Chinook Salmon

Scientific aide Jessi Fleming, 35, of Sanger, holds a salmon to a sensor that can read a Passive Integrated Transponder or PIT tag inside the fish at the Salmon Conservation and Research Facility in Friant, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026. The PIT tag contains information about the fish and helps to determine which males are the least related to the females for the purpose of spawning.

Historic return of salmon to California’s once-dry San Joaquin River is spawning toward recovery, one egg at a time

Marek Warszawski

Important projects are underway to bring salmon runs back to the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam, two decades after a 2006 legal settlement made it possible.

Adult fall-run Chinook salmon congregate near the Nimbus Hatchery Fish Ladder on the American River in Sacramento County on Oct. 15, 2012.

Environment

Key player in California’s water wars embraces controversial pact

Rachel Becker / CalMatters

The State Water Resources Control Board advance a controversial, Newsom-backed agreement in a new proposal, which qualifies as a major development in the long-running debate about delta water use.

Environment

Could Climate Change Halt Salmon Restoration On The San Joaquin River? Farmers Say Yes

Ezra David Romero

Before Friant Dam was built in the 1940s to store water for farms and cities across Central California, Chinook Salmon called the San Joaquin River home.…