California Water Agency Under Investigation For Discriminating Against Tribes, People of Color
One of the main issues this article covers is the failure to protect water quality in San Francisco bay and the San Joaquin delta. The Biden administration’s environmental justice office is “investigating whether California’s water agency has discriminated against Native Americans and other people of color”. They state that the state water agency has left the waters to basically deplete and go into an “ecological crisis”, and this has affected Native groups the most. Along with affecting the people, the rivers are also home to the Delta Smelt, an endangered species that has dwindled into a miniscule size. The fish show whether an ecosystem is healthy, and in this case, it is insanely unhealthy. Fishing is very important for certain tribes, so along with messing up the water, this ecological crisis has also put a damper on the amount of fish in the water, and therefore messes with the diet of these tribes.
Earlier this year, we talked about the Delta Smelt and how it was basically extinct already and there wasn’t much we could do to save it because by the time the environment was stabler, they would already be long gone, and the ones kept in labs were different from the original fish. However, I still think that we should focus on the health of the delta and bay because there are still other species of fish and organisms that live there and call the area their home. If we don’t do anything about it, the condition will just worsen. The San Joaquin river also supplies water to 27 million californians. This is the water we are drinking. We as Californians are even advised not to drink the water from the tap because its so nasty. Why are we letting this continue? Why has it gotten to this point before people started actually caring? If it’s not even safe for human consumption, just think of the things living in it, or rather, no longer living in it.
It’s pretty disgusting that things have gotten to this point. I think sometimes it’s easy to forget that we aren’t just doing these things to ourselves, but also other groups. It’s so easy to be isolated and think about our own problems, that we end up forgetting about other people or other things, like Native tribes and all the species in the San Joaquin river. What are some ways that we could help improve the health of the delta and the bay?