Dairy Groups File Legal Challenge to State Dairy Order

Dairy Cares, a coalition of California dairy organizations, announced Monday that it filed a legal challenge against the state’s recently adopted Dairy Order (WQ 2026-0028). Petitioners also include Milk Producers Council, California Farm Bureau, Western United Dairies, and California Dairy Campaign.

The lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Tulare County primarily aims at a provision of the Order that is inconsistent with state law and previous Board actions.

“Unfortunately, the State Water Board has overstepped their authority, and we are forced to file this legal challenge. We are doing so to protect the future viability of dairy farms in California,” Dairy Cares Executive Director Michael Boccadoro said. “It is critical that our family-owned dairies be able to modernize, grow, and remain competitive as these farms are passed on to the next generations.”

Under the Order adopted September 15, the State Water Resources Control Board will oversee a process to develop interim and final discharge and application limits for dairies.

The lawsuit centers on whether those still-to-be-developed final discharge and application limits should apply immediately to dairies that expand in the future. Existing dairies that participate in the Nitrate Control Program (that is, who are members of Nitrate Management Zones and contribute to local well-testing and drinking water programs) will have up to 35 years to fully meet the coming limits.

However, the newly adopted order says that future dairy expansions must meet the final limits immediately even if they are also participating in Nitrate Management Zones. This is concerning for several reasons:

 • The final limits are unknown and so it is unclear whether any dairy can meet them, even a well-designed, state-of-the-art dairy, in just five years. Additional, yet-to-be determined advances in manure treatment, manure products and markets, irrigation systems, precision application, automation, remote sensors, crop changes, and other advancements may be needed to meet final limits, many of which are unlikely to be fully determined and available in only five years.

• Central Valley dairies have participated in good faith in the Nitrate Control Program—funding drinking water programs in their local areas—with the understanding that this would allow for extended compliance timelines up to 35 years. The finding by the State Water Board that final limits must be met in five years by expanding dairies is not consistent with the law or based on evidence that a shorter timeline is reasonable or practicable, contrary to the requirements of the Nitrate Control Program.

The dairy community will continue to work in good faith to comply with the other provisions of this Order,” Boccadoro said. “We have been working hard on outreach and education, research, and installation and implementation of new technologies and practices. It is understood nationwide and even worldwide that California dairy farms are leading the world in implementation of sustainable practices. We will continue these efforts even as we seek to have the court protect the legal rights of dairy families on this important issue.”