, for the Delta and Suisun Marsh by January 1, 2018.
• The State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board should complete the Central Valley Pesticide Total Maximum Daily Load and Basin Plan Amendment for diazinon and chlorpyrifos by January 1, 2013.
• The State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board should prioritize and accelerate the completion of the Central Valley Pesticide Total Maximum Daily Load and Basin Plan Amendment for pyrethroids by January 1, 2016.
• The State Water Resources Control Board and the San Francisco Bay and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Boards have completed Total Maximum Daily Load and Basin Plan Amendments for methylmercury, and efforts to support their implementation should be coordinated. Parties identified as responsible for current methylmercury loads or proponents of projects that may increase methylmercury loading in the Delta or Suisun Marsh should participate in control studies or implement site-specific study plans that evaluate practices to minimize methylmercury discharges. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board should review these control studies by December 31, 2018, and determine control measures for implementation starting in 2020.