Restoration of the San Joaquin River

Recommended QUEST Resources

• Producer's Notes: Restoration of the San Joaquin River

• Web Extra: Restoration of the San Joaquin River Slideshow

  QUEST traveled along the San Joaquin River to produce our story on the restoration of more than 150 miles of the San Joaquin River, California’s second-largest river. See behind-the-scenes photos in our narrated slideshow of the journey we took to document the historic comeback of the mighty San Joaquin.

• Delta Predators

  As the state dries out from a long, rainy winter, the battle over water rights in the Sacramento Delta continues. Water contractors are hoping an upcoming court ruling will find that water pumps are not the only threat to the imperiled Delta Smelt. Some of the blame is getting pinned on a bigger fish that happens to have an appetite for endangered species. Alison Hawkes reports.

Additional Links

• San Joaquin River Restoration Program

  Visit this official web site to learn about the progress and history of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program which aims to restore more than 150 miles of California's second-largest river.

• NRDC: Restoring the San Joaquin River

  In 1988, the Natural Resources Defense Council led a coalition of fishermen and conservation groups, including the Bay Institute, that successfully sued the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Friant Water Users Authority to restore the historic chinook salmon runs in the San Joaquin River.

• San Joaquin River flowing through dry stretches

  This March 2010 article from the San Francisco Chronicle describes how six months after the start of court-mandated releases of water from the Friant Dam, water is now flowing through the entire length of the San Joaquin River.