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Good Question: Why Are There Fewer Northern California Salmon?

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) – Two hundred years ago, California streams were the perfect spawning grounds for hundreds of thousands of wild salmon every year. In this Good Question: What has caused the Northern California salmon population to dwindle?

ANSWER: According to John Rosenfield, President of the group Salmon-Aid, many of California's rivers and streams can no longer support spawning for wild salmon.

This is due in part to severe water restricting dams that have affected the flow of enough water to support spawning grounds and the overuse of pumping in the Delta. As a result, wild salmon populations have declined more than 90 percent in the past 40 years.

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