Two years ago, the Bay Area’s 40 publicly owned wastewater treatment agencies got some hard news. They had 10 years to upgrade their facilities to reduce pollutants entering the bay by 40%, at an estimated cost of $11 billion. At a Thursday meeting of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, a pathway was initiated for certain projects to get a deadline extension, if they qualify and are moving as quickly as possible. The 2034 deadline was established when the water board tightened the rules for issuing the permit required to discharge treated effluent into Bay Area waters. The move was in response to massive fish kills in 2022 and 2023 caused by consecutive algae blooms. 

Other water quality news:

• ABC10 (San Diego): Brown water at Coronado Beach: Algae bloom or Tijuana sewage?
• Ebb and Flow (California Water Boards): Blog: How good policy and prudent planning kept California’s drinking water safe from lead