Thursday Top of the Scroll: California’s water wars have created a dilemma in the Delta: fishing or fresh water?
Bass fishing is a pillar of the delta. But, as with many things in this vast estuary at the edge of the Bay Area, the sport and its cottage industry of marinas, bait shops, boat showrooms and bars are threatened by converging forces: climate change, drought, development and California’s escalating water wars. The fishing community — alongside farming, boating, tourism and other livelihoods in these rural lowlands — is caught up in the unsparing effort to boost the delta’s freshwater exports.
Related article:
- US Fish & Wildlife Service Report: Enhanced Delta smelt monitoring finds few fish
- Sacramento News & Review blog: State’s largest water district ignores tribes, conservationists, ratepayers on Delta tunnel