… California and the life cycle of salmon have been linked for centuries, beginning when only indigenous people lived in the state. California’s rivers and streams benefit from the nutrients salmon bring with them from the ocean. Salmon create jobs. Salmon are our shared living heritage. … [S]almon are on the brink despite California having some of the strictest environmental laws on the planet. The government’s ability to regulate this species to safety is dubious at best. Consider that the state’s primary plan to protect the Delta by balancing the uses of water has not been updated by the State Water Resources Control Board since Bill Clinton was in office. It’s a telling example of water’s political and regulatory paralysis. There is no shared sense of responsibility to save the salmon because we have devised such self-centered regulatory systems.
-Written by Tom Philp, reporter with the Sacramento Bee.