The State of California, now in the fourth year of a historic drought, is parched. But in the north of the state, at the bottom of the reservoir behind Shasta Dam, lies a big drink of cold water. For salmon in the Sacramento River, especially winter-run Chinook—considered by NOAA Fisheries to be among the eight endangered species most at risk of extinction—that cold water is a lifeline. Water managers tap it to cool off the river in summertime, when streams become hot enough to kill developing salmon eggs and newly hatched fry.
The cold water flows in from the mountains as snowmelt. But with winter snowpack at record lows, the supply of cold water is dwindling. If it’s not managed carefully, winter-run Chinook might be lost forever…
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