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Headwaters and Tributaries
The headwaters of the San Joaquin River provide clean water, beautiful scenic vistas, and opportunities to discover your place in the natural world. These high Sierras are not without problems; impacts of a changing climate, human activity, and airborne pollution all present threats that need to be addressed. The Upper San Joaquin, the Fresno, Chowchilla, Merced, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Calaveras Rivers all feed into the mainstem of the San Joaquin creating the second largest river in California.
EPA will limit pesticides near salmon streams
North County Times-5/17/10
By Jeff Barnard -- Associated press
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it will impose restrictions on spraying three agricultural pesticides to keep them out of salmon streams after manufacturers refused to adopt the limits voluntarily.
EPA will develop new rules for applying the chemicals diazinon, malathion and chlorpyrifos that will include no-spray zones along streams and restrictions on spraying depending on weather conditions, EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said in an e-mail.
Kayak adventure of a lifetime
The San Joaquin River is all over the news these days, thanks to long-awaited restorative flows.
Published online on Thursday, Oct. 01, 2009
By Marek Warszawski / The Fresno Bee
Well, here's a San Joaquin River story that hasn't gotten much attention - unless you're plugged into the expedition kayaking community.
Dredge mining threatens salmon and other fish
An editorial appeared in the Fresno Bee today highlighting the dangers of dredge mining in California’s rivers and the environmental harm it causes along with harm to jobs and the economy.
Dredge mining in rivers does several harmful things: 1) It mixes up and returns potentially toxic material to the river flow. (Many rivers in California have mercury from gold mining in the 1800’s that have been embedded deeper into the sediment.) 2) The murky sediment returned to the rivers from the dredging makes swimming hazardous and unhealthy. 3) The disturbance of the river bottom also disturbs fish laying eggs. In particular salmon which lays eggs in the gravel bottom and young lamprey that can reside in gravel for up to seven years before maturing.