What’s at Stake for the Sacramento Region?

Delta Policies

Delta policies designed to secure water for other parts of the state may adversely impact or occur at the expense of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region and the Sacramento region. We must work to gain protection from or mitigation for these significant impacts. By nature of geography, Sacramento - and likely our water supplies, land use authority, environmental vitality, river recreation and economy - will be impacted by any policy aimed at solving the issues facing the Delta and securing water for other parts of the state.

Delta Policy Decisions >>>

The National Academy of Sciences Review >>>

Myths vs. Reality >>>

Regional Need for Water Recycling

The need for a reliable water supply is paramount for California's economic viability. To help move toward sustainable management of its water supplies, the State has set goals to increase the use of recycled water by at least one million acre feet per year by 2020. The Sacramento region must also maximize the use of its water resources and recognize that recycled water is a commodity that can greatly enhance the region's overall water portfolio. SRCSD has up to 180,000 acre feet per year of treated wastewater that could be marketed and reused to help the State supplement its water portfolio and help providing a new funding source to help offset the costs of SRCSD's new state-mandated permit.

Learn more about SRCSD's work with a regional coalition to make this innovative program a reality.

Status of SRCSD's New Permit

On December 30, 2011, SRCSD filed a lawsuit in the Sacramento Superior Court requesting relief from the filtration, disinfection, and ammonia removal requirements contained in its new wastewater discharge permit issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Water Board) in December 2010. The permit contains new, very strict mandates on SRCSD's wastewater treatment process that requires construction of new facilities that will cost the Sacramento region approximately $2 billion. For example, the filtration and disinfection requirements included were based on a risk standard that far exceeds all Federal and State water quality standards for pathogens, including USEPA national criteria, and sets a new precedent for restrictive limits on wastewater treatment.

SRCSD is concerned that the permit's conditions and excessive requirements are not based on clear rationale and sound science and that, despite their high cost to Sacramento ratepayers, they will not produce a meaningful public health and environmental protection benefit in the Sacramento River and Delta. Because SRCSD and its ratepayers will bear the expenses associated with constructing the permit-mandated treatment process upgrades, a decision on what those improvements will ultimately be is necessary.

Learn more about the permit and what's next regarding this action.