Local and state environmental organizations have reached an agreement that will provide habitat protection for fish in the Oconee River near Plant Washington, a proposed coal-fired power plant in Washington County near Sandersville.

The Altamaha Riverkeeper, the Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment and the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center and GreenLaw, settled their challenge of the water discharge permit for the proposed plant, according to a statement from the groups.

As initially issued, the water permit contained no limit on the temperature of the plant’s discharge into the river, which the groups said could harm the fish there. The revised permit will limit the thermal impacts to 90 degrees or 5 degrees above ambient river temperature, and it will require comprehensive monitoring of the plant’s discharge.

The air pollution permit has not yet been re-issued, the groups said. A new permit is expected this year.