California Crisis: Water

As a country facing desperate times, we must begin to understand how water is our most important resource. The Klamath River Basin, which resides on the Oregon/California border, used to be the America's third most productive salmon river. However, due to the four dams and the fight over the land between the native tribes and the farmers, there have been massive fish kills; the most devastating occurring in 2002. The dams have prevented necessary water flow need to sustain the salmon. In addition, the salmon are an extremely significant part of the Yurok native tribe.

The farmers residing in Klamath also use much of the land to cultivate their crops. However, as the fight over land continues between the farmers and the native tribes, fish are dying. Many believe that a large reason for these fish deaths come from the runoff into the river from the pesticides and nutrients used by the farmers on their harvest. As the pesticides are washed away into the river, they become algae blooms that feed on the nutrients in the water. Much of these algae blooms can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. Additionally, algae blooms have been known to create an aerosol neuro-toxin that can harm humans. On the other hand, these farmers must be able to control some land to continue their work.

Fortunately, the stimulus bill, instituted by the Obama Administration, has given 260 million dollars to the California's water resources, 4 million of which is going towards Klamath River complements of Governor Schwarzenegger. Governor Schwarzenegger hopes that this crisis will be handled and that the salmon population will rise again. Salmon are a resource in itself that many native tribes rely on. Water is another resource in jeopardy and algae blooms are destroying this resource along with millions of fish.