The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a new Nutrient Watershed Permit that requires wastewater treatment facilities to ensure the level of nutrients in their discharge is below newly specified limits.  To meet these new limits, significant upgrades will be required at some treatment facilities.  The cost of these upgrades will be passed on to ratepayers in the form of increased sewer rates.  The necessary upgrades and their associated costs will vary, as each treatment facility is unique.  At MVSD, the expected upgrades are much less significant than at some other facilities.  MVSD currently is well below the limits that start in 2024 and is about equal to the limits that must be met by 2034.   Not only does the MVSD treatment facility discharge wastewater that is low in nutrients, but that discharge also flows through Moorhen Marsh before being discharged to Peyton Slough and eventually out to the Bay, and Moorhen Marsh provides additional reduction in nutrients. 

To help ensure compliance with the limits effective in 2034, MVSD is investigating options to optimize the wastewater treatment facility as well as increase and improve the floating islands in Moorhen Marsh that provide additional nutrient removal.