San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority v. State Water Resources Control Board

This appeal involves two water quality problems in the San Joaquin River. The first problem concerns high levels of salt and boron in a 130-mile stretch from Mendota Dam (west of Fresno) to Vemalis (near Tracy), a stretch referred to as the Lower San Joaquin River. The second problem involves low levels of dissolved oxygen in Stockton’s Deep Water Ship Channel (Ship Channel).

To address these problems, respondent Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board), and in turn respondent State Water Resources Control Board (State Board; collectively, the Boards), approved two amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Basins (Basin Plan).

The first amendment establishes discharge limits for salt and boron, known as “Total Maximum Daily Loads” (TMDL’s), and sets forth an implementation program. We refer to the first amendment as the “Salt/Boron TMDL Amendment.”

The second amendment requires studies from entities responsible for oxygen demand in the Ship Channel, which will then be used to set a TMDL for dissolved oxygen (DO) in the channel. We refer to the second amendment as the “DO Amendment.”

Through…