San Joaquin River Research Paper

“One, it’s tied to putting salmon back in the river. Two, there is no funding for dams or river recirculation technology that would maximize Sierra water runoff and lessen the economic devastation to some San Joaquin Valley farmers.” (McEwen 1)

The San Joaquin River is the backbone of the San Joaquin Valley. The valley is not only the nation's most agricultural area but it is also one of the entire worlds. Millions depend on the crops that come form this luscious valley. The river has gone through many drastic changes over its illustrious lifetime. Once it was a magnificent 350 miles long it is now one of the nation's ten most endangered rivers. The river once flowed with enough water to support steam ships and a salmon migration it now goes completely dry in some areas. The river does not have enough water to support itself any more and must take in water from various other places, such as the Pacific Ocean which

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

Daniel Weintraub in the article “ River Restoration Offers a Sprinkling of Hop” point that they are planing of getting the San Joaquin River back for the salmon can live. Weintraub supports his statement by explaining what was going on with the San Joaquin and the Delta. Also explains how they get fresh water from the river. The author’s purpose is to proves how they will get the river back in order so that the salmon live longer and so that the people who use to get fresh water from the river can get some know. The author writes in an informative tone for us to know what they are planning to do to get the San Joaquin River.

Chinook salmon (known by its scientific name as Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is the largest species out of the Pacific salmon genus, with an individual chinook measured over 120 pounds (fishwatch.gov, 2014). Often known by the name as “king salmon”, it is one of the most expensive salmons as this species of the Pacific salmon is not abundant in North America. This salmon is originated in rivers ranging from Central California to northwest Alaska, but can also be found outside the United States such as in northern Pacific countries such as Canada, Russia, and Japan. They often live in oceans, but are spawned and born in freshwater rivers and streams (fishwatch.gov, 2014). According to the NOAA Fisheries, the United States currently has more than 20 stocks within the range between Central California to northwest Alaska. Population ranges varies within region—with rates of decline, growth, and constant of Chinooks in Alaska (fishwatch.gov, 2014), while non-Alaskan Chinooks in the Pacific Northwest are currently facing rates of decline (Peery, Kavanagh, and Scott, 2003). In terms of the current status of endangerment/threatened, it varies within region in parallel with population rate. The Chinook salmon from Alaska are considered healthy and none of them have yet been listed in the Endangered Species Act (fishwatch.gov, 2014). On the other hand, those in the Columbia and Sacramento Rivers are currently face being endangered, while Chinooks living in the California Central Valley

Daniel Weintraub in the article , River Restoration Project Offers a Sprinkling of Hope , claims that the San Joaquin River restoration will begin in earnest thanks to changes in federal laws . Weintraub supports his claim by telling us that the new river will flow in parts that have been dry for decades , it will also provide fresh water to the Delta. The author’s purpose is to state that the newly restored river will bring back fish and help all kinds of endangered species. The author writes in an informative to for the readers.

Nearly all of the valley’s native fish and reserves are gone, winter run chinook salmon are nearly extinct. The Sacramento river now irrigates crops, even the San Joaquin river reverses its flow from time to time. President Carter had the opportunity to prevent this from happening, but the support and influence agriculture companies exerted in politics proved too valuable for his presidential campaign. These big name agricultural corporations have immense power and control over politics, which will continue to be the case.

Herring and Salmon populations are low overall. The Prince Reupert Herirng stock is moderate in abundance, while the Haida Gwaii stock has shown little improvement for the past ten years, The Central Coast Herring stock numbers are at a record low in abundance. Sockeye Salmon population has been consistently declining since the 1990’s due to the dangerous nature of their route of migration of this species through to the Gulf of Alaska. Groundfish stock tends to vary from year to year. The decline in dissolved oxygen in these areas has shown to affect distribution. Groundfish stocks are improving overall, but those of shorter life spans (ie. flat fish) show much greater improvement then those with longer life spans (ie. rockfish).

The San Joaquin should be restored for, one, the fishermen. Salmon are crucial for fishermen’s economy. In the article, “River restoration Project offers a Sprinkling of Hope”, by Daniel Weintraub, Weintraub states, “The San Joaquin is one of the greatest steps we can take to hopefully revive the commercial salmon industry.”. Basically, Weintraub is saying we need the San Joaquin to revive the salmon. In conclusion, we need the San Joaquin.

The Klamath River basin has been one the most productive watersheds and lake systems in the world. It houses over one-third of the world’s pintail ducks and dozens of shoebird species. The basin has a plethora of salmon species and some of the largest trout in the world. The basin had four dams that offered hydroelectric power and water to the surrounding areas. This area was used to its full potential and had experienced serious distress to the biodiversity and damage to the aquatic ecosystem. In 2002, the river saw a die-off of over 33,000 adult salmon which really brought attention to the issue.

Ever since around the 60’s there have been places of restoration and proclamations plans have been made at the local, state and federal levels constantly. According to (Berg, 2013) “The only problem is that most of those statements and plans haven’t translated into much physical action to actually address the issues at hand, such as toxic soil, the evaporating water, the retracting utility as a migratory bird stopover, or the persistent Southern California question of where, exactly, to get the water needed to prevent an epic environmental cataclysm”. With all that being known it would be wise if they can find wise to adopt to those conditions and find other ways around it. But with a project as big as this there is so much to needs to be taken care of before something can be done about this

Pink Salmon migration is crucial to their survival as a species, because the fish swim from the ocean and up freshwater streams to spawn.

Chinook Salmon live in water, which has a low concentration of oxygen, this means that for a Chinook Salmon to get its energy requirements lots of water needs to flow over the gas exchange surface in order to take in

In the wild, mature coho salmon return to their freshwater natal site during late summer and autumn, and spawning occurs between November and January (Fairgrieve 2006). Eggs are

Fish are dying downstream. In fall of 2015, the fourth year of California’s drought, eulogies are being written for the nearly extinct Delta smelt, and its lesser-known cousin the longfin smelt may be next in line for that honor. Water in the rivers is so low and so warm that it can barely bring salmon upstream or sustain their nests and young long enough for the young to ever make it to the ocean. Water agencies are building a giant raft – an un-Noah’s Ark – to pump water up to intakes that provide water to surrounding homes. Those intakes are normally deep under water. Columbia University scientists have just estimated that eight to 27 percent of the intensity of the drought is due to climate change.