(excerpt from Jefferson Public Radio)
“California’s state Fish and Game Commission approved closures of dozens of rivers and streams in an attempt to protect threatened salmon and steelhead trout. Scientists are worried the drought may push Coho salmon to extinction. Eric Larsen, a fish biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, stands on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Pescadero. This is where water flows from Pescadero Creek into the ocean. At least, it normally would this time of year. Instead, Larsen points to a sandbar.
"'Because there’s no flow in the river, there’s no counterforce to keep the sandbar open,' says Larsen. 'So you have a closed system when you normally would have an open system, which does not allow for fish to come in and spawn.'…
"Larsen says of particular concern is the fate of the endangered Central Coast Coho salmon. He says their populations are crashing…
"Fisheries Biologist Stafford Lehr with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the drought is posing more of a risk to fish in this area than in any other part of the state. He studied the Coho Salmon population in the area in the 1980’s…”