… We need to take action to protect the largest estuary on the West Coast, as well as those who suffer as the environment declines, including Delta communities, Tribes, and salmon fishermen. … The Central Valley Flood Protection Board has adopted a new Central Valley Flood Protection Plan to respond to this growing risk. A cornerstone strategy is to restore tens of thousands of acres of floodplains along Central Valley rivers. That will allow floodwaters to spread out and sink into groundwater aquifers – rather than threaten communities like Stockton. … When existing agricultural land is restored as native floodplain habitat, it no longer needs irrigation. Restored habitat consumes some water – provided through natural precipitation and river flows. But even so, restoring floodplains reduces net water use. That saved water can be dedicated to restoring rivers.
—Written by Rick Frank, professor of environmental practice at U.C. Davis School of Law and Julie Rentner, president of River Partners

Other salmon articles:

• The Oakdale Leader: Klamath River chinook salmon reoccupying historic habitat
• Daily Kos: Fall chinook Salmon returns to date are shockingly low on Upper Sacramento River
• Smithsonian: Salmon make a long-awaited return to the Klamath River for the first time in 112 years, after largest dam removal in U.S.