Sewage water being dumped into the Sacramento River is killing fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta? Remember in May 2007 the reports of salmon dying in the Sacramento River blamed on farmers? It turns out the fish killer is ammonia, a common by-product of human urine and feces, contained in partially treated sewage water the cities of Sacramento and Stockton are dumping into the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
Two recent studies researching what killed the salmon, what's killing the tiny aquatic food sources for salmon and why other fish are dying in the Delta were released by Richard Dugdale, an oceanographer at San Francisco University. One study showed that sewage-contaminated water containing high levels of ammonia being dumped in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers is disrupting the food chain and killing the fish.Dead salmonThe effects of sewage water contaminants were dramatically illustrated last May when dozens of Chinook salmon showed up dead in the area where Stockton discharges sewage water into the river every day. Lack of food and other contaminants in the ammonia-tainted water is killing the Delta and the salmon.Another example: Sacramento's sewage facility dumps 146 million gallons of ammonia-rich waste water every day into the river and plans to increase that volume by 30% to almost 200 million gallons a day. This is more than 600 acre-feet of partially treated sewage water per day, or more than 220,000 acre-feet per year being dumped in the river by just one sewage water disposal plant. It's estimated more than 50 cities along the Sacramento River, tributaries and Delta are dumping partially treated sewage water into the water system.What contaminants are in the sewer water being dumped? Ammonia? Nitrates? Residual medications? Discarded drugs? Chemicals? Industrial waste? What's the total volume, accumulative effects on water quality and risk for fish and humans? Anke Mueller-Solger, an environmental scientist at the state Department of Water Resources, said "Sewage is produced proportionally to the number of people, so the water is not quite as nice and clean as we thought."So much for the pristine Delta. Can you imagine millions of gallons of partially treated sewage water being dumped into a river near you every day?To clean up the sewage water cities dump into the river, city officials estimate they would have to raise sewage and water rates from $20 to maybe $63 per month. The Bay Area, willing politicians and the courts do not care how much it costs the Valley when they take our water to flush their contaminated sewage water to the ocean. While farmers mortgaged their farms to pay for the dams and canals that make this reliable supply of water available, farmers are being forced to pay for water they are not receiving.Is the Bay Area exaggerating claims that farmers using water to grow food is causing the fish to die? Do they really care about the fish? Or are they using and declaring this fish or that little fish as threatened by poor water quality as an excuse to steal Valley-contracted water for free to dilute their contaminated sewer water that's causing the poor water quality? Population growth in the Bay Area and other cities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is creating more raw sewage daily. The annual increase in sewage volume generates more partially treated sewage water every year discharged directly into the Delta.The researcher stated "Ammonia in the river does not make fish unsafe to eat, nor does it pose a threat to recreation."Beach closuresFish are being killed and high bacteria levels are causing beach closures daily and this researcher says it's safe to swim and eat the fish? How reassuring is that? Why not clean up their sewage water like other California communities have to and reuse the water for parks, landscaping and golf courses? Rather than clean up their sewage water pollution problem, the Bay Area wants to take more water from the Valley's west side and east-side water districts to flush their increasing discharges of partially treated sewer water into the Sacramento River-San Joaquin Bay Delta and on to the ocean. How much common sense does that make? If you reduce farming and growing of food, will food prices go down or up?I would highly recommend that until they clean up the partially treated sewer water being dumped, make sure you and your kids swim with your mouths shut in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.