Irrigated Lands Program Banner

Irrigated Lands Program (ILP)

Welcome to the Irrigated Lands Program (ILP)

The Central Coast Water Board regulates discharges from irrigated agricultural lands to protect surface water and groundwater using Order No. R3-2021-0040, General Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges from Irrigated Lands (also known as the Agricultural Order), that applies to owners and operators of irrigated land used for commercial crop production. The Central Coast Water Board is focusing on priority water quality issues, such as pesticides and toxicity, nutrients, and sediments – especially nitrate impacts to drinking water sources. Staff is prioritizing efforts in the major agricultural areas of the region - the Salinas River, Santa Maria, and Pajaro River watersheds.

  Announcements

Upcoming Compliance Deadlines

Requirement

Deadline

Where / How to Submit

Resource(s)

Conduct water sampling for all on-farm domestic wells and the primary irrigation well

March 1 - May 31

  • Preservation Inc. members: refer to and follow Preservation, Inc.'s instructions
  • Independently enrolled operations: A certified laboratory will upload results to GeoTracker
Learn about groundwater quality monitoring and reporting

Provide all domestic well users with summary of well sampling results and health risk information

Within 3 business days of receiving results

Notify all domestic well users using the summary template provided in the Resource(s) column

 

Update eNOI to confirm notifications to all domestic well users

Within 30 days of receiving results

Log into GeoTracker, select the [EDIT RANCH INFO] link, and update section XI

 

  Stay Informed

Email Subscription List

To receive updates on the Irrigated Lands Program, subscribe to the Irrigated Lands Program email list.

Contact Us

  Facts and Information

Irrigated Lands Program FAQs:

The central coast region represents about:

  • 7.2 million acres of land
  • 540,000 acres irrigated land
  • 3,000 agricultural operations
  • 17,000 miles of surface waters (linear streams/rivers)
  • 4,000 square miles of groundwater basins
  • 86% of water supply derived from groundwater (most dependent out of all nine hydrologic regions in the state)