California's disappearing salmon
By The Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.17.21
Word Count 666
Level 810L
In a year with severe drought and record high heat in the West, many dead Chinook salmon have been found decomposing on the shores of
the Butte Creek in Chico, California. Photo: Supercaliphotolistic/Getty Images Photo: Supercaliphotolistic/ Getty Images
California's Chinook salmon are disappearing. Each spring, the fish swim up creeks in California's
Central Valley. There, they reach cold waters where they spawn, or lay eggs. Then they die,
completing their life cycle. (A life cycle is all the changes that happen to a living thing during its
lifetime.)
The salmon have done this for hundreds of years. However, this is now changing. The creek is
simply too warm. It is 10 degrees warmer than average in some parts. This is due to high
temperatures in the area. And, because of a drought, the water levels in the creek are too low. (A
drought is when an area gets less than its normal amount of rain. It happens over an extended
period of time.)
This spring, an estimated 16,000 Chinook migrated from the Pacific Ocean to creeks in the Central
Valley. (Migration is the movement of a group of animals from one place to another.) Salmon that
migrate in the spring are known as spring-run salmon. Of the 16,000 that made the journey, about
14,500 died. This was all thanks to the valley's hot, low flowing waterways.
Now, these conditions are threatening the winter migration just as severely. Salmon that migrate
to the rivers in the winter are known as winter-run salmon. It is still too early to measure the
drought's effect on winter migrations. However, experts worry it could be just as disastrous.
Canary In A Coal Mine
This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.
Colin Purdy works for the state Department of Fish
and Wildlife. He is the environmental programs
manager for fisheries. He said they hope to see
enough salmon survive this winter.
But much of the American West is in a drought. Many
places recorded their hottest July in history. The
parched-brown landscape has become normal in
California. The state has seen huge wildfires, deadly
mudslides and new demands on water supplies.
The drought is also punishing California's rich
wildlife, from birds to bears. The wildlife is also
threatened by disruptive human engineering and the
dangerously changing climate. (Climate is the weather
patterns over a long period of time, usually 30 years
or more.)
"The salmon are basically like a canary in the coal mine, giving you some idea of what's going on in
the freshwater system," said John McManus. He runs the Golden State Salmon Association. As the
salmon disappear, so might many other living things in the area.
Chinook Need Cold Water
The Sacramento River is wide and swift. It is the
world's only habitat for winter-run salmon. (A habitat
is the natural environment of a living thing.)
Each December, thousands of Chinook salmon leave
the cold Pacific. It is roughly a 325-mile (523
kilometers) swim upstream to colder waters. For
thousands of years, melting snow and ice of the Sierra
Nevada mountain range cooled the waters. This year
the snow was roughly half its yearly average.
Every year, many salmon return to the same waters to
spawn as their ancestors. But some cannot because of low water flows. Drought makes this worse.
Also, nearly every river or creek in the Central Valley has a dam. On the Sacramento River, the
Shasta Dam cuts off the salmon from the cooler lakes and rivers farther north.
To solve the problem, the government has built fish ladders and elevators to help fish get over the
dams. But the Chinook population continues to get smaller.
A long-term plan to help them is now being discussed. The plan is to reintroduce the Chinook to
parts of the Sacramento River above the dam. But this is expensive and risky given the salmon's
already threatened population.
This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.
Quiz
1 Read the paragraph from the article.
The drought is also punishing California's rich wildlife, from birds to bears. The wildlife is also
threatened by disruptive human engineering and the dangerously changing climate. (Climate is
the weather patterns over a long period of time, usually 30 years or more.)
HOW does this paragraph support the main idea of the article?
(A) by explaining why salmon have more problems than other wildlife
(B) by explaining how droughts are affecting the salmon’s life cycle
(C) by highlighting the challenges many animals face in California
(D) by highlighting the best ways to save California’s animals
2 Read the paragraph from the article.
Each December, thousands of Chinook salmon leave the cold Pacific. It is roughly a 325-mile
(523 kilometers) swim upstream to colder waters. For thousands of years, melting snow and ice
of the Sierra Nevada mountain range cooled the waters. This year the snow was roughly half its
yearly average.
Which statement summarizes the paragraph?
(A) The melting snow of the Sierra Nevada makes the waters colder than the Pacific.
(B) The melting snow of the Sierra Nevada has cooled waters for thousands of years.
(C) The Chinook salmon swim 325 miles every December to return to the place their ancestors came from.
(D) The Chinook salmon swim from the Pacific to waters cooled by snow, but there is less snow this year.
3 What is the relationship between fish ladders and the plan to reintroduce the Chinook to waters above the dam?
(A) They are both ways the government is trying to help the Chinook salmon.
(B) They are both ways the government has hurt the Chinook salmon.
(C) The fish ladders send the Chinook salmon to the ocean, while the plan sends them to the creeks.
(D) The fish ladders send the Chinook salmon to hot waters, while the plan sends them to cool waters.
4 What caused the death of so many spring-run salmon?
(A) wide, fast-moving waters
(B) warmer, low-level waters
(C) cold, drought-free waters
(D) smaller, ice-filled waters
This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.
