Fee Schedule for SDRILG
New fee schedule adopted for participants of
San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group (SDRILG) |
After SDCFB members read the July newsletter cover story on Farm Bureau forming a runoff monitoring group, a number of small growers weighed in on the cost of the entrance fee, saying it would be cost prohibitive for them to participate. As a result, an amended fee schedule was adopted by the board at its Sept. 4 meeting. The new entrance fee schedule to enroll in the group is as follows:
- $200 per acre capped at $1,000 if paid after June 30, 2009
In addition, the monitoring group has been officially named the "San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group" (SDILG), because non-irrigated lands and livestock producers are not subject to this set of Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) requirements.
San Diego County has now joined several other regions in the state in creating a monitoring group to meet testing mandates under the Regional Water Quality Control Boards. This mandate requires growers to select one of two options to fulfill monitoring requirements: 1) Report directly to the RWQCB, or 2) Enroll in a local monitoring group, such as the one SDCFB is forming. Like a number of other monitoring groups established in the state, the SDILG will function as a 501(c)(3) controlled by Farm Bureau.
Growers opting to work one-on-one with the RWQCB will be required to file detailed documentation and pay hefty sums to participate in the program. The RWQCB has estimated these costs. The initial Monitoring and Reporting Program filing will cost about $7,200. By the end of the fourth year of the program, a Quality Assurance Project Plan must be submitted at the estimated cost of $7,200. Monitoring results from the fourth year must then be followed by a Monitoring Program Report, which will cost an estimated $3,600. These costs add up to $18,000. However, by enrolling in a monitoring group, these costs would be spread among the participants in the monitoring group. Additional funding to sustain monitoring group operations and testing of runoff water is typically through assessments and acreage fees based on the intensity of the type of agriculture. Farm Bureau membership is required to participate in the SDILG as it is considered a significant member benefit.
Monitoring groups are tasked with establishing and staffing the program and ongoing operations, registering participants, and hiring a third party firm to conduct the testing. The testing from the engineering consultant involves select sampling sites downstream from farms in watersheds; taking water samples and testing for compliance; and reporting back to the monitoring group which, in turn, reports the data to the RWQCB. If pollution is discovered, efforts will have to be made to rectify the situation.
Every grower must form or enroll in a monitoring group to monitor water quality compliance and report to the RWQCB by Dec. 31, 2010. That date is the same deadline for growers who choose to go it alone and register directly with the RWQCB. By Jan. 1, 2011, monitoring groups and individuals must file a Notice of Intent with the RWQCB. Full details about the program, including additional funding sources beyond the entrance fee, are explained in a letter Farm Bureau mailed to growers recently.