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Rob Roy, the Co-Chair of the Ventura County Agricultural Water Quality Coalition recently appeared before a meeting
of the Association of Water Agencies of Ventura County to brief them on the emergence of the Ventura Agricultural
Water Quality Coalition as a strong and unified voice to speak out about the looming threat to Ventura County’s
water quality. Mr. Roy outlined how the Coalition was established to represent a broad array of agricultural,
businesses and water interests to address a growing water quality issue in the Santa Clara Valley and Oxnard Plain.
Mr. Roy provided an overview of the historical background on agriculture’s role in the history of Ventura County, as
well as the many protections afforded to the agricultural industry which conveys the clear intent of the citizens of
Ventura County to protect the agricultural industry.
Mr. Roy also spoke about the emerging water quality issues affecting the agricultural industry and the Ventura County
business community including the Calleguas Watershed Management Plan, development of a conditional waiver for
irrigated lands, and the adoption by the Regional Water Board of the Santa Clara River Watershed Chloride TMDL. He
also noted that the LA County Sanitation District is operating two large waste water treatment plants across the
County line in Saugus and Valencia. These treatment plants discharge approximately 20 million gallons of effluent
daily. Over a period of one year, it is estimated that the effluent contains 4 to 7 millions pounds of chloride that is
dumped into the Santa Clara River. Mr. Roy conveyed the sense of deep concern among the agricultural community
that the concentration of chloride is slowly increasing over time due to population growth in the Santa Clarita area, as
well as the use of self-regenerating water softeners.
Mr. Roy observed that while the LA County Sanitation District is currently engaged in a collaborative process to
investigate scientific literature supporting a chloride limit for water quality that is protective of beneficial agricultural
uses, it is also under an obligation to conduct scientific studies with regard to both groundwater and surface water
interaction. Mr. Roy expressed his concern that the focus of the studies appeared to concentrate on the upper
reaches of the Santa Clara River and not downstream. This myopic perspective of the water chloride problem in the
Santa Clara River watershed fails to deal with the cumulative impact of excessive amounts of chloride being dumped
into the Santa Clara River by these waste water treatment plants on a daily basis.
Mr. Roy conveyed his belief that the Coalition has both the moral, as well as the legal high-ground with regard to this
issue in that California’s water quality laws are clear: a polluter is not allowed to reduce the value of water so that it
can no longer be used in a beneficial manner. Mr. Roy believes that the Regional Board needs to re-examine its
previous decision to allow such pollution to continue. In this regard, the Coalition intends to submit comments to the
Regional Board by April 14, 2005, on a request by the LA County Sanitation District to revise the District’s two NPDES
permits issued to the above waste water treatment facilities to conform with the higher limit of 230 mg/l allowed in
the TMDL. The two NPDES permits issued to the waste water treatment plants are being revised to update their
chloride effluent interim limits and make them consistent with the Regional Board’s previous Resolution adopting a
chloride TMDL for the Upper Santa Clara River. Mr. Roy indicated that the Coalition plans to be present at the May 5,
2005 public hearing scheduled before the Los Angeles Regional Water Board on this issue to make its viewpoints
known to the Board and request that the Board re-visit the appropriateness of the interim TMDL.
In concluding his remarks, Mr. Roy also acknowledged the recent addition of the United Water Conservation District,
the California Strawberry Commission, Camulos Ranch Company and A.A. Naumann, Inc. as new members of the
Coalition and that the Coalition in inviting the prestigious Association of Water Agencies of Ventura County to join the
Coalition’s efforts to counter this serious threat to Ventura County’s water quality.