Updates to SIP Certified Vineyard Discharge Questions
In June 2025, SIP Certified’s Technical Advisory Committee met to discuss two questions that are new to the 2025 standards: Requirement 5.1.5 and Management Enhancement 5.1.9.
The following updates have been made to the 2025 Standards:
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Requirement 5.1.5 (You must map your discharge points) is now Management Enhancement 5.1.8, and its language has been revised:
Management Enhancement 5.1.9 (Did you test your discharge for nutrients and visually analyze for turbidity?) now has a "not applicable" answer option:
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FAQs
Q: What is a discharge location?
A: A discharge location is a location where surface water exits the ranch boundary during and/or immediately after a period of significant rainfall.
If there are hills, ditches, or paths in the ground where water usually flows on your property, follow them until they reach the boundary of the property. Indicate the water’s exit point on a map with a directional arrow (sample maps).
Please note, a stream or natural body of water is not itself a discharge location. If water flows off the ranch into a stream, the point at which the water enters the stream is the discharge location.
Q: How do I conduct the perimeter assessment?
A: Conduct the perimeter assessment by traveling the perimeter of your ranch during the wet season. Look for gullies and ditches that could indicate the flow of water across the ground.
Q: My ranch doesn’t have any discharge locations. What should I do?
A: You may still answer Yes if you did the perimeter assessment but found no discharge locations. Please be aware of this question for future years and keep an eye out for surface water discharge locations during heavy rain years.
Q: Why are these questions important?
A: SIP Certified’s Technical Advisory Committee voted to add the question to the 2025 Standards to help growers:
- Be aware of areas of runoff and potential erosion
- Comply with Ag Order 4.0 (No. R3-2021-0040) (the Order) (growers in Regional Water Quality Control Board Region 3 (RWQCB3))
Q: What does the Order require?
A: Growers in RWQCB3 need to develop and implement a Sediment & Erosion Management Plan (SEMP) as part of their Farm Water Quality Management Plan (Farm Plan) (see Part 2, Section B of the Order).
A map with discharge points is a requirement of regional groundwater trend monitoring and reporting work plans prepared by an approved third party, including the Third Party Surface Water Follow-Up Program prepared by Preservation Inc (No. R3-2021-0040, Attachment B, p.16).
Q: How does being SIP Certified give me regulatory relief?
A: SIP Certified has partnered with Preservation Inc. to help participating growers save time by reporting Total Nitrogen Applied (TNA) for RWQCB3 Ag Order 4.0.
Questions 5.1.8 and 5.1.9 will help participating growers comply with the SEMP component of the Farm Plan.
SIP Certified has provided regulatory relief for the RWQCB3 Ag Order since 2004 and continues to partner with Water Board Staff and Preservation Inc to reduce the administrative burden of compliance.