Agricultural Chloride Threshold Study
The purpose of the Agricultural Chloride Threshold Study is to establish the level of chloride that is protective of salt sensitive crops grown in the study area: strawberries, avocadoes, and nursery crops. The study also addresses crops that could potentially be grown in the study area.
The first phase of the study is a review of all existing studies to determine if there is adequate scientific knowledge to determine the level of chloride that would be protective of salt sensitive crops grown in the study area. This analysis of existing studies, referred to as the “literature review” in project materials, will be based on local factors and conditions, so that the findings are relevant to the Upper Santa Clara River.
If the current science is found to be adequate by the Technical Working Group (made up of stakeholders and community members), the Technical Advisory Panel (Made up of experts in thefield), and the Project Team (the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and the Regional Water Quality Control Board) the study will recommend a threshold value of chloride that prevents damage to salt-sensitive crops. Alternatively, there may only be sufficient scientific basis for determining a range of values within which the protective chloride levels falls.
The second phase of the study would be triggered if the currently available scientific studies do not provide an adequate basis for determining a threshold. Phase 2 of the study would develop a research plan — the “Extended Study Design” — describing an experimental process for gathering the type and quantity of data needed to determine the level of chloride that would protect salt sensitive crops grown in the area east of Piru.
In combination with the results of the other Chloride TMDL studies, the Agricultural Chloride Study may be used by the Regional Board to develop a site-specific chloride objective for the affected reaches of the Upper Santa Clara River Watershed.
Study Process
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