The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) is considering establishing a limit on the amount of bacteria allowed in the Santa Clara River. Meeting this requirement is going to touch almost every owner of a home or business in the valley. The cost will be significant and there is no funding source from the State to meet this new requirement. The full financial burden of compliance will likely not hit the property owners until we draw closer to the compliance deadlines in 2018 and 2024.

The regulatory process the Board would use to regulate bacteria is called a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) which would limit the concentrations of bacteria discharged into the river and the quantity of bacteria living in the river. Bacteria can come from many sources including sewage treatment plants discharging to the river, farm animals, horses, septic systems, wildlife and storm drains from urban areas.

The TMDL includes recommended strategies and treatment measures to control bacteria. The measures include picking up pet waste, increased street and storm drain cleaning, constructing vegetated filter strips, storm water planters/rain gardens, cisterns, treatment wetlands, media filters and diverting storm drain flow to sewage treatment plants. According to the TMDL Public and private properties would have to be retrofitted with these storm water treatment measures.

Fillmore storm drains have never been tested for bacteria and yet this expensive TMDL is being proposed. The adoption of this TMDL should be postponed until the sources of bacteria are determined and the responsible parties identified. Also Reach 3, Santa Paula and Fillmore, should be excluded because both communities eliminated their treated sewage discharges to the river during the past year and the benefits of that improvement have not been measured.

The required schedule in the draft Bacteria TMDL requires cities to implement a monitoring program within 6-months; prepare an implementation plan within 3-years; achieve dry weather discharge compliance within 8-years; and, within 14-years achieve compliance with wet weather discharges.

The public is welcome to attend the Public Hearing on July 8th being held at the Ventura County Government Center at 800 S. Victoria Avenue Ventura in the Board of Supervisors meeting room beginning at 9:00 A.M.