DSC Finds Science Supports Improved Sacramento-Area Wastewater Treatment
Updated permit would reduce daily ammonia discharges by 13 tons

SACRAMENTO – The Delta Stewardship Council, charged with ensuring all levels of government help meet the state’s coequal goals of a reliable water supply and a restored Delta ecosystem, voted Thursday to support a proposal to require more thorough treatment of Sacramento-area wastewater.

“If we’re serious about the Delta and its future, we have to start doing things differently – upstream, downstream, and in the Delta itself,” said Council Chairman Phil Isenberg. “The science is clear, and so is the need for action.”

The NPDES permit that regulates the discharge of treated wastewater from the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Sacramento River is more than 10 years old. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has recommended a new tentative permit that in part would reduce the Sacramento County Regional Sanitation District’s ammonia discharge from 14 tons per day to one ton per day, requiring an upgrade of its treatment facility.
In recent correspondence to the Central Valley board, Isenberg shared findings by the Council’s lead scientist that the proposed permit is consistent with the best available science and is expected to improve water quality and the Delta ecosystem by limiting ammonia discharges that have thus far been left largely to the “assimilative capacity” of the Sacramento River. The Council voted unanimously to ratify the chairman’s letter.