The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - 2010

ENFORCE: NPDES STORMWATER

GROUP:

ALL NPDES STORMWATER FACILITIES

MEASURE: VIOLATION TRENDS. TOTAL BY YEAR

MESSAGE:

The total number of violations remained between 1,500 and 3,000 for the last ten years. Significant variations by Regional Board.

*KEY STATISTICS FOR FY 2010*
Total Number of Violations in 2011:	1,892
Total Number of Violations in 2010:	1,497
Total Number of Violations in 2009:	2,380

MEASUREMENTS - Data last updated on: 2012-08-02

Regional Offices	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011*	Regional Office Total
1	57	55	49	89	12	6	5	87	101	77	67	23	628
2	130	10	61	63	5	7	6	291	261	190	56	134	1,214
3	15	25	88	28	202	397	46	58	240	72	39	29	1,239
4	233	1,194	1,140	695	503	281	228	155	1,242	770	104	412	6,957
5F	13	5	6	9	105	300	241	13	161	6	0	48	907
5R	58	20	128	28	151	46	40	71	71	67	22	32	734
5S	180	44	57	193	366	475	546	377	378	697	433	551	4,297
6A	4	13	34	28	58	36	59	10	8	18	13	44	325
6B	38	32	10	1	0	2	7	9	22	4	62	76	263
7	50	11	21	0	50	2	1	41	34	38	7	29	284
8	549	750	380	266	262	452	282	428	338	363	605	446	5,121
9	161	297	596	404	383	153	136	202	161	78	89	68	2,728
TOTAL	1,488	2,456	2,570	1,804	2,097	2,157	1,597	1,742	3,017	2,380	1,497	1,892	24,697

*Data for 2011 are incomplete.

Click on a bar in the charts below, to show details for that region (third chart below).

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

The trends in the number of violations recorded in the databases remained fairly stable over the last past ten years. There are significant differences by regional board office that may be due to differences in data entry procedures more that changes in numbers of violations.

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

Violations are detected through reviewing of self monitoring reports, inspections and complaints. The enforcement policy requires that the Water Boards ensure that all violations are documented in the appropriate Water Board data management system. According to the enforcement policy all violations will be entered within 10 days of discovery of the violation. Identification and documentation of violations is important to ensure that water quality is protected and that serious violations and those high priority violations receive an adequate enforcement response. Tracking violations and compliance rates over time is necessary to assess the effectiveness of the Water Boards enforcement policies and actions.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Data Source: SMARTS. Extracted on September 30, 2011.
Unit of Measure: Number of violations documented.
Data Definitions: Violations with status "violation".
References:
Information on the Water Boards' NPDES Stormwater Program
Public Reports and Data
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Information
The Water Boards' Enforcement Policy

GLOSSARY

Construction Stormwater Program: Dischargers whose projects disturb 1 or more acres of soil or are part of a larger common plan of development that in total disturbs 1 or more acres, are required to obtain coverage under the General Permit for Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (Construction General Permit, 2000-0009-DWQ).
Industrial Stormwater Program: Discharges associated with 10 broad categories of industrial activities are regulated under the Industrial Storm Water General Permit Order 97-03-DWQ (General Industrial Permit), which is an NPDES permit.
Municipal Stormwater Phase I Facilities: The Municipal Storm Water Permits regulate storm water discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s). Under Phase I, which began in 1990, the Regional Water Boards have issued NPDES MS4 permits to permittees serving populations greater than 100,000 people. Many of these permits are issued to a group of co-permittees encompassing an entire metropolitan area. These permits are reissued as the permits expire.
Municipal Stormwater Phase II Facilities: Under Phase II, the State Water Board adopted a General Permit for the Discharge of Storm Water from Small MS4s (WQ Order No. 2003-0005-DWQ) to provide permit coverage for smaller municipalities (10,000 to 100,000 people), including non-traditional small MS4s which are governmental facilities such as military bases, public campuses, prisons and hospital complexes.

( Page last updated: 6/27/12 )