January 2009
U.S. Water News Online
FIREBAUGH, Calif. — Farmers say they're making progress in cleaning up toxic agricultural runoff that flows beneath fields along the San Joaquin Valley's western edge.
Local farmers and federal officials have been negotiating over how to dispose of the tainted water for more than a decade, after a botched federal drainage project created the runoff that poisoned thousands of migratory birds.
Officials with the Grassland Bypass Project now seek federal approval to implement a plan they say would eliminate all the contaminated water, in part by using it to irrigate salt-tolerant crops.
The Bureau of Reclamation will accept public comment next month on the plan, which has been criticized by some environmental groups.