Ag Drainage Project Not Exempt From Permit Requirement Due To "Commingled Discharges."

Involved in this case was a federal agricultural drainage project for which National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits were not obtained.  The plaintiffs did not seek permits because the drainage was believed to be exempt as agricultural irrigation discharges.  However, the plaintiffs argued that the drainage was not exclusively from ag land, but also involved groundwater from parcels unrelated to crop production.  The plaintiffs claimed that the discharges polluted downstream water that harmed habitat for fish and wildlife.  The court refused to grant the defendants motion to dismiss, holding that the plaintiffs had posited a plausible claim for relief.  The court emphasized that the exemption for discharges from irrigated agriculture only applied when no unrelated discharges were involved.  Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, et al. v. Murillo, et al., No. CIV S-2:11-2980-KJM-CKD, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42506 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 28, 2014).