Regional board outlines draft agricultural water‑quality order for Scott and Shasta watersheds

Eli Scott, senior environmental scientist with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, told the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 6 that the board is drafting an order to regulate discharges from commercial agriculture in the Scott and Shasta watersheds and to implement existing TMDLs (total maximum daily loads) under the Clean Water Act. The draft would move the program from voluntary waivers toward general Waste Discharge Requirements, require enrollment for certain operations and allow growers to enroll either individually or through coalitions.

Scott said the order arose from TMDLs and prior waivers adopted in the mid‑2000s and renewed in 2018 and 2023, and that staff want a program more consistent with statewide precedents and easier to implement at watershed scale. He listed proposed enrollment triggers including a minimum acreage threshold, operations within or adjacent to riparian zones or wetlands, membership in an irrigation district, and operations producing measurable tailwater discharges. He said coalitions can be registered to manage membership, collect fees, perform representative monitoring and report to the state board, taking some…