SACRAMENTO -- The California Department of Pesticide
Regulation has proposed new regulations to protect ground
water by identifying areas vulnerable to pesticide contamination.
DPR's initiative will prevent ground water contamination
before it can occur.
"We can now identify areas vulnerable to ground
water contamination in California and take prudent steps
to prevent contamination before it occurs in those areas,"
said DPR Director Paul Helliker. "These ground
water regulations will ensure that pesticides are used
safely, and that growers have a range of options."
Since 1986, efforts to protect ground water have been
guided by the Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act
(Assembly Bill 2021). Under the law, pesticides detected
in ground water were expected to be prohibited from
use unless future contamination could be controlled.
The regulatory program was based on limited mitigation
measures and applied only to the one-square-mile "pesticide
management zones" around contaminated wells.
Before a pesticide product can be registered for use
in California, DPR requires data to show that it is
unlikely to contaminate ground water. Only eight actively
registered pesticides have been found in California
ground water after almost 20 years of ground water monitoring.
The proposed regulations focus on preventing further
contamination from those pesticides. DPR will continue
monitoring for other pesticides in ground water, and
take action as appropriate.
The cornerstone of DPR's proposed regulations is a
new, scientifically proven technique developed by DPR
scientists. The CalVul ("California Vulnerability")
Computer Model can identify broad geographic areas of
the state where pesticides may run off or leach into
soil.
The model was constructed using almost 20 years of
well monitoring data and other research now compiled
in DPR's well inventory database. Together, the database
and CalVul have given DPR the capability to identify
the critical factors that lead to contamination -- including
farming practices and soil conditions -- associated
with the soil-applied herbicides that most often find
their way into ground water.
Under the new regulations, scattered "pesticide
management zones" (now a total of about 313,000
acres statewide) will be replaced by broader "ground
water protection areas." DPR has identified about
2.4 million acres statewide that would qualify as ground
water protection areas nder the new regulations. Some
highlights of the proposed regulations:
- Seven pesticides now listed as ground water contaminants
(atrazine, simazine, bromacil, diuron, prometon, bentazon,
and norflurazon) will require use permits within ground
water protection areas (GWPAs).
