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Will water flow in the
San Joaquin River once again!
By: Ron Wilson
September 8, 2004.... About 15 years ago
the Modesto Chapter of the California Striped Bass Association sent me on
a small plane ride to follow the San Joaquin River from the Friant Dam
downstream.
It didn't take long past Hwy 99 before the
river flow was stopped completely. There was nothing but sand where the
mighty San Joaquin River used to run free.
The salmon and striper migration was
non-existent. The Corp of Engineers had completely killed a once fantastic
spawning area! No water no fish its that simple.
CSBA and other groups got involved and sued
to have our river returned back to normal. Recently a judge declared that
completely stopping the river flow was illegal!
Hurry grab the dynamite and let the water
flow freely once again. Well it won't be that simple, it will probably
still take years of court action before we get the water flowing again.
It seems that the farmers will now be
decimated if they can't get the water that they are now getting illegally!
To darn bad! They shouldn't have had it in the first place and I would
like to see those involved in the illegal destruction of the fishery in
the San Joaquin River pay through the nose to replace it!
Harsh, maybe but after all the fishery that
was totally destroyed belong to all Californians! For the judgment click
on this
link. |
