River that runs through downtown San Jose goes dry; fish and wildlife suffer - San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE -- On a recent afternoon at Guadalupe River Park in the heart of downtown, a couple strolled hand-in-hand, a mother pushed her toddler in a stroller, and soft breezes rustled the leaves of stately trees near the home of the San Jose Sharks. The river that runs through America's 10th-largest city has dried up, shriveling a source of civic pride that had welcomed back trout, salmon, beavers and other wildlife after years of restoration efforts. Fish and other wildlife are either missing or dead, casualties of California's relentless drought. "I'm heartbroken," said Leslee Hamilton, executive director of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, a nonprofit that runs educational and community programs along the river. The state's rivers and creeks are withering and in some cases disappearing entirely after four years of historically dry weather -- the focus of the latest installment of this newspaper's series, "A State of Drought. In the agriculture-rich Central Valley, the drought has slowed plans to release more water to the San Joaquin River to bring the over-tapped waterway back to life. Up north in Humboldt County, salmon are at risk of going high and dry in the tributaries of the Eel River. Across the state, environmentalists are battling state, federal and local water agencies, arguing that more water should be released from reservoirs to save species in. Source: www.mercurynews.com
