Friday, December 20, 2019

Fishing Groups Say Storm Water Discharge Permit Harms San Joaquin River

A coalition of fishing industry groups, tribes and water quality advocates went public to oppose the Central Valley Water Board’s decision to approve a 25-year permit to the Grasslands Water District to continue discharging storm water into the San Joaquin River and San Francisco Bay Delta. The runoff from storm events and farming in the region contains selenium, mercury and other contaminants which can harm fish and wildlife. The Grasslands Bypass was built in 1996 to drain those pollutants away from valley wetlands and into the San Joaquin River and the San Francisco Bay Delta. Vic Bedoian reports from Fresno.