The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) for sanitary sewer systems on May 2, 2006 as Water Quality Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ. In 2008, the Monitoring and Reporting Program (MRP) of the Statewide General WDRs was revised as Order No. 2008-0002-EXEC. The MRP was subsequently revised on September 9, 2013, as Order No. WQ 2013-0058-EXEC. Together, Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ and Order No. WQ 2013-0058-EXEC are referred to as the Sanitary Sewer System Waste Discharge Requirements (SSS WDRs) (Appendix I: Sanitary Sewer System Waste Discharge Requirements).

The goal of the SSS WDRs is to provide consistent statewide requirements for quantifying, reporting and reducing the number of wastewater spills and the volume of wastewater spilled in the state of California. The SSS WDRs require all public wastewater collection system agencies in California that own and operate sanitary sewer systems greater than one (1) mile in length, which collect and/or convey untreated or partially treated wastewater to a publicly owned treatment facility, to develop, implement, and maintain a Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) and report sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) using the State’s electronic reporting system, California Integrated Water Quality System (CIWQS).