The Need for Water Stewardship California's rivers and streams are in critical need of protection. California's salmon populations have been decimated. Streams where salmon can return to spawn have declined from 6,000 miles of free flowing streams to less than 200 miles. The water has been diverted to the needs of agriculture and urban populations. In the West whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting.
Twain Welcome to water politics in California and the arid West.
As California and the west were settled, water went to irrigation for agriculture, industry, and to thirsty towns and cities. No one thought to allocate to fish, birds and other wildlife the water they needed to survive. Probably no one could conceive or even imagine that they would ever be gone. In California, water is the issue above all others. The quality and quantity of water will decide the future qualilty of life for everyone in the state.