E. & J. Gallo Winery has received a cease-and-desist letter from the Central Valley Water Regional Quality Control Board for producing excessive wastewater that endangers Fresno's drinking water. Records revealed that the winery discharges around 400 million gallons annually, far exceeding the allowed limit of 54.2 million gallons. This affluent wastewater threatens to elevate nitrate and chemical levels in groundwater, essential to Fresno's drinking supply. Regulatory officials noted the risks of rainwater exacerbating nitrogen runoff before crops can absorb these elements effectively.
The application of wastewater at excessive rates threatens to exacerbate existing groundwater pollution for constituents including nitrate, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids.
Rainwater falling on and percolating through the site's coarse-grained surface soils threatens to wash the nitrogen in the soil to groundwater before the winter forage crops are developed enough to take up significant amounts of nitrogen.
Collection
[
|
...
]