Everyone Knows

That the water diversion is the reason the salmon fishery collapsed. Perhaps now we can talk about and address the problem. In most of the articles about the salmon fisheries collapse, the reporters would find several farmers, water department workers, or the wonderful scientists say, to quote saying "nobody knows." A few articles would slip at the end and some old time fisherman would tell how much water had been diverted from the rivers. Now maybe the issue can be addressed in a proper manner.

A federal judge in Fresno affirmed Friday that water diversions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have jeopardized the existence of California's beleaguered salmon.

It was the latest in a string of rulings ordering state and federal regulators to fix a water system that supplies millions of Californians with water but is all but dysfunctional when it comes to protecting fisheries and the environment.

U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger told the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources to come up with ways to protect salmon and steelhead trout, but declined to order any immediate remedies.

Salmon live a three year life cycle. In 2005 the Bush administration said its OK to divert the water. Three years later total collapse of a billion dollar industry. The Bush administration is a failure in so many areas. Its shameful.