Pristine Waters....???
In addition to causes mentioned by Bill, nearly all of the valley watersheds and some coastal rivers/streams of this state have been/were impacted by hydraulic mining practices during the gold rush of the late 1800's/early 1900's when they were finally banned. All you have to do is look around at the lower sections of any valley and some coastal rivers to see the dredger tailings. Not so obvious is the volume of mercury remaining in those tailings (you can still pan up some mercury in lake Natomas). Placer mining still continues on the south side of the Yuba, today, altho it's contained/managed better than in the past.
The siltation from all of that took decades to wash down river. The landscape surrounding these operations and in stream habitat were altered permanently. All of this resulted in a major loss of anadromous/non-adromous fish in those areas during that time. Recovery took place over a lengthy period and, now, we seem to be contributing to the problem again.
"America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."
Author unknown
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