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Urgent Action Needed: Quick Links WATCH Tales of the San Joaquin on CyberTVNow.com WATCH Power Point Presentation on San Joaquin River Basin Storage. (Large File, please be patient) San Joaquin Historic Settlement Information
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Let's
cooperate to preserve San Joaquin
By George Folsom
Saturday, June 11, 2005
River ecosystems like the San Joaquin have linked the magnificent Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Ocean with flowing waters rife with life for
millions of years. In less than a century of use and abuse, this crown
jewel of the Valley is nearly dead. Our San Joaquin River must flow again
as a life-giving resource and economic wellspring for all Valley people.
Revive the San Joaquin is a new organization formed by Fresno and Madera
resisents to advocate restoration of the San Joaquin River. We believe
our once living, flowing San Joaquin River can be revived from its ailing
condition if a reasonable amount of water is released from Friant Dam.
Salmon and other fish can once again return from the sea to the Sierra
foothills as they did before flow was eliminated in 70 miles of the San Joaquin River by diversions at Friant Dam. Restoring the river will recharge a badly overdrafted aquifer on the
floor of the San Joaquin Valley and re-establish the once-rich riparian
habitat. Recreational activities and economic opportunities such as riverside resorts and fishing will add to the economy and quality of life.
Increased flows will improve the quality of Delta water that supplies 22 million Californians and Delta farmers suffering from salt-water infiltration.
In the debate over San Joaquin River restoration, Friant water users
claim the issue is fish versus people and that restoration will hurt the Valley
economy. They insist radical environmentalists from San Francisco drive the restoration effort. It is our opinion that the decision to sacrifice the San Joaquin River after Friant Dam was built speaks volumes about our culture. It is one thing to use natural resources for our benefit,
another to extinguish more than 100 miles of living river because of a decision made by a single special-interest group.
We all own it
These decision-makers empowered themselves to decide what creatures would
live or die and who profits or loses from a resource that belongs to all Californians. Today's opponents of San Joaquin River restoration
perpetuate the blunders of the self-serving decision makers of the '40s and '50s. Using environmentalists as a scapegoat is a clever attempt to avoid the real issue of reversing the destructive mistakes of the past
and restoring flows that serve environmental, recreational and economic needs
of Valley and Delta residents.
While approximately 75% of San Joaquin River water is diverted to Tulare and Kern counties, water in the lower San Joaquin River is polluted agricultural runoff. As our river remains dry and our water tables
continue to diminish, thousands of acres of underground water storage in Tulare and Kern counties receive water from Valley rivers.
Why not recharge our local underground reservoirs with our own San
Joaquin River water to ensure future water supplies for local farms and communities?
The San Joaquin River basin is a very good underground storage reservoir,
so good that Friant Water Users Authority management recently complained that no matter how much water they release from Friant, it never reaches the Delta because it all sinks into the ground. People and wildlife along
the river channel should be entitled to at least some of the natural
river flow.
Small farmers and their workers appear to be pawns in the restoration battle. While so-called "spokesmen" for farmers claim releasing
water from Friant Dam will put farmers out of business, Valley water districts,
large landholders and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
are negotiating deals and building facilities to move Valley water to
Southern California, where the price paid for water is much higher than farmers
can afford.
As on other California rivers, exchanges within the vast system of canals
and pumping plants could allow the San Joaquin River to flow and the salmon to return without resulting in the doomsday predictions of the Friant water users.
Please contact us at 226-0733 if you are interested in restoring the San Joaquin River. |
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