This is the first article from Clay Baker's Family Fishing.  In July I committed, rather publicly, to teach 1,000 people to fly fish in hopes that would get more families on the water having fun and caring about the quality of the water and the fish that live there.  To help this effort along I've begun a web site, www.claybaker.com,  and I've started an editorial effort to keep all who are interested abreast of the biggest issues impacting rivers, streams and lakes across the country.

What's Happening?

In case you missed the news today, after an 18 year battle, a Federal Court has ordered that the San Joaquin River water flows are to be restored.  This is probably the biggest environmental breakthrough for a watershed since the restoration of Mono Lake.  It's known as the second longest river in California, but for the past 60 years it's been a 350 mile long strip of sand due to the waters natural flow being shut off at Friant dam.  The dam diverts almost all the water to two canals that serve farmers as far south as Bakersfield and north to Chowchilla.  River boats once had a vibrant trade from Fresno to San Francisco on the San Joaquin, but today that same stretch of river doesn't have enough water in it to support fish or to keep the sand from blowing.  As a result of the rivers demise the watershed has become a dumping ground, and the native fish; Chinook salmon, steel head and trout have vanished.  I'm convinced that once the water flows are restored and the fish begin to thrive, we'll see a strong tourism industry spring up along the 350 mile long fishing resource of the Central Valley which will have many positive effects for the central valley towns.  In addition a side benefit of this project will be that the Delta will be less salty, improving the quality of drinking water for thousands of Bay Area residents while reducing the cost of treating that water.  Please take a look at the link below where you can read the whole story and see a video excerpt from a

documentary on the San Joaquin.

What You Can Do?

Vote on the November 2006 ballot measures!  The cost of this restoration project will run between $250 to $800 million with the money coming from those being served by Friant Dam, the Federal government and state bond initiatives.  In November, Prop 84, The State Park Bond Act will include funding for the restoration of the San Joaquin River.  Please make sure to vote.

Clay Baker's Family Fishing

www.claybaker.com

If you would like to receive future news releases and updates about water and fish related issues please click Create An Account at the top of the page.