A new Environment California Research &
Policy report released today reveals the presence of 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.
The
report, entitled Reviving the San
Joaquin: How California’s Water Boards Can Restore a Signature California
Waterway to Health, is the first public analysis of the results of a recent
agricultural pesticide pollution testing program conducted by scientists at the
University of California, Davis.
“Agricultural
pesticides have no place in one of California’s most important sources of drinking water,” stated
Sujatha Jahagirdar, author of the report and Clean Water Advocate for Environment California Research
& Policy Center.
The
report also found pesticide pollution at 100 percent of all San Joaquin system sites sampled. At 48
percent of these sites, levels of pesticides exceed environmental or public
health standards maintained by the Central Valley Water Board.
To
restore the San
Joaquin River to health, Reviving
the San Joaquin recommends that the Central Valley Regional Water Board and
State Water Board adopt several regulations to stop new pollution from entering
the waterway, clean up existing contamination, ensure sufficient flows and
restore essential habitat.
To
stop more pesticide pollution and other agricultural contaminants from entering
the San Joaquin River, the report recommends that the Central Valley Water
Board and State Water Board require individual agricultural operations to
comply with strong clean water permits that will eliminate harmful agricultural
pollution entering the San Joaquin River within ten years.
In
addition, the boards should impose strict mandatory penalties on any operations
that fail to comply with pollution reduction requirements; require extensive
neutral third-party monitoring to identify sources of contamination and charge
adequate fees to agricultural operations that allow the boards to properly
oversee pollution reduction efforts.
