a lot of idiots on this site want CA to not let a drop of water to get to the ocean. they understand nothing! they do not know anything of the delta, as well. Let the Klamath run!
I take it that you never saw the extreme damage that the policy did to the conservation minded farmers in Kalmath, where as a result of the artificial draught it created drove land prices from $4000 acre to $29 acre. The farmers were mostly WWII vets who practiced water, land, animal, and fish conservation. The farmers were instrumental in setting aside 25,000 acres as a wild life refuge. The “endangered” sucker fish was the driver - a fresh water fish that could survive drought by burying itself in the mud.
The local deer populations did not fare so well, many dying of thirst - it was common to see the desiccated bodies or deer in the fields.
It was not about fish or any endangered species, it was about driving the land prices down so Nature Conservancy and American Rivers could swoop in and make a killing. They bought the farmers out, then sold a potion of the farm to the Government for their total purchase price, the rest of the land was then sold to their members who continued to farm the land.
The Klamath salmon were delisted in Sept 2001 - hatchery-spawned salmon are biologically indistinguishable from
naturally spawned, so-called “wild” salmon.
It was not about salmon until years later, when the local tribes decided to get in on the action, pushing for the dams removals, closing hatcheries, and making farming near impossible. Now people cheer the destruction of a way of life, so they can feel good about salmon that were never endangered in the first place.