OPINION: Federal Water For Tiny Fish Leaves Other Species High And Dry

I sometimes have to wonder how the San Joaquin Valley’s federal water managers look themselves in the mirror. Since 2008, they have withheld the water of life from the Valley in order to protect the Delta smelt, at a cost to the Valley of tens of thousands of jobs lost, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland fallowed, and billions of dollars in economic harm to Valley communities – all the while insisting that they had to do this to protect one species of endangered wildlife, no matter the cost to families and communities.