Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution: Best Management Practice Impacts on Water Quality & Recommendations to Improve Monitoring Programs in Ventura County, California

This project represents an original attempt to use water quality and BMP implementation data collected under California’s CWP to provide a quantitative assessment of BMP efficacy in Ventura County. Though BMPs have been proven to reduce pollutant concentrations in individual case studies, there is little quantitatively defensible data demonstrating their effectiveness at larger scales. The efficacy of BMP implementation programs are therefore unclear. Data collected under the Ventura County CWP presents a unique opportunity to statistically assess the specific impacts of BMPs on agricultural NPS pollution. This project seeks to answer this question by assessing the data gathered under Ventura County’s CWP monitoring requirements. Evaluation of these records provides a critique of CWP requirements and a constructive space to recommend further actions to both the Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Lands Group (VCAILG) and its regulating body, the LARWQCB.