“60 Minutes” presented its take on California last Sunday: Why California is Running Dry (text and video). Like most outsiders, they ended up simplifying things down to “farmers vs. fish” — the fish in question being the “tiny” Delta smelt.
Of course, it’s a lot more complicated than that. There are many more parties to the debate:
- Cities south of the Delta (San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire, San Diego)
- Cities north of the Delta (Sacramento mostly)
- Farmers south of the Delta
- Farmers north of the Delta
- Fish (not just smelt, but also salmon and others)
- Environmentalists who care about the fish (and the ecosystem that depends on them, up to and including whales)
- Fishermen who make a living from the fish, but who somehow don’t get the sympathy that farmers do
Some other points that one might miss if “60 Minutes” was your only source of news:
- Why Gov. Schwarzenegger’s alliance with the Latino Water Coalition isn’t so unlikely after all (Hat tip Chance of Rain)
- Why you don’t have to worry about an almond shortage (On the Public Record)
More reactions:
- 60 Minutes flubs the California water story (Legal Planet)
- Lloyd G. Carter
- Waterwired (Michael Campana)
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