I found this article to be a compelling firsthand account of the San Joaquin River and it’s historical journey from salmon-infused watershed to current status as a farming irrigation/often dammed water route.
The article is written by a CNN journalist that trekked from the headwaters by foot, kayak, etc and recounted his encounters with the river itself in its various stages of life and death, the people along the way, etc.
The article has great pictures and is a very personally written account and I thought it was wonderful. Worth the fifteen minutes of your time, and I would love to hear California Doper’s response to it and it’s conclusion as a dead river in many respects.
I enjoyed the article, especially due to the perspective of the author. As an outsider, and as someone with little experience with California riparian habitats, his observations were a blend of naive and perceptive, especially balanced by the views of the experts and locals he interviewed.
All California rivers are a bit sad. (Almost all. The Smith is nice.) The dams make these terrible “fake lakes” which for me are heartbreaking to visit, in comparison with a natural lake or river. For example, New Melones Lake, on the Stanislaus River, was built in 1980, and looks “brand new” - there’s none of the usual lacustrine bank wetland plants, so it provides a sparse habitat, resulting in low biodiversity. Upstream from the dams, some rivers maintain a semblance of normality. I love the top of the Feather River in Plumas County for its dramatic gorges, but the Lake Oroville Dam - ugh.
I was sad to read in the article about the farmer who “has to” destroy beavers. Beavers are an amazing keystone species and indicator of riparian health. What other animal is capable of constructing wetlands? There are modern methods for maintaining beaver habitat and still allowing water flow for human uses, like the Beaver Deceiver.
A fascinating read. It’s interesting how he finds that some people at the point it runs dry have by now become used to it as the normal status, even if that drying is basically manmade.
Just read/skimmed portions of that article. Kind of interesting the things he doesn’t mention. Lots of smallish towns along the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley, in the vicinity of the river. He mentions stopping in some of them, but doesn’t mention many of their names. For someone trying to follow his trip while reading the blog, it’s hard to follow.
Unless I missed it, for example, he mentions passing State Route 152, but doesn’t mention Los Banos, the closest town in that area. He mentions Mendota, but doesn’t mention passing by Firebaugh or Dos Palos. I don’t think he mentioned Gustine, or Newman, or Patterson. Then suddenly he’s in the Delta near Stockton.