California’s Salmon Are Dying at Alarming Rates... Are Dams Causing it?
Illustration by Lia Keener
Anyone who enjoys the outdoors knows that one of the most stunning gifts is seeing a lake or a river reflect back a warm golden glow from the sun, or the stars shimmering on the surface. The golden state is revered for the scenic and tender moments found in its bountiful natural environment. Think about the plethora of parks in California: Yosemite, Lassen, Big Sur, and more, all have been renowned for their beauty. Today however, many people’s immediate thoughts upon seeing these gorgeous places are distress and fear over how low water levels have gotten, or why the area is so dry. The drought in the Western United States is not getting any more manageable, in fact the state is in its worst dry spell since the late 1800's. Reservoirs, lakes, and rivers all across the state have ever continued to dwindle away, or see harmful algal blooms as the drought worsens, and swaths of dry fallowed land t surround the state. It is impossible to escape the effects of drought in California yet what many are unaware of is the impact that dams further have on the water system in California.
Compounding the stressors presented by the drought and climate change, is the complex system of dams present in California. Dams were initially built to attempt to prevent destructive floods in local communities, during that time of building them consideration for the damage in the future caused by dams was not taken into account. Dams were initially built to replicate natural flows of water throughout the seasons, but research shows they are ineffective at mirroring natural flows. Dams create uneven water levels in downstream areas, as well as increasing water tempatures because of poor circulation. In tandem with the ongoing climate crisis, the dam system is a worrying multiplier on the stress California’s water system faces.
Nowhere is the impact of the years-long drought and system of dams seen as intensely on the native salmon populations of California. Rising water temperatures in California have wrought enormous damage on salmon populations; some 14,000 of the 16,000 Chinook salmon eggs died around the Sacramento area this year alone. The wave of dead salmon and eggs that never hatched are becoming more common throughout the state as our drought conditions grow more intense. With dams causing large fluctuations in temperature and water levels, and increasingly severe droughts due to climate change, researchers from UC Davis estimate that California may soon loose up to 75% of its native salmonid population. Such drastic numbers obviously require some action to be taken, more than the 15% water cutback that Governor Newsom is urging California citizens to take.
While cutting back overconsumption of water is something that could aid in the handling of the drought, there are other, far more substantial, ways to go about dealing with the impact that dams and drought are having on salmon. Two such methods would be: not bending to agri-business interests and halting a dam proposal at Del Puerto Canyon and not draining a reservoir that would have disastrous consequences for the already gutted Chinook salmon population. Both of these aforementioned actions can be disastrous to water levels and salmon populations, especially on local Indigenous communities who rely on salmon for various needs.
At the heart of the issue of the salmon population withering away, is an issue of environmental justice and racism for a multitude of Indingenous California populations. Decades of ignoring century-long practices, in lieu of western methods of land and resource management in California, have contributed to many negative contemporary issues in the state, such as the annually devastating wildfires. A few reasons can be given to explain the ignorance of traditional ecological knowledge by state resource management, yet the primary reason is a historical devaluing of Indigenous knowledge. Upon expansion into America, European thinking was to dominate land and bend it to the will of God, a view that still permeates today as industrial farming practices are about maximum yield without regard for future sustainability. Yet, such an issue of domination does not end with land but permeates into water management, manifesting as dam construction in California, and is why today so many native populations are struggling to access a primary food source. The likes of which are eerily reminiscent of when the United States attempted to exterminate native Buffalo populations to starve out Native Americans. While not as explicit as slaughtering buffalo, the rapidly declining salmon populations in Northern California have the same effect of reducing Indigenous sovereignty by creating a false reliance on products that must be purchased.
In some Indigenous cultures salmon are considered more than a food source, holding varying degrees of cultural influence. Thus, not only is the dwindling population of salmon, namely Chinook salmon, depleting a crucial food source to multiple communities, it also is affecting cultural and historical practices vital to maintaining a community. The issue of salmon die off can not just be focused on the substance it provides, true recognition of the importance to multiple communities should be established, and efforts to save them heightened.
There are a variety of actions that can be taken to support better practices and mitigate the damage climate change, and dams, have to both marginalized communities and the natural life. For example, attempting to prevent further dams from being built that would exacerbate the drought, such as Del Puerto Canyon. Additionally, pressing for politicians, such as Governor Newsom, to stop allowing for destructive and extractive actions, like allowing 12 new fracking permits to be created. It is plain and clear that current politicians and corporations are not going to take action, making it up to citizens to force action to be taken in any way we can.
