California State Water Resources Control Board
The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) is one of six branches of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
This regulatory program has had the status of an official government department since the 1950s. The State Water Pollution Control Board, as well as 9 regional boards, were established by the Dickey Water Pollution Act of 1949. The board was renamed to the State Water Quality Control Board by an Act of 1963. The State Water Resources Control Board was established from the State Water Quality Control Board and the State Water Rights Board by an Act of 1967.
California’s pioneering clean water act is the 1969 Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Porter-Cologne Act). Through the Porter-Cologne Act, the State Water Board and the Regional Water Boards have been entrusted with broad duties and powers to preserve and enhance all beneficial uses of the state’s immensely complex waterscape. The Porter-Cologne Act is recognized as one of the nation’s strongest pieces of anti-pollution legislation, and was so influential that Congressional authors used sections of the Act as the basis for the Federal Clean Water Act.
The late SWRCB chairman, Don Maughan, wrote:
"The State Water Board has never had the luxury of advocating protection of just one water need, such as the environment or agriculture or that of large cities. Our charge is to balance all water needs of the state. Some call it a superhuman task, but through the years this Board, aided by its excellent staff, has done what I call a superhuman job of accomplishing that mandate despite the intensive historical, political, and economic pressures that always accompany California water issues."
The State Water Board oversees the allocation of the state’s water resources to various entities and for diverse uses, from agricultural irrigation to hydro electrical power generation to municipal water supplies, and for safeguarding the cleanliness and purity of Californians’ water for everything from bubble baths to trout streams to ocean beaches.
The State Water Board is separate from and has different responsibilities than the Department of Water Resources (DWR), which manages state-owned water infrastructure, such as dams, reservoirs and aqueduct. DWR, like any other water user, must apply for water rights permits from the State Water Board.
Under the Federal Clean Water Act and the state’s pioneering Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act the State Water Board has regulatory authority for protecting the water quality of nearly 1,600,000 acres (6,500 km2) of lakes, 1,300,000 acres (5,300 km2) of bays and estuaries, 211,000 miles (340,000 km) of rivers and streams, and about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of exquisite California coastline.
...
Wikipedia