The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2009-10

REGULATE: CONFINED ANIMAL FACILITIES

MEASUREMENTS

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

Dairies are concentrated mostly in the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (R5). The size of the facilities, measured by the number of animals in each facility varies significantly. The data shows that 25 facilities have between 5,000 and 10,000 animals on average. The average number of animals per facility is greater in the Fresno office than in the Sacramento office. The Regional Water Boards may regulate waste discharges from CAFs by issuing or conditionally waiving Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs), as well as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits where the discharge is to waters of the U.S. The dairies regulated in R8 are under an NPDES permit (R8-2008-0001).

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

Wastes generated at CAFs can adversely impact the quality and beneficial uses of waters. There are a wide variety of CAFs that are regulated by the Regional Water Boards. The most well-known are dairies, with the Central Valley Regional Water Board (Region 5) regulating approximately 80% of the dairies in the state. Other types of operations that are regulated by the Regional Water Boards include poulty, swine, equestrian, and veal calf operations. Several Regional Water Boards are evaluating increased regulation of CAFs. In addition to issuing permits, the Regional Water Boards are responsible for conducting inspections, and issuing enforcement actions against both regulated and non-regulated CAFs.

Over the past several years, sectors of animal feeding operations have rapidly and profoundly changed in response to the current economic climate. Approximately 100 dairy operations in the Central Valley region have gone out of business over the past two years, with many of them converting to heifer ranches.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Data source: CIWQS. Period: July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Extracted: August 12, 2010.
• Unit of Measure: Number of regulated dairies and other confined animal facilities in FY 2009-10. Number of Animals declared
• Data Definitions: Inspections conducted by Regional Water Board staff, State Water Board staff, or contractors.
• References: SWRCB CAFO program site http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/npdes/cafo.shtml. 
  R5 CAFO program https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/water_issues/dairies/index.shtml.
  R8 Dairy program https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/santaana/water_issues/programs/dairies/index.shtml
  Additional information on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Final CAFO Rule is available at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/afo/cafofinalrule.cfm.

GLOSSARY

CAF

(Confined Animal Facility) is defined in California regulations as "any place where cattle, calves, sheep, swine, horses, mules, goats, fowl, or other domestic animals are corralled, penned, tethered, or otherwise enclosed or held and where feeding is by means other than grazing."

Dairy

An establishment for processing or selling milk and milk products.

( Updated 9/20/11 )