Central Valley Drinking Water Policy for
Surface Waters of the Delta and
its Upstream Tributaries

To request a copy of documents listed on this page, please contact Jay Simi at Jay.Simi@waterboards.ca.gov or (916) 464-4833.

  What's New!

Amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins to establish a Drinking Water Policy for surface waters of the Delta and its upstream tributaries were adopted by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board on 26 July 2013. The Amendments include a new narrative water quality objective for the Cryptosporidium and Giardia, along with implementation provisions, as well clarification to the existing narrative water quality objective for chemical constituents. The amendments were approved by the State Water Board on 3 December 2013, the Office of Administrative Law on 19 May 2014, and by the US Environmental Protection Agency on 20 November 2014.

  • 2013 April 16 - Seminar and discussion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed Models for Water Supply / Water Quality Sponsored by the Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup
    • Presentation Materials
  • 2013 April 11 - A public hearing was held to receive comments on an amendment to the Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan) for the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Basins to establish a Drinking Water Policy for Surface Waters of the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta and Upstream Tributaries. The proposed Policy will be considered for adoption during the July 2013 meeting of the Central Valley Water Board.
    Materials from the 2013 public hearing:
    • Staff Presentation
    • Drinking Water Policy Fact Sheet
    • Drinking Water Policy Information Pamphlet
  • 2013 March 25 - REVISED Notice of Public Workshop and Public Hearing and Notice of Filing of draft Environmental Documents - Drinking Water Policy for Surface Waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Upstream Tributaries
  • 2013 February - Draft Basin Plan Amendment and Staff Report to Establish a Drinking Water Policy for Surface Waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Upstream Tributaries
    • Comments Received:
      • Central Valley Drinking Water Workgroup Core Team
      • David Smith, Janet Hashimoto; United States Environmental Protection Agency
      • Dennis Westcott; San Joaquin River Group Authority
  • 2012 February 21 - The Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup has finalized a report documenting and synthesizing the results of technical studies conducted to support the development of a Central Valley Drinking Water Policy.
    • Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup Synthesis Report
  • 2011 November 3 - Final Drinking Water Policy Outline, Workplan, and Funding Proposal Approved by the Central Valley Water Board Executive Officer
    • Approval Memo
    • Policy Outline
    • Workplan/Funding Proposal
  • 2011 October 13 - Update on Drinking Water Policy Development, Information Item during the Central Valley Water Board Meeting
    • October Information Item, Agenda Package
    • October Information Item, Staff Presentation
  • 2011 April 26 - Drinking Water Treatment Evaluation
    • Cover Letter and Comment Table
    • Project Report
  • 2011 April 25 - Watershed Analysis Risk Management Framework (WARMF) Model Documentation
    • Sacramento River Calibration
    • San Joaquin River Calibration
    • CALSIM Linkage
    • Sensitivity Analysis
  • 2011 March 23 - Source Control Evaluations
    The following studies were conducted to provide inputs and refinements for modeling efforts evaluating various future scenarios and their impacts on drinking water treatment needs of Delta water. The wastewater and urban runoff studies include predicted future regulatory scenarios and cost estimates.
    • Evaluation of the current and predicted 2030 loads for drinking water constituents of concern that are discharged by Publicly Owned Treatment Works within the Sacramento River, San Joaquin River and tributary watersheds to the Delta. Wastewater Control Measures Study
    • Evaluation of current and projected 2030 urban land uses and water quality of urban runoff in the Central Valley. Urban Sources Study
    • Refinement of Agricultural Inputs for Analytical Modeling. Agricultural Inputs Document
  • 2010 July 29 - Resolution R5-2010-0079
    • Comments were received by 1 July 2010 from the following entities:
      • California Urban Water Agencies
      • Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District
      • Carol DiGiorgio with the Department of Water Resources
      • Central Valley Clean Water Association
      • California Department of Public Health
      • City of Sacramento Stormwater Management Program
  • 2008 September - Technical memorandum regarding the study boundaries for identifying and evaluating the effects that changes in water quality might have on central valley water treatment plants.
    • Drinking Water Treatment Evaluation, Definition of Study Boundaries
  • 2008 July - CEQA Scoping
    A public workshop and CEQA scoping meeting was held on August 25, 26, and 27th in Rancho Cordova, Stockton and Chico, respectively.
    • Notice of Public Workshop and CEQA Scoping Meeting
    • CEQA Scoping Staff Report
    • Power Point presentation for the CEQA scoping meetings
      CEQA Scoping Comments:
      • California Urban Water Agencies
      • Central Valley Clean Water Association
      • G. Fred Lee & Associates
      • Rancho Murieta Community Services District
      • Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District
  • 2007 - Technical memorandums regarding the evaluation of drinking water quality goals as well as a summary table for the evaluation.
    • Review Procedures, Policies, and Guidance Used by Other California Agencies
