The California State Water Resources Control Board has approved a rate increase for water quality and water rights programs to meet budgetary shortfalls.
The board approved an increase in water quality fees for programs in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund (WDPF) and a 7.2% increase in water rights fees for the Water Rights Fund.
Specifically in the WDPF, for the 2022-23 fiscal year, the board approved increases of 3.8% for waste discharge requirements, 3.8% for land disposal, 13.1% for water quality certification (Section 401 certificate), 4.1% for the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System for stormwater, 4.1% for confined animal facilities and 3.9% for the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program.
“We recognize there’s a cost to administer these programs, but I feel they don’t consider the reality facing our farmers, so it’s another example of death by a thousand cuts,” Brent Burchett, executive director of the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau, said.
