Living Rivers Council v. State Water Res. Control Bd. CA1/2

BACKGROUND

Since the late 1940’s, populations of steelhead and salmon in the Napa River and its tributaries have declined substantially. Sediment from various human activities, including livestock grazing and conversion of native lands to vineyards in more and more of the Napa River watershed, is thought to contribute to that decline. In 1990, the Regional Board, acting pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act (the Clean Water Act) (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.), listed the Napa River as impaired by sedimentation. The Clean Water Act “places primary reliance for developing water quality standards on the states (termed ‘water quality objectives’ in California).” (San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority v. State Water Resources Control Bd. (2010) 183 Cal.App.4th 1110, 1115 (San Joaquin River).) It “focuses on two possible sources of pollution: . . . ‘Point’ sources refer to discrete discharges, such as from a pipe. [Citation.] ‘Nonpoint’ refers to everything else, including agricultural runoff.” (Ibid.) “ ‘California implements the Clean Water Act through the Porter– Cologne [Water Quality Control] Act (Wat. Code, § 13000 et seq.),’ ” under which “ ‘[r]egional boards must…