Water Quality Report Card- Pesticides in the Palo Verde Outfall Drain and Lagoon

The Palo Verde Outfall Drain (PVOD) and Lagoon is located in Palo Verde Valley and Mesa (approximately 131,000 acres of agricultural land) in Imperial and Riverside counties. PVOD and Lagoon are impaired by the legacy pesticide toxaphene, and listed on the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List. Discharges from irrigated agriculture were identified as the primary source of toxaphene. This impairment is being addressed by the Palo Verde Agricultural Conditional Waiver (Agricultural Order) of Waste Discharge Requirements, adopted by the Regional Water Board in September 2012. The Responsible Parties (RPs) for complying with the Agricultural Order are agricultural and drain maintenance dischargers. The Agricultural Order requires the dischargers to: a) implement management practices to effectively control discharges of waste and meet water quality standards; b) monitor and report consistent with the Implementation and Enforcement of the Non-Point Source Control Program Policy; and c) pay state fees. The Palo Verde Outfall Coalition (Coalition) was formed to assist member RPs in complying with Agricultural Order requirements. The Agricultural Order the expired on September 20, 2017 did not require monitoring of toxaphene in water nor fish tissue. The Regional Water Board plans to replace it with a General Order of Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) that will require monitoring toxaphene in water and fish tissue.