Happy New Year to everyone! It is a year that will be filled with challenges, as most are, but that’s a good thing; we wouldn't want to be bored. One of the challenges that we in the drinking water business will be facing is the transfer of California ’s Drinking Water Program from the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health (DPH ) to that of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
For those of you who haven’t heard, Governor Brown’s Administration is proposing this transfer take place on
“State policy declares that every human being has the right to clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes. Climate change, increasing population, and economic growth will stretch the limits of our precious water resources and further challenge California ’s ability to achieve this state policy. Consolidating all major water quality programs into one agency would allow the State to better manage and protect our water resources.”
On the surface, it sounds great. Moving this department will consolidate drinking water, waste water, and recycled water programs. As we continue to move toward there being no such thing as “waste water”, but recognize that all water is a resource and needs to be treated as a valuable part of the water cycle, this seems like a good idea. Hopefully, it will streamline the process of permitting for water recycling and water reuse, even the much maligned direct potable reuse that will be a critical part of California ’s water portfolio in the future. All in all, I think this transfer will be good for California .
Of course, the devil is in the details, and there is plenty of opportunity for those details to become so onerous that we wind up with something awful. Such a situation would arise if, for example, the Regional Water Quality Control Boards become involved and dealt with drinking water issues as disparately as they do now with NPDES issues; or if the State Board begins issuing Minimum Mandatory Penalties for any and all infractions, no matter how minor, instead of the “find it and fix it” approach taken by DPH . These would truly be steps backward that would harm the overall program and limit any progress toward the State’s goals.
There is a public meeting scheduled for January 15 on the issue, and you can check out the following resources to get more information:
And please, let me know what you think of this change. I’d be happy to hear from you. Either leave a comment to this post, or e-mail me.
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