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Another issue that can be added to the water chorus has to do with instream uses. In CA, "beneficial uses" include provision of habitat for riparian and aquatic fish and wildlife. As we continue to think up new "surface solutions" to providing more water, damming further and diverting these rivers, guess what? They dry up in the streambed. Or make it too hot or toxic for fish and wildlife to survive. Think San Joaquin River, Klamath/Trinity, Salinas, Carmel, Santa Ynez, Ventura, Santa Clara Rivers. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent studying how to have wild salmon, steelhead, and other riverine species thrive in an ever-dehydrating California. And not without good cause: would we really like our grandkids to grow up never having seen a river or stream that actually has wildlife in it? Or even flows?
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