Clean Water Rapidly Disappearing
By Brenda Adelman
In a national survey on planet biodiversity, it was determined that seven out of ten biologists believe that we are in the midst of a mass extinction of living beings. They rated biodiversity loss as a more serious environmental problem than the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, and pollution, although these three together may contribute significantly to the crisis, which is occurring because of great damage to the natural systems that purify our air and water. Unlike five previous mass extinctions attributed to natural phenomena, it is believed to be caused by human activity.
In the Russian River area we are being required to immediately deal with the precipitous disappearance of Coho and Chinook salmon and Steelhead Trout, with the first on the verge of total collapse. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is overseeing Endangered Species Act implementation. They developed the Biological Opinion, which directs the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) to make critical changes to our waterway, which NMFS believes is necessary to save the fish.