TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Kim Withrow, Environmental Health Supervisor
SUBJECT: Approval of Memorandum of Understanding to Continue Winery Wastewater Program Management
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize Agreement No. 8676 with the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board to continue to provide oversight and issue operating permits to existing wineries. (No Fiscal Impact; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFRWQCB) has the authority to issue Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) for discharges of waste from each individual winery within their region. Local oversight of winery wastewater discharges has been in place since the late 1970's when the SFRWQCB provided a waiver of waste discharge requirements to wineries in Napa County if the Division of Environmental Health (EH) approved the subsurface discharge of wastewater. The first memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in November 1982 between Napa County and the SFRWQCB, which authorized Napa County to oversee winery wastewater treatment and surface discharges from ponds. The MOU and winery program has been updated several times over the years including a revised MOU in 1991 and a substantial update to the program by letter of authorization in 2003, allowing the use of advanced treatment systems with surface discharge of treated wastewater in lieu of treatment and storage in ponds. This change provides more land for agriculture while still allowing facilities to treat and beneficially reuse winery process water.
In January 2021, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopted Order WQ 2021-0002-DWQ, "General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water", also known as the Winery General Order (WGO). The WGO established statewide discharge standards, monitoring, and reporting requirements for anyone discharging winery proces...
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