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Plan to Reduce Water Pollution Moves Forward

A San Diego water agency has taken a key step toward improving the water quality of the region's watersheds and ocean. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

A San Diego water agency has taken a key step toward improving the water quality of the region's watersheds and ocean. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

San Diego residents are all too familiar with the standard warning following rains - stay out of the water or face bacterial pollution that can lead to illness. The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board has adopted a plan to reduce the pollution that flows into the county's creeks, rivers and beaches.

San Diego Coastkeeper Legal Director Gabriel Solmer says the plan sets limits on the amount of pollution that can be discharged into county waters.

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Solmer : Cities will do that by reducing the urban runoff in the storm water that goes through city streets, through parking lots and down into our water bodies, carrying bacteria and other vectors like trash that contain bacteria into our waters.

Solmer says the Board's action starts the process for reducing the pollution levels. She says the State Water Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and another agency must all approve the plan.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.