THE FIDDLERS BURN AND GOD GETS THE BLAME

Submitted by Lloyd_Carter on Sat, 01/01/2011 - 01:01. By Boutris Wittfogel
The State Water Resources Control Board recently offered a surreal clinical demonstration of the body's collective Kryptonic aversion to upholding laws designed to protect drinking water.  At issue is a provision of the California Water Code so plainly defined in statute it is known throughout the  water world as the Mandatory Minimum Penalty law.  Read the State Water Resources Control Board's own report about how mandatory the Mandatory Minimum Penalty law is.

Here’s a brief snippet from that report:  In 2000, new legislation (Senate Bill 709) required that certain permit violations under the Water Code be subject to mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs).  While the State Water Resources Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Boards (collectively Water Boards) did assess MMPs as a result of the new legislation, the 2007 Water Boards’ Enforcement Report showed that 7,880 violations (from Jan. 1, 2000 through Dec. 31, 2007) did not received a penalty at or above the mandatory minimum amount.  If a local police agency had this record of law enforcement they would be under investigation by the FBI.

Three years later, the regional boards and the state board still avoid enforcing Water Code section 13385 and imposing the “mandatory” penalties. Read more .... www.lloydg.carter.com