The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2011-12

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 CALENDAR YEAR 2011*
Total Number of Violations in 2011:	2,376
Total Number of Violations in 2010:	1,601
Total Number of Violations in 2009:	2,385

MEASUREMENTS - Data last updated on: September 21, 2012

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	35	640
2	131	13	91	66	5	8	6	298	264	191	59	140	1,272
3	16	25	96	30	202	456	63	60	244	72	42	107	1,413
4	234	1,194	1,141	698	505	282	228	155	1,244	771	200	780	7,432
5F	13	5	6	9	105	300	241	13	167	8	0	54	921
5R	63	20	128	28	151	46	40	71	71	67	22	32	739
5S	180	46	57	206	391	506	547	378	383	697	433	563	4,387
6A	4	13	34	28	58	36	59	10	8	18	13	44	325
6B	37	32	10	1	0	2	7	9	29	4	62	73	266
7	50	11	21	0	50	2	1	41	34	38	7	29	284
8	551	751	380	267	264	493	308	448	354	365	607	451	5,239
9	161	297	596	404	383	153	138	202	197	77	89	68	2,765
TOTAL	1,497	2,462	2,609	1,826	2,126	2,290	1,643	1,772	3,096	2,385	1,601	2,376	25,683

*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 21, 2012
Unit of Measure: 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: 9/18/12 )