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Executive Summary
The
San Joaquin
River,
a signature California
waterway, is severely polluted by a host of contaminants. Newly released tests
of water and soil in the San
Joaquin River
system by University
of California
scientists and agricultural operations reveal that pesticide pollution in
California’s
second longest river and its tributaries is widespread and at high
concentrations.
KEY
FINDINGS INCLUDE:
1.
The San Joaquin
River
system is polluted with a myriad of pesticides linked to a host of health
effects and adverse environmental impacts.
Data
collected by University
of California,
Davis
scientists and agricultural operations found 57 pesticides in the waters and
soils of the San Joaquin
River
system. The vast majority of these chemicals are linked to a host of health
threats that range from cancer to brain damage.
2.
Pesticide pollution in the San
Joaquin River
system is ubiquitous.
Testing
conducted by University
of California,
Davis
scientists found pesticide pollution at 100 percent of all locations sampled
within the San Joaquin
River
and its tributaries.
3.
Much of the contamination detected in the San
Joaquin River
system exceeds environmental public health standards.
Data
collected by scientists at the University of California, Davis found pesticide
contamination at 48 percent of San Joaquin system locations tested exceed an
environmental safety or public health standard maintained by the Central Valley
Water Board.
4.
The substitution of one class of pesticides for another, instead of reducing the
overall volumes of pesticides applied to crops, has created multiple layers of pollution
in the San Joaquin
River
system.
Data
collected by University
of California,
Davis
scientists indicates that 48 percent of San
Joaquin River
system locations are polluted by organochlorine pesticides such as DDT.
Organophosphate pesticides, which were largely substituted for organochlorine
pesticides after the ban of DDT in 1973, are detected at 81 percent of sites
tested. Finally, a new class of pyrethroid pesticides is detected at 32 percent
of sites tested. The widespread presence
of numerous classes of pesticide pollutants in the San
Joaquin River
and its tributaries is of particular concern, given the catastrophic decline in
fish species in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. Scientists consider pesticide
pollution fl owing into the Delta from tributaries like the San
Joaquin to be a primary suspect in the decline.
In addition, pesticide pollution in the San
Joaquin River
system, which flows into the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, also
contaminates a drinking water source for approximately 23 million Californians.
POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS:
In
order to restore the San
Joaquin River
to health, the Central Valley Water Board and State Water Board should exercise
their statutory authority to stop new pollution from entering the San
Joaquin and its tributaries, clean up existing
contamination ensure sufficient flows and restore essential habitat in the
waterway.
A.
Stop New Pollution
To
stop pesticides and other agricultural contaminants from entering the San
Joaquin River,
the Central Valley Water Board and State Water Board should:
1.
Require individual agricultural operations to comply with clean water permits
that require the elimination of harmful agricultural pollution in the San
Joaquin River
within ten years;
2.
Impose strict mandatory penalties on any operations that fail to comply with pollution
reduction requirements;
3.
Require extensive neutral third-party pollution monitoring for pollution in order
to fully identify pollution hotspots and sources of contamination in the San
Joaquin River
system;
4.
Charge adequate fees to agricultural operations to allow a fully staffed and
adequately enforced program to reduce agricultural pollution.
B.
Clean Up Existing Contamination
To
clean up “hot spots” of DDT contamination in the San
Joaquin River
and its tributaries, the Central Valley Water Board should conduct an immediate
analysis to determine whether widespread DDT contamination detected by University
of California
scientists is due to continued illegal use of the chemical or a legacy left
from past use of the chemical. The
Central Valley Water Board should then pursue any agricultural operations have
applied DDT illegally to their fields for cleanup costs. Finally, both the
State Water Board and Central Valley Water Board should support the
establishment of a renewed California
‘Superfund’ program modeled after the federal program of the same name. This fund should be supported through fees on
industries that are traditionally responsible for toxic contamination sites in
the state, such as the mining, petroleum and chemical industries.
C.
Ensure Sufficient Flows
To
raise levels of oxygen and reduce levels of salt pollution in the San
Joaquin, cleanup plans for the San
Joaquin should ensure that sufficient water is
returned to the San Joaquin
River
to support a healthy ecosystem. In order to ensure sufficient flows, the
Central Valley Water Board and State Water Board should:
1.
Require that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation comply with existing state law that
mandates all dams release enough water to maintain historic fisheries in good
condition.
2.
Reallocate existing water rights to restore sufficient flows that allow for adequate
levels of oxygen in the San
Joaquin River.
3.
Limit salt pollution for the entire San
Joaquin River
and require increased flows of water from Friant Dam that will allow these
limits to be met.
4.
Deny certification for the relicensing of dams that harm the quality of the San
Joaquin River
and its tributaries.
D.
Restore Essential Habitat
Buffer
zones of vegetation lining the San
Joaquin River
and its tributaries can fiter out pollution before it reaches the river and
provide habitat for healthy ecosystems can be significantly restored. In 1993,
the California Legislature created the San Joaquin River Conservancy to implement
a master plan for a San
Joaquin River Parkway
that would create a 22-mile wildlife corridor along a stretch of the river
below Friant Dam. The Central Valley Regional Water Board should encourage
further funding for such habitat restoration projects.
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