![]() ![]() Patrick Pulupa, Executive Officer, Central Valley Water Quality Control Board “That begs for large infrastructure improvements, whatever that may look like.” ![]() “When it comes to bringing water in, you have to figure out how to take the salt out,” he said. The problem of salts stems from decades of importing water into the valley through the state’s post-war water conveyance projects. Pulupa said the most important part of the lengthy stakeholder process was that it now includes safe drinking water as part of the plan – a sign of the ag community gradually accepting shared responsibility for cleaning up the drinking water. The proposal offers a number of technical policy recommendations for improving and maintaining water quality, including across drought periods. The negotiations culminated in 2017 with a proposed plan, which was adopted by the regional water board in 2018 and is now awaiting approval by the State Board. The work began with the formation of the CV-SALTS stakeholder coalition in 2006, which grew to include a number of agricultural groups, water agencies and municipalities. Known as the Central Valley Salt and Nitrate Control Program (SNCP), the proposal is a set of technical policy solutions for reducing nitrates and salts in the groundwater while ensuring safe drinking water for impacted communities. The proposed plan will amend the State Board’s overarching basin plans for the Central Valley. Pulupa was presenting the findings of CV-SALTS (Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability) during a meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board on July 2. “The salt is a creeping, pernicious thing that will end much of the most productive agriculture in the Central Valley if it's not effectively managed.” “There's tremendous salt accumulation in the groundwater and in the soils due to the water that's used to irrigate crops in the valley,” said Pulupa, who is the executive officer for the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board. In presenting the group’s recommendations last week, Pulupa said the impacts of salt and nitrate pollution are already costing the state at least $3 billion per year and taking ag land out of production, with salts impacting the valley for decades to come. More than a decade ago, a coalition of stakeholders came together to find a way to “prevent the Mesopotamia-ization of vast swaths of the Central Valley,” according to water policy expert Patrick Pulupa.
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