Our Goal
The goal of DPR's Surface Water Protection Program is to characterize pesticide residues, identify the sources of the contamination, determine the mechanisms of off-site movement of pesticides to surface water, and develop site-specific mitigation strategies. These are done primarily through surface water monitoring in consultation with other agencies, and research to characterize the factors that lead to off-site movement.

Our Program
DPR is the lead agency for regulating the registration, sales and use of pesticides in California. It is required by law to protect the environment, including surface waters, from environmentally harmful pesticides by prohibiting, regulating, or controlling the uses of such pesticides. The Surface Water Protection Program addresses both agricultural and nonagricultural sources of pesticide residues in surface waters. It has preventive and response components that reduce the presence of pesticides in surface waters. The preventive component includes local outreach to promote management practices that reduce pesticide runoff. Prevention also relies on DPR's registration process in which potential adverse effects to surface water quality, particularly those in high-risk situations are evaluated. The response component includes mitigation options to meet water quality goals, recognizing the value of self-regulating efforts to reduce pesticides in surface water as well as regulatory authorities of DPR, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCB).

A major element in achieving DPR's goals is the initiation and management of contracts that augment DPR's capabilities to investigate pesticides in surface water. DPR's contracts have addressed a wide range of research topics related to the identification of pesticide sources in watersheds and validating management practices that reduce pesticide transport in water.

The State Water Resources Control Board and Pesticides
The SWRCB is the lead agency for coordinating and controlling water quality in California. The SWRCB and the nine RWQCBs also implement statewide and regional programs, as well as federal programs mandated under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Under one such federal program, the Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs) are required to develop a cleanup strategy for each impaired water body. The key to developing a strategy is determining a total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for each pollutant. A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive from all contributing sources and still meet water quality standards. A TMDL also considers the reductions needed to meet water quality standards and allocates those reductions among the sources in the watershed. DPR assists in the gathering of data to help support the development of TMDLs.

Our Management Agency Agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board
As stated above, in California, DPR, SWRCB and RWQCB have mandates and authorities bearing on pesticides and water quality. In order to promote cooperation to protect water quality from the adverse effects of pesticides, DPR and the SWRCB signed a Management Agency Agreement (MAA). The MAA, and its companion document, "The California Pesticide Management Plan for Water Quality," strives to coordinate interaction, facilitate communication, promote problem solving, and ultimately assure the protection of water quality.

Under the terms this plan, DPR will investigate pesticides of concern and help develop recommended pesticide use practices designed to reduce or eliminate the impact of pesticides on surface water quality. Management practices designed to reduce contamination will usually be implemented initially through voluntary and cooperative efforts. Depending on the source of the residue problems, mitigation may include outreach programs to educate the public on ways to reduce pesticides in urban waters as well as programs targeted at modifying use practices among agricultural pesticide users. If the revised use practices (which do not have the force of law but are voluntarily adopted by pesticide users) do not adequately mitigate the impacts, then DPR can use its wide-ranging regulatory authority to impose use restrictions. DPR may modify the use of pesticides by regulation or permit conditions to prevent excessive amounts of residues from reaching surface water. Evaluating the feasibility of these modifications and conditions and promulgating regulations is the role of Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement branches. If those steps are not adequate, then the SWRCB and the RWQCBs may use their authorities to mitigate the adverse effects of pesticides in water bodies. These stages are described in a sequence that should generally apply. However, these stages need not be implemented in sequential order, but rather as necessary to assure protection of water quality.