Please attend the upcoming hearing of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, to be held in Santa Rosa.

On Monday, May 8th, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board plans to make a decision regarding the new watershed-wide waste discharge requirements which will govern permitting of various activities on industrial timberlands.

On April 25th, the Water Board directed the parties involved in this matter* to respond to certain questions and provide feedback about the Watershed-Wide Waste Discharge Requirements proposed by the Water Board's Issuance Team.

That has been done, and the Advisory Team--consisting of Water Board staff members and counsel--has issued revised versions of the staff's proposed WWWDRs. Some changes have been made incorporating provisions about proposed studies to evaluate the feasiblity of infrastructure improvements.

The primary elements of the staff's proposed WWWDRs have not been changed. EPIC sees this as a positive sign, as we believe it means that the Regional Board may adopt WWWDRs to provide effective interim requirements as we await the pending long-term solution to be incorporated into TMDLs' (Total Maximum Daily Load) requirements, a measure which is in process but will not not be ready for review for some time yet.

It would be great to have EPIC friends providing support for our perspective. If you live in the Santa Rosa area and can spend some time Monday morning participating in a public hearing, please come. You can just witness the proceedings, or you can offer comment (see below for more information).

Monday, May 8th, 2006, at 9:00 am
Fountain Grove Conference Center
Camelot Room
101 Fountaingrove Parkway
Santa Rosa, CA 95403-1777


*PALCO, Freshwater Creek and Elk River Watersheds Land, Ranch and Property Owners, Residents and Managers, California Forestry Association, Humboldt Watershed Council, EPIC, and the Elk River Residents Association