Toxic Lakes Killing Birds, Farmers Acknowledge : Wildlife: Some operators of artificial ponds in the San Joaquin Valley, possibly facing tougher environmental standards under Clinton, say they will close them.

FRESNO — Under threat of government action, farmers in the west San Joaquin Valley have begun to acknowledge their role in the deaths of tens of thousands of migratory birds and to consider steps to prevent further wildlife damage.

For the past decade, farmers have discounted the effects on wildlife from two dozen artificial lakes brimming with the toxic drainage of cotton and tomato fields. Eared grebes, American avocets and black-necked stilts nest in the contaminated lakes--the only water they can find on the vast west side of the valley.

But in recent weeks, in an apparent concession to a more environmentally active Clinton Administration, several farmers have agreed to shut down lakes, which are contaminated by selenium and salts from the soil.

“We’re seeing more of a willingness to acknowledge the problem,” said Anthony Toto, an engineer for the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, which oversees the waste discharge. “The farmers are now looking at ways to solve the harmful effects to the birds, and that wasn’t always the case.”

Farmers operating two small lakes--10 and 15 acres--and one mid-size lake of 170 acres have agreed to shut down within six months, Toto said. But the biggest news comes from Westlake Farms, which operates a 1,000-acre drainage basin between Lemoore and Kettleman City.

In an ambitious plan that other farmers are likely to follow, Westlake will continue to use its basin for waste-water drainage but has agreed to set aside 1,000 acres of farmland and provide enough water for a new, uncontaminated lake.

It has agreed to build a marsh and alter the old one so that the birds will leave the contaminated marsh for the clean one.

“Building a new habitat for birds is a big step forward,” said Joe Skorupa, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist who discovered damage to birds on the ponds and was criticized by farmers for speaking out. “Westlake came forth with more than I ever expected. But they’ve always been one of the more progressive operations.”

In a meeting last week with the huge Tulare Lake Drainage District, which operates 3,000 acres of contaminated lakes, state water officials learned that the district is also considering creating new marshland.

“By summer, we could see many more farmers choosing the option Westlake is taking,” Toto said.

Environmentalists have long argued that the selenium and salt-laden lakes violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the federal law that forbids harming migratory birds. But they say farmers have had little to worry about from federal prosecutors in the Bush Administration.

Now, with the likelihood of a Clinton-appointed U.S. attorney in Sacramento, farmers are showing a new willingness to deal.

“After all these years, the timing is a little suspicious,” Skorupa said. “But we’ll take it.”