Drought’s grim death toll: California says endangered salmon perished in Sacramento River

The Sacramento Bee (tiered subscription

Amid a brutal heat wave and a worsening drought, California’s wildlife agency made a dire prediction in July: “Nearly all” of an endangered salmon species’ juvenile population was likely to be cooked to death on the Sacramento River in 2021. It turned out to be true. Only an estimated 2.6% of the winter-run Chinook salmon juvenile population survived the hot, dry summer, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said.