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Water Quality Bccause of natural and mwmwde toxics and pollutants. municipal \I'ater agencies invest ill costly lreall1le1lf eql/ipmellf to provide safe \l'll1er that 111a[s state a/ld federal guidelines. 18 For decades, Californians have taken for granted a high quality water supply. The state's largest urban centers take much of their water from clean Sierra snowmelt. Other communities have relied on high quality groundwater aquifers. Water quality is regulated by several state agencies, including the State Board and its nine regional boards and the Department at Health Services. The tormer admin- isters laws such as the Clean Water Grant Program, which funds construction of waste treatment facilities. The latter administers the tederal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which establishes enforceable maximum contaminant levels for various chemicals in drinking water. The SDWA passed in 1974. regulates drinking water quality and authorizes EPA to set water quality standards and was amended in 1996 to place more emphasis on the control of microscopic diseases, including Cyptosporidium, The SDWA reauthorization was the second major overhaul of the law since its enactment. Water supplies have been contaminated by both man made and natural hazardous substances, includ- ing industrial wastes, pesticides, urban runoff and microscopic organisms. Providing clean water for drinking and other uses is a high priority. Many consider the greatest threat to surface water to come from nonpoint sources of pollution, such as runoff from agricultural fields, construction sites, city streets and abandoned mines. Controlling non point pollu- tion, however, is very difficult because it is diffuse and there are only minimal regulatory measures in this area. In recent years, control over such nonpoint pollution sources has increased interest in watershed management. Supporters believe that taking a more holistic approach to managing the water and land use within a watershed will help prevent pollution. Numerous national and state laws have been passed in an attempt to deal with the problems of toxic chemi- cal contamination of groundwater, surface water and the surrounding environment. Notable among them is the CWA. passed by Congress in 1972 and administered by EPA. The CWA established a national commitment to restoring and maintaining national waters in "fishable, swimmable" quality. Under the CWA, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) are becoming an integral part of both federal and state regulations of pollutants in water- ways. According to the EPA, TMDLs are "a calcula- tion of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards." In a precedent setting move, a federal judge ruled in April 2000 that the federal EPA can set limits on pollution of rivers caused by logging, agricultural runoff and other non.point source pollution. California is currently working to establish these limits on waterways throughout the state. In addition to TMDLs, a number ot efforts are being undertaken to reduce the number of toxins affecting the state's waterways. The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. known as Proposition 65, prohibits companies from deliberately releasing chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects into the environment. As of 2000, California had 96 federal "superlund" sites (referred to as the National Priority List) and 360 state "superlund- sites. Another major water quality problem facing the state is the build up of salt and selenium in agricultural soil. For years, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and in the Imperial and Coachella valleys to the south kept salt tram building up in the soil and shallow groundwater by installing underground drainage facilities. However, the salty drainage water contains selenium and when concentrated in an evaporation pond or other drainage facility, salt and selenium can reach levels toxic to the birds attracted to these ponds. Westlands has been working in cooperation with the Bureau to retire its most saline land. So far, approximately 56 miltion has been spent by the Bureau to retire 2,000 acres of land as part of a demonstration project with plans to retire 7,000 acres by 2004. Eventually. the Bureau would like to retire 33.000 acres of land by 2040. Likewise. similar plans are in the works to retire 15,000 acres of land in Fresno County, southeastern Kings County and southwestern Tulare County as part of a demonstration project. In the San Joaquin Valley, some of the irrigation drainage was conveyed through the San Luis Drain to Kesterson Reservoir for temporary storage. In 1983, hundreds of dying adult birds and deformed embryos were found at the reservoir. Toxic levels of selenium, a naturally occurring trace element, were revealed to be the cause. Though Kesterson Reservoir has since been filled in and the drain closed. the experience prompted a look at other parts of the state and West. Subsequently, other areas in California were found to be contaminated with selenium, including the Salton Sea and Tulare Lake Bed Area. The Salton Sea, in southern California, is fed primarily by agricultural drainage from the Imperial and Coachella valleys. In the Tulare Lake Sed Area in the Central Valley, selenium levels in some of the wetlands and evaporation ponds exceeded those found at Kesterson.