Office of Enforcement reports $37 million in 2024 liabilities, expands sanitary‑sewer inspections focused on overburdened communities

Yvonne West, director of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Office of Enforcement, told the board on Feb. 4 that statewide enforcement activity in 2024 resulted in about $37 million in assessed liability through settlements, administrative civil liability orders and other mechanisms, and highlighted a growing emphasis on environmental justice (EJ)‑focused enforcement work.

West said regional boards and state offices conducted more than 5,000 water quality inspections and issued over 3,000 enforcement actions in 2024, including 165 administrative civil liability orders totaling roughly $19 million, of which about $9 million was directed to supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) in impacted communities. She described training events and staff development that addressed emerging issues, including the U.S. Supreme Court Sackett decision and its implications for jurisdictional waters.

West described several program highlights. In water rights enforcement, the Division of Water Rights issued information orders and cease‑and‑desist and civil liability orders to collect diversion and use data and address unauthorized diversions in impaired watersheds. In drinking water, the office assisted the Division of Drinking Water on complex cases, including emergency stabilization of Big Basin Water Company’s system after wildfire damage by helping secure a receiver so the system could be stabilized and operated to provide service.

West outlined several enforcement cases with EJ implications. A long‑running Los Angeles area site cleanup resulted in a settlement that will deposit about $9.8 million into a trust for soil and groundwater cleanup in a disadvantaged community. A separate settlement with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts resolved a release of 8.5 million gallons of untreated wastewater and included about $6 million in penalties with approximately $5.9 million directed to a SEP: a stormwater capture and groundwater recharge project planned to capture and infiltrate about 13.8 acre‑feet of stormwater annually, with multilingual interpretive elements and a hoped‑for completion around January 2028.

West said the office also supported a joint investigation and settlement with the Attorney General’s Environmental Justice Bureau and the Division of Drinking Water against the city of Calexico for pandemic‑era illegal shutoffs, resulting in roughly $150,000 in penalties to the board, $200,000 in conservation programs for residents and more than $50,000 in direct credits to 484 affected customers, plus new customer protections.

West described an Office of Enforcement sanitary‑sewer inspection initiative that uses a prioritization model leveraging CalEnviroScreen and the State’s integrated water quality database to target small, overburdened communities (population under 20,000 with CalEnviroScreen scores above 70) for collection‑system inspections and compliance assistance. The initiative produced an increasing number of inspections across regions: several inspections in early pilot phases and a larger effort in 2024 that completed 15 inspections across Regions 1, 5, 7, 8 and 9, resulting in notices of violation and follow‑up enforcement work designed to bring systems into compliance without imposing undue financial burdens on small communities.

West said the EJ Task Force — a multiagency forum led by U.S. EPA, CalEPA and state boards — continues pilot work in Bayview‑Hunters Point, Fresno, Kern and Los Angeles and supported a newly signed West Oakland partnership agreement to address community concerns after a facility fire. She said Office of Enforcement liaisons attend community forums, coordinate rapid response activities with other agencies and help bring enforcement resources to bear when appropriate.

For 2025, West said office priorities include documenting and training staff on how to respond to regulatory changes after the Sackett decision; working with the Division of Water Rights on a water‑rights enforcement policy for public comment and workshop in 2025 and potential board consideration in 2026; and expanding the office’s role in monitoring compliance with the state’s Shutoff Protection Act following recent state law changes.

Board members thanked West for the overview and pressed for further detail on notice‑of‑violation outcomes and how many matters are resolved at the NOV stage rather than escalating. West said roughly a third of NOVs do not proceed to formal enforcement actions and said the office would provide additional breakdowns and follow up on staff and outreach methods.