John F. McManus: TID wrong, higher Tuolumne River flows alone will save salmon
Re “TID backs river proposal by San Francisco” (Page 3A, June 7): While we agree that salmon habitat restoration is needed in the San Joaquin Valley, we disagree with Turlock Irrigation District aquatic biologist Pat Maloney’s view that higher flows alone won’t help salmon.
The baby salmon that benefited from this past winter’s high flows throughout the San Joaquin Valley will return in higher than average numbers as 3-year old adults in 2019 because of benefits they experienced from those higher flows. Maloney (and The Bee’s editor) should mark his calendar for February 2020 when the official state count of 2019 returning adult salmon should be available for all to see.
John F. McManus, Executive Director, Golden Gate Salmon Association, San Francisco
Editor’s note: A 12-year study by FishBio, published in the peer-reviewed North American Journal of Fisheries Management, found that higher flows do not encourage out-migration of salmon on the Tuolumne River.
This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 2:22 PM with the headline "John F. McManus: TID wrong, higher Tuolumne River flows alone will save salmon."