    • Review Procedures, Policies, and Guidance Used by US EPA
    • Identify Water Quality Goals or Policies Adopted by Other States and Countries
    • Review California Regional Water Board Basin Plans and Policies
    • Summary Table
  • 2007 August 24 - Conceptual Model for Pathogens and Pathogen Indicators
    • Complete Document
    • Document Sections
      • Report Cover, Table of Contents, & Executive Summary
      • Chapter 1
      • Chapter 2, pages 1-11
      • Chapter 2, page 12
      • Chapter 2, page 13-14
      • Chapter 3, page 1-5
      • Chapter 3, pages 6-8
      • Chapter 3, pages 9-23
      • Chapter 4 and 5
  • 2007 July - Conceptual Model for Salinity in the Central Valley and Sacramento San Joaquin Delta
    • Complete Document
    • Document Pages
      • Pages 1-12
      • Pages 13-27
      • Pages 28-38
      • Pages 39-55
      • Pages 56-58
      • Pages 59-61
      • Pages 62-65
  • 2006 December 11 - The Future for Drinking Water Contaminant Regulations
    Bruce Macler, USEPA Region 9, delivered a presentation to the Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup on 11 December 2006. The presentation centered on how EPA develops regulations for contaminants of concern in drinking water and how a drinking water regulation is initiated and promulgated including the information necessary to list a contaminant on the Candidate Contaminant List (CCL). Bruce concluded with a review of the current status of various constituents on the CCL and emerging constituents of concern.
  • 2006 October 3 - Public Workshop
    The intent of this workshop was to update interested stakeholders and the general public on the status of development of the drinking water policy and related efforts and to obtain input.
    • Agenda
    • Summary
    • Presentations
      The Drinking Water Policy Workgroup collaborates with several agencies to acquire and share data and modeling tools. These agencies presented updates on their ongoing studies related to drinking water quality, some of which are posted below.
      • Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Overview
      • Overview of Technical Studies
      • Conceptual Models for Organic Carbon, Nutrients, and Pathogens
      • Conceptual Model for Salinity
      • Basin Plan Amendment Process & Schedule
      • Relationship of Drinking Water Policy to CALFED Program
      • Policy Issues to be Addressed & Next Steps
      • Central Valley Salinity Management Plan
      • Delta Water Quality Fingerprinting Using DSM2
      • Developing and Testing Rangeland BMPs That Account for Temporal and Spatial Variability of Transport of DOC and Nutrients
      • Monitoring Existing Water Quality at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge
  • 2006 September - Drinking Water Policy Fact Sheet Update #1
  • 2006 September 20 - Conceptual Model for Nutrients in the Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
    • Complete Document
    • Document Sections
      • Document Cover, Table of Contents, and Executive Summary
      • Chapter 1: Introduction
      • Chapter 2: Nutrient in Aquatic Ecosystems and Pathways of Disinfection Byproduct Formation
      • Chapter 3: Overview of Data Used for Analysis
        • Chapter 3, pages 1-11
        • Chapter 3, pages 12-21
        • Chapter 3, pages 22-25
        • Chapter 3, pages 26-35
      • Chapter 4: Loads Transported From Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins
        • Chapter 4, pages 1-14
        • Chapter 4, pages 15-17
        • Chapter 4, pages 18-22
        • Chapter 4, pages 23-25
        • Chapter 4, pages 26-28
        • Chapter 4, pages 29-42
        • Chapter 4, pages 43-55
        • Chapter 4, pages 56-69
      • Chapter 5: Nutrient Concentrations and Loads in the Delta
      • Chapter 6: Major Findings and Recommendations for Future Work
      • References
      • Appendices: Summary of Nutrient and Flow Data
  • 2006 April 14 - Conceptual Model for Organic Carbon in the Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
    • Complete Document
    • Document Sections
      • Document Cover, Table of Contents, and Executive Summary
      • Chapter 1: Introduction
      • Chapter 2: Organic Carbon in Aquatic Ecosystems and Pathways of Disinfection Byproduct Formation
      • Chapter 3: Overview of Data Used for Analysis
        • Chapter 3, pages 1-5
        • Chapter 3, pages 6-10
        • Chapter 3, pages 11-19
      • Chapter 4: Loads Transported From Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins
        • Chapter 4, pages 1-15
        • Chapter 4, pages 16-20
        • Chapter 4, pages 21-25
        • Chapter 4, pages 26-30
        • Chapter 4, pages 31-40
        • Chapter 4, pages 41-50
        • Chapter 4, pages 51-60
      • Chapter 5: Organic Carbon Concentrations and Loads in the Delta
      • Chapter 6: Major Findings and Recommendations for Future Work
      • References
      • Appendices: Summary of Organic Carbon and Flow Data
  • 2005 March 7 - Drinking Water Policy Constituent Prioritization Summary
    Technical memo summarizing the process the Central Valley Drinking Water Policy Workgroup used to prioritize drinking water constituents for future work.
  • 2004 August 10 - Identification of Existing Data and Planned Monitoring
    An inventory of existing major water quality data sources for drinking water constituents of concern. The metadata spreadsheet used to compile this report is available upon request.
  • 2004 July 9 - Resolution in Support of Developing a Drinking Water Policy for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Upstream Tributaries
    The purpose of the resolution is to show progress toward developing a policy and affirm the Regional Board's commitment to the effort.
  • 2003 January 14 - Technical Workplan

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Facts & Information

  • Drinking Water Policy Fact Sheet