Jeffrey S. Diehl: Water flows away from here toward money
In 1879, 132 small striped bass were released near Martinez. Three-hundred more small bass were brought to Suisun Bay by Fish and Game in 1882. By 1889 bass were sold in San Francisco markets and by 1899 over 1 million pounds of bass a year were caught commercially. In 1935 commercial fishing for striped bass was stopped to enhance sport fishing.
Striped bass eat baby salmon that are trying to get to the ocean. There is a limit on striped bass of two per day and they must be at least 18 inches.
We protect the fish that eat the salmon, but there is nobody to protect us from our own state officials. Why can’t we pay extortion money (call it a tax) to the state and build desalination plants to provide drinking water to the south. We would still be getting the water we need for our economy and might even have a little left over. Might be better than the less-than-nothing in the works. We are being bullied to death. We are simply small players with not enough money. Money flows from the south and water flows to money.
Jeffrey S. Diehl, Modesto
This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Jeffrey S. Diehl: Water flows away from here toward money."