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It’s not only fish vs. people, says editorial

Posted by: Maven on June 29, 2009 at 6:53 am

From the Sacramento Bee, this editorial:

The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a wake-up call on the dangers facing the Central Valley’s salmon and, ultimately, the water system they depend on. It should be mulled and acted upon.

The wake-up call came in the form of a “biological opinion” that the fisheries service filed earlier this month. Prompted by a federal court ruling on a lawsuit by environmentalists and fishermen, it found that the ways the state and federal water projects operate threaten the survival of endangered chinook salmon and steelhead, and it required that they change their policies.

The changes the agency envisions include finding ways to get the fish around the dams and other barriers that currently stop them as they migrate upstream to spawn. With immense structures like Shasta Dam spanning the Sacramento River, and Folsom Dam the American, this will not be a simple task. It will require the construction of fish ladders, or elevators, or perhaps truck-and-haul operations. Experts aren’t sure if any are feasible. The estimated price tag starts at $1 billion.

The price of not acting, however, will likely be steeper.

Read the rest of this editorial from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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