Save the smelt!-----California Drought Is Over, Major Reservoirs Overflowing | ZeroHedge

California Drought Is Over, Major Reservoirs Overflowing | ZeroHedge - BY TYLER DURDEN
Authored by Sophie Li via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
"The historic barrage of storms this winter offered some breathing room for California’s extreme dry conditions, with 95 percent of the state now reported to be out of drought...This aerial combination photo created on April 17, 2023, shows Lake Oroville in Oroville, Calif., on Sept. 5, 2021 (top), and on April 16, 2023 (below). (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)(Courtesy of the U.S. Drought Monitor)
In contrast, in January, among the state’s 17 major reservoirs, only its smallest—the Cachuma Reservoir northwest of Santa Barbara—was nearly full, according to the water department. 

The rest were partially filled, ranging from about 30 to 80 percent...

• But some say the winter’s water was not stored because it was flushed to the ocean to help replenish some endangered fish species, like the Delta smelt.
• “It’s a political problem,” Don Jackson, an almond farmer and a water board member of Kern County, said on a recent episode of EpochTV’s California Insider. “We’re flushing all the water out … instead of sending it to the people—which the aqueduct system was built for.”