Regional Board Resolution No. R-7-2002-0097, adopted on June 26, 2002, by the Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board, modified the regulatory provisions of the Water Quality Control Plan for the Colorado River Basin Region by establishing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for sedimentation/siltation in the New River. The implementation plan requires the farmers/operators in the New River Subwatershed to implement best management practices to reduce silt/sediment delivery into the New River, in accordance with a time schedule consisting of four phases. Each phase consists of about a three-year period, with interim load reductions for each phase. Implementation does not take place until one year after U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval of the TMDL. It also requires the Imperial Irrigation District to submit and implement a revised drain water quality improvement plan, with a monitoring program, for the drains discharging into the New River. A net reduction of 17% of sediment/silt in the New River is required by the TMDL.
Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 3963