Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
The bay and its environs accommodated all of this development—but not
without consequences to the ecosystem. By the 1950s, the results could be
seen and felt in the form of oily beaches, salty drinking water, trashy
shores, and the stench of sewage near the bay.
The impacts of water development were less obvious but equally im-
portant. The extensive replumbing of the rivers flowing into the bay
blocked salmon migrations with dams and trapped sediment in upstream
reservoirs. It changed the seasonal pattern of flows out to sea. It diverted
millions of acre feet of water to irrigation pipes and city taps, and more
millions of acre feet to arid spots of California that had never seen Sacra-
mento or San Joaquin river water before.
This replumbing assuaged the fear of anything but the “100-year flood”
and the five-year drought. Though Californians benefited from this stabi-
lization in the flow of water across their land, their actions eventually de-
stroyed what the system's smallest fish and biggest birds had long adapted
The neon sign of the C&H sugar refinery is a landmark for those traveling between
Sacramento and the Bay Area. Ships have unloaded raw cane sugar from Hawaii
here since 1906. But not everything produced along this shore is sweet. Since the
1920s, it's been known as the “Chemical Coast” for its cluster of oil refineries,
smelters, and munitions plants. (Max Eissler)